[John Nixon]

Friend of mine has an enticing job offer in JAX, and would appreciate any thoughts you all might have on Deerwood Country Club in Jacksonville, FL.  Specifically:

1. Experience playing at Deerwood Country Club in Jacksonville, FL.
2. Thoughts on the Brian Silva improvments.
3. Anything else he should know before joining there.

TIA for your help.

[John Nixon]

Anyone?

Bueller.....?

[Chris Neff]

What part of JAX will he be living? Lots of choices depending on where he will be living! Deerwood did a great job renovating a great course.Started over from scratch new course and great modern clubhouse. Lost some members at first, but have really picked up since renovation. Silva did a good job with it though.

Chris Neff

[Steve_Lovett]

Deerwood is terrific.  The original was a George Cobb design circa 1960 - with a very nice setting in a mature pine/oak forest.  It is a housing development course, but the corridors are fairly broad and the homes are for the most part not overbearing to the golf course.

The renovation has been done for a year, and it is quite good.  Some of the sharp doglegs the course was known for have been softened, drainage and irrigation updated and modernized, and strategy infused throughout.  It was a total overhaul and is probably one of the better courses in the Jacksonville area.  The clubhouse is modern, yes - but I wouldn't call it great.  It is new, almost with a "sqeeky clean" institutional feeling.  

Depending on the part of town, other good private options might be Timuquana (near the Ortega/Avondale/Riverside part of town), San Jose (just south of downtown in the San Marco/San Jose area), Selva Marina (an older club in Atlantic Beach), Sawgrass, Marsh Landing, or Ponte Vedra Club (all in Ponte Vedra Beach).  Of those, I would consider Timuquana, Ponte Vedra's Ocean Course, and Deerwood to be the best.

Good luck.  

[John Nixon]

Great - thanks for the input. My friend replies as follows:

1. Deerwood is 2.7 miles from the office and where I will be living if I can find a house that I like and the course is acceptable.

2. I will have playing privlieges at Marsh Landing either way so I'm not considering it as an option.

3. The other courses that I'm considering are (in this order):
1. Palencia
2. Sawgrass Country Club
3. Plantation at Ponte Vedra
4. TPC at Sawgrass
5. Glen Kernan

If anyone else has more thoughts please let us know.

[Steve_Lovett]

If Deerwood is so close to your friends work - it is probably a good choice.  As for the others, Deerwood is much better than Palencia, especially since it is so far to the south.  TPC Sawgrass is a resort course, and is in good shape a very small percentage of the year - and the Plantation at Ponte Vedra has memberships open only to property holders.  Sawgrass CC is nice - many people commute from the beach into the Deerwood area.  Glen Kernan doesn't get much play, and it is expensive - very much a "new money" kind of place, and pretentious.

Has your friend played any of the other courses - or spent much time in the Jacksonville area?

[John Nixon]

Thanks Steve. My friend's reply:

"I have played Palencia and enjoyed the course. In general I have a fairly low opinion of most courses in Florida from a simple style perspective. I prefer either true links golf, mountain golf or desert golf (I know that opinion is not popular at GCA  ) but since none of those options are available to me in FL I'm going to make the best out of it.

I've played both courses at the TPC multiple times so I know what I'm getting there and honestly at this point it would be in last place. I do like the options the TPC network gives me and the ability to host people for business purposes at the Stadium course although I know it is indeed in crappy shape most of the year and really, I don't love it anyway.

I have not played any of the others yet. I'm playing Deerwood on 1/6 or 1/7. I really want to love it. The commute is perfect. I have not set up rounds at others yet but will before I join any course.

I'm in the fortunate position that money is not too much of a concern as long as we are happy with the community as well as the course. I will be living in the community of the club I join for sure. Living in AZ has taken the sting out of joining a course in FL as we're used to crazy initiation fees here so everything seems very reasonable at this point. That said, I'm not just chucking out money to do so. I'm going to need to enjoy the course and the community.

Knowing the my requirements are more in the line of community and course together are there any other courses you think I should consider? I have been to JAX many times and know the area. My office will be at Baymeadows and I95.

Also, any thoughts on commuting on JT Butler from Ponte Vedra. It scares me a little bit but I've been told it should be OK after the construction is finished. I was down there last week and it didn't look like they had too much more to do.

Thanks for any thoughts you can provide. "

[Steve_Lovett]

From Ponte Vedra to Butler/I-95, where my office was until a month or two ago incidentally, is no bargain.  Depends on your tolerance for a commute.  It can be 20-30 minutes, or it can be easily an hour or more.  I wouldn't, but that's just me.

If you want to live IN a golf community, I think Deerwood would be the ticket.  Jacksonville G&CC is another option to consider - it is not a bad club, but a far inferior course when compared with Deerwood.

My other favorites are Pablo Creek (Fazio - expensive and exclusive) and Timuquana (Donald Ross - redone nicely by Bobby Weed)...

Merry Christmas!

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