Golf Luxe

It’s not that hard to play where the pros play. In Florida, many of the various pro tours stage their events on courses the public can play.

What’s harder is playing like the pros play. Unless you are accustomed to traveling in Gulfstream G-500s, being provided with complimentary luxury autos and the best hotel suites, and being surrounded by an entourage that includes a swing coach, sports psychologist, personal trainer, nanny and nutritionist… not to mention boxes of free golf balls and gloves every week… the well-coddled life of a golf professional is a far cry from that of most members of Hacker Nation.

Still, one corner of Florida offers at least a fleeting glimpse of the life of luxury for the road-weary golfer. The St. Petersburg/Clearwater area boasts a collection of upscale golf resorts that not only serve to pamper and spoil travelers with white-glove service, fine dining and luxurious amenities, but also offer some of the best golf in the state.

Start with the Westin Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor. No less an authority than Ernie Els, the globe-trotting South African star, called Innisbrook’s famous Copperhead Course “the best course we (the PGA Tour) play in Florida.” Considering some of the alternatives – Doral’s Blue Monster, Arnie’s own Bay Hill and Pete Dye’s bit of architorture at the Stadium Course of the TPC at Sawgrass – Els’ opinion, backed by similar comments from the other tour players, is high praise indeed.

The Copperhead Course has long been one of Florida’s highest-ranked courses. Whether one is a touring pro or a confirmed chopper, the course is unrelentingly tough. Long, narrow fairways twisting through the piney woods, past lurking lagoons and around upsweeping bunkers, the course features elevation changes, tricky and fast greens and demands intelligent course management to avoid high scores.

Ironically, it may not be the best course at Innisbrook. The Island Course is the resort’s sleeper 18, demanding just as much precise shotmaking on holes that may be even more scenic. The front nine winds through a dark and foreboding wetlands area, while the back nine provides a bit more open area for the bombers, but is anything but a pushover.

The other two courses at Innisbrook, Highlands North and South, are more typical resort courses, shorter and a bit more manageable, yet the usual combination of sea breezes, up- and downhill movement, ponds, lagoons, tidal creeks, bunkers and forests demand the golfer’s attention.

The Innisbrook Troon Golf Institute, ably run for decades by Jay Overton and Lew Smithers III, is one of the highest-rated golf schools in the state, with its own 15-acre teaching center and a busy year-round schedule of schools, classes and daily clinics.

The suite-like villas spread throughout Innisbrook’s green, campus-like acreage feature sitting parlors and balconies or patios, many overlooking one of the resort’s four courses. The bedrooms feature Westin’s Heavenly Bed, and most units have full kitchen facilities.

Rapid shuttle service whisks guests to any of the resort’s fine restaurants. Packard’s Steakhouse offers prime cut Angus steaks and delicious seafood in a clubhouse setting, complete with an extensive martini list.

Toscana Ristorante, open seasonally, offers excellent Northern Italian cuisine, while the casual Bamboo’s Grill, The Grill at Loch Ness and the Turnberry Pub appeal to golfers looking for an après-round bite.

The spectacular Vinoy Hotel opened to rave reviews in 1925 on the waterfront in downtown St. Petersburg. Today, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Renaissance Vinoy Resort and Golf Club still boasts that stylish veneer and attracts high-profile guests, ranging from movie stars (George Clooney, Julia Roberts) to great chefs (Wolfgang Puck) to, yes, even golf pros (Tiger Woods).

The glowing pink stucco walls and soaring bell tower, distinctive landmarks on the St. Pete waterfront, give way inside to a magnificent vaulted ceiling lobby. The public rooms continue the scheme of Art Deco matched with European flair to create inviting spaces. There are a total of 360 rooms and suites, including a newer wing next to the historic Vinoy structure, all warmly decorated and finely appointed.

Guests at the Renaissance Vinoy are shuttled the two miles to the quiet, clubby site of the Vinoy Golf Club on Snell Island. This course was totally renovated by Florida architect Ron Garl in 1992, and while it is not the longest course in the state (6,511 yards from the tips) it is anything but a pushover.

The name of the game on this course is control. Water lurks dangerously on almost every hole, never more so than on the difficult, par-five 16th hole, a 568-yard beast with water to the left, water to the right and water virtually surrounding the island green. My playing partners, local members of the semi-private club, called this hole “Bo Derek,” because, they said, everyone gets a 10 on it!

After the round, the sybaritic golfer will want to make a beeline back to the Vinoy for an appointment in the hotel’s day spa. Along with full salon services, a staff of expert masseuses can uncrick any golfer’s twisted back and smooth out a day’s worth of missed putts. Outside, a beautiful heated pool, with cascading waterfalls and hot tubs, is another good place to forget about double-bogies and enjoy the warm St. Pete sun.

Come evening, the choices are excellent for fine dining. After a cocktail on the outdoor veranda, you can choose continental fare at Marchand’s Grill, the casual elegance of Alfresco’s or the Polo Club ambience of Fred’s, serving excellent steaks and seafood (Fred’s is open to club members and hotel guests only).

There are two other historic hotels in the area where golfers can surround themselves in the kind of luxury they’d like to be accustomed to.

The Don Cesar Beach Resort’s pink flamingo towers and turrets have perched on the Gulf of Mexico beachfront at Pass-A-Grille Island since 1928. Golfers who like to start their day with a stroll on the beach, or end it with a cocktail in the Sunset Lounge – hoping for a glimpse of that elusive green flash when the sun dips below the horizon – could find no better place.

Whether you stay in one of the sumptuously decorated rooms in the pink towers, or splurge on the boutique-style suites at the adjacent Beach House, the Don, or the Pink Lady, as this hotel is variously known, offers the kind of comfortable coddling that PGA Tour players get every week.

Dinner at the Maritana Grille is both a culinary and visual experience, as the room is surrounded by 1,500 gallons of saltwater aquariums and their swimming denizens. Executive Chef Eric Neri’s cuisine complements the décor, and a prized seat at the Chef’s Table, right in the center of the nightly kitchen action, is a rare treat.

While the Don doesn’t have a golf course of its very own, it does have playing privileges for its guests at the nearby Isla del Sol Yacht and Country Club. With a typical Florida course of palm trees, water hazards and bunkers galore, the gusty breezes flowing in off Boca Ciega Sound and the private, clubby feel of the place, it’s an enjoyable spot to tee it up. The efficient concierge staff at the Don can also help golfing guests book tee times at any of the other fine courses in the St. Petersburg/Clearwater area.

Yet another historic property in the area is the Belleview Biltmore Resort in Clearwater. Rising from the white bluffs on what is now the Intracoastal Waterway, this magnificent wooden structure was completed in 1897, and its heart-of-pine construction has outlasted a century of change.

The resort’s golf course, the Belleview Biltmore Golf Club, is a sprightly 1920s-era design by Donald Ross, the great architect of the early years of the last century. With its small, crowned greens, long par-threes and subtle use of bunkers and water, one can still experience the challenges that defined Ross’ work.

Alas, the future of the Belleview Biltmore is in some doubt. A developer has purchased the property and announced plans to convert some or all of the hotel building into luxury condos. Still, the hotel plans to remain open at least through 2006, if not beyond, providing nostalgia buffs with a chance, perhaps, to experience a true throwback whose likes may not be seen again.

For more information on the above resorts and courses, or for help in planning your own golf getaway, visit www.FloridasBeach.com or call the St. Petersburg/Clearwater Area Convention & Visitors Bureau at 877-352-3224.

By James Y. Bartlett (Member, Golf Writer’s Assocoation of America)

Courtesy of  visitflorida.com