Pat:
Glad you are enjoying this.
I highlighted Flagler's influence on the development of golf in Florida in another recent thread, and the railroads and their hand-in-hand relationship with the various resorts where the primary driver for the growth of the game all over the South. Flagler even had a separate spur line built from the mainland to the Royal Poinciana so that private rail cars could pull right up to the resort.
At some point, the automobile became as big or bigger of a factor, with Carl Fischer being the predominant driving force in constructing the Dixie Highway and building hotels and golf courses at its terminus. The number of automobile guide books produced after World War I could provide a family with decades of vacation routes, stops and golf courses to play.
The story is not entirely a happy one, as the real estate crash of 1926 and the devastating hurricanes around that time brought new construction to a standstill. There were still a few courses built in the subsequent years up to World War II, but for the most part Florida's heyday had come and gone (by the time things picked up, the advent of commercial airlines meant many Americans were travelling to increasingly more remote locations for their relaxation).
It is also an interesting exercise to contrast what is taking place at Streamsong with the development of places like Palm Beach, Miami Beach and St. Augustine. There are certain similarities now nearly 100 years on, yet the key differences serve to reflect a different set of ideals and sensibilities from that bygone era.
Sven