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ChasLawler

Cocoa Beach, FL suggestions
« on: March 07, 2005, 05:57:45 PM »
Anybody know of anything new or worth seeing in the area? I haven't been down there in a couple of years. I've done Cocoa Beach CC and Baytree, and while CBCC might be a great bargain, I'd like to find something a bit more stimulating, but am not that interested in driving to Orlando to find it.

Andy Doyle

Re:Cocoa Beach, FL suggestions
« Reply #1 on: March 07, 2005, 06:13:00 PM »
About 30 miles away (west of Melbourne on Hwy 192) is Harmony, a Johnny Miller design.  I've only looked at the website, but am playing it this Sunday as part of my spring golf orgy.

http://www.harmonygolfpreserve.com/pn/102802.asp

Andy

ChasLawler

Re:Cocoa Beach, FL suggestions
« Reply #2 on: March 08, 2005, 07:51:04 AM »
Thanks Andy - that looks interesting. I'd be interested in hearing what you think after you play it.

Andy Doyle

Re:Cocoa Beach, FL suggestions
« Reply #3 on: March 08, 2005, 08:50:35 AM »
Cabell:

I'll put up a report next week after I get back - hopefully some pics, too.

Andy

Andy Doyle

Re:Cocoa Beach, FL suggestions
« Reply #4 on: March 15, 2005, 02:53:00 PM »
Cabell:

Back from my spring golfing trip to Orlando.  Played Harmony Preserve on Sunday - 2 rounds.  I didn't get any pictures, but here are my impressions of the course.

I would highly recommend this course.  It's the first Johnny Miller course I've played, and I enjoyed it very much.  The setting is very nice - it is in a housing development (a planned community - houses, condos, schools, dog park, etc.) but it doesn't take away from the golf course.  The course is situated so that it is isolated somewhat from all the other stuff, particularly the back 9.  We saw wild turkeys, egrets, armadillos, alligators & even a bald eagle during our rounds.  It is a vast, open property - it is set up against some beautiful wooded, natural areas, but the course itself is very open.  The wind was blowing the day we played, which adds to the challenge of the course.

The greens were excellent - very firm and very fast.  Enough contour to be interesting, but not really big contours.  Very smooth and rolled very true.

Fairways were also very firm and very fast - a lot of bounce and roll.  A large number of greens were open in the front allowing you to run the ball on, which was good in the wind.  There is a lot of water on the course, but didn't always come into play.  There were also large waste areas and bunkers.  I didn't like the sand they used in the bunkers, though - it was like beach sand - very heavy, difficult to hit out of (and rake!).  Large, open natural grassy areas alongside of or between fairways - gave you that sense of openness and gave you a shot at finding your ball if you were off line.

The service was really good - very friendly.  They gave you a yardage book even though they had GPS on the carts - I liked that touch (mostly because I collect them and hate paying extra for them).  Nice clubhouse & bar - I gave the cheeseburger about a 7.5.

This was a great place to play - definitely worth the drive down from Cocoa.  I hope they don't ruin it with the residential development.

Andy

ChasLawler

Re:Cocoa Beach, FL suggestions
« Reply #5 on: March 16, 2005, 03:46:48 PM »
Thanks Andy - I'll try to check it out.

I'm curious if the course is walker friendly. I'm not a big fan of carts and desperately need the exercise, but I don't really enjoy long treks between holes either.

Andy Doyle

Re:Cocoa Beach, FL suggestions
« Reply #6 on: March 16, 2005, 09:02:19 PM »
Cabell:

For a development course, it's actually pretty walking-friendly.  As you would expect from Florida, the terrain is pretty flat.  On the front, there's a bit of a walk from 1 to 2 and 4 to 5, but it's not bad.  On the back there's a hike from 11 to 12 and then from 13 back to 14 (12 & 13 are somewhat isolated), but most of the green to tee distances are very reasonable.

I usually like to walk, but rode at Harmony.  This was one of the stops in our spring golf orgy - 162 holes in 6 days.  Miller did route the cart paths so that they are not too intrusive - hid them behind mounds, etc.

Andy

Mike Sweeney

Re: Cocoa Beach, FL suggestions
« Reply #7 on: December 23, 2013, 06:10:39 AM »
Played it yesterday and someone asked me offline what I thought so posting here to update:

I got picked up at the airport by a friend and sent the family off to Disney. We drove to Harmony which is probably 40 minutes away and it was probably 45 minutes home to Disney. We wanted to play a Johnny Miller course and we have read all the negative reviews here about his West Coast courses. Harmony was $50 on GolfNow, and the rates drop even further after 1PM. When the course first opened, it was in the $125 range I am told.

They allow walking and it was much more open than "standard Florida", and the houses that have been built are set way back, kind of like Mountain Lake. The people were very nice and the community has a very active feel to it, and there was a horse show for kids going on in the complex. Many of the housing courses in Florida have a dead feeling in the community, but Harmony had a nice feel. There were some interesting holes too, very solid Florida Doak 5.

Issues:

  • the native areas are grown in now, In general, Florida just catch spend the $$ for 12 months of spraying the "native sand areas", which obviously aren't native in the golf version of sand only
  • again, they are very friendly and they allow walking. The property is broken into three pieces with 2-4 and then two holes on the back being on separate parcels of land. Long walks too and from but other than that it is very walkable.
  • The course was in good shape but the greens would not be called fast and the overseeding season means it is not firm which is true of most places in Central Florida now

We did see a bunch of wild life out there so it is worth a trip to see it for a quiet round away from the crowds. Good golf and conditioning  combined with a very nice atmosphere and staff made for a very nice day at Harmony. Nobody is going to give up a round at Streamsong or Pine Barrens for Harmony, but a tie in with airport logistics on a fly in or fly out day probably works.
« Last Edit: December 23, 2013, 06:43:17 AM by Mike Sweeney »

Bill Gayne

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Cocoa Beach, FL suggestions
« Reply #8 on: December 23, 2013, 02:52:49 PM »
Green fees are cheap in Florida. Played Deltona today for $21.50 with cart. We could have waited to later in the day and the rate would have been $15.

archie_struthers

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Cocoa Beach, FL suggestions
« Reply #9 on: December 23, 2013, 05:12:28 PM »
 ;D :D ;)

The Majors Golf  Club, just west of Melbourne , is one of the best  AP courses I've played . Particularly fun for the mid -handicapper  7-15 .  Lots of good holes , nice mix of fives and fours . Very enjoyable .

Joe Jemsek

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Cocoa Beach, FL suggestions
« Reply #10 on: December 23, 2013, 05:12:46 PM »
Check out Walkabout in Mims, FL. It's a Perry Dye/Jan Stephanson designed course that has plenty of risk-reward holes to keep the golfers entertained. The development never took off and conditioning is hit or miss, but 30ish with carts.

www.walkaboutgolf.com
Have clubs, will travel