World Woods

[Anders Rytter]

Hi All,
Im considering a trip to worlds woods this march but don't know a lot about the place.

Is i worth the trip, how good are the courses there?

But also, if i bring my wife how's the experience if you're only a part-time golfer?

Any help/info would be appreciated.

[Joe Bausch]

In March I'll be going to WW for about the 8th time in the last dozen years.  So clearly me and my buddies love it.

See this thread on my WW trip last year:

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,47561.0.html

[Rob_Waldron]

WW offers one of the best 36-hole golfng experiences in the US. One of the great things about it is that due to the in season cost and remote location tyoically only die hard golfers venture to the property. Rounds generally played in about 4 hours providing ample time to play the second 18, the 9-hole short course or do some work on the three practice holes and fantastic practice facilities. That being said, the course does have multiple sets of tees which can accomodate golfers of varying ability levels.

[Greg Tallman]

How long is your visit? How does your wife take to being in a remote, golf only setting?

[jeffwarne]

Will be interesting to see how World Woods fares once Streamsong comes on.

Both are remote
Both are an hour from Tampa, both an hour and a half from Orlando.

One set with yesteryears "go to" architect,
another set with both of todays.

If Streamsong goes with mandatory caddies(that should be a massive headache for someone), WW will win the affordability war,
although it does sound like the amenities at Streamsong will be far greater than the simple(and perfect) setup at WW.

It's a shame they couldn't take the amenities and (caddies) over to WW  and go with the simple deal at Streamsong

before you all pounce, I am aware they are designed to meet different needs, but a man can dream right?

[John Mayhugh]

A trip to Brooksville and World Woods is a great idea.  In addition to the two World Woods courses, you should also check out the Dunes Club and Brooksville CC.  I didn't get a chance to play the latter, but I've heard good things about Weed's work there.

Perhaps Joe Bausch could be coaxed to share photos of all of the courses with you.  I suspect he has quite a few.

Outside of golf (and fishing), there didn't seem like a lot to do there, though the beach and Tampa aren't that far away.

[Joe Bausch]

Here is a photo album of Brooksville CC, which has some real fun stuff on the back nine:

http://xchem.villanova.edu/~bausch/images/albums/brooksvillecc/

And here is a photo album of The Dunes Club:

http://xchem.villanova.edu/~bausch/images/albums/dunesgolfclub_fl/

And here is WW Pine Barrens:

http://xchem.villanova.edu/~bausch/images/albums/wwpinebarrens/

And here is WW Rolling Oaks:

http://xchem.villanova.edu/~bausch/images/albums/wwrollingoaks/

[Tom Ferrell]

I played Pine Barrens on Saturday for the first time in about 10 years.  It's been an eventful 10 years, marked by my pursuing a fairly intensive program of golf architecture study, research and writing.  I wanted to go back to World Woods because it is one of those places that I loved prior to developing a real interest in GCA, and because I had the chance to take a good friend.

First off, we spent Friday night at The Plantation, after getting a tip about it from a kitchen guy at The Hungry Fisherman, located just over the Withlacoochee River bridge on Route 44 in the middle of nowhere.  What a great tip!  Spent the evening in the bar and the sunrise hour exploring the grounds of the place.  http://www.plantationoncrystalriver.com/

Then on to Pine Barrens.  I won't bore with a long review, although I will say that in between PB visits, I have visited and played many of America's most notable courses.  Pine Barrens stands with any of them.  If you could see the ocean from there, it would be world top 10, IMO.  It's THAT good.  Minimalist Fazio (yes, an oxymoron that belong up there with jumbo shrimp and government intelligence).  Strategic choices abound.  The integration of the sandy barrens into the design at times sublime and other times striking.  The internal countours of the greens and their surrounds are among the best I've ever seen.  I played the same ball all the way around.  Playability is a 10, with interest provided by a number of natural elements including woods, sand, fallaway shoulders with closely mown chipping areas and all kinds of options. 

The biggest change I noticed was on the short-4 15th, where trees used to obscure the landing area over the quarry and to the right of the green.  They have totally opened it up, and it now invites the player visually to give it a go - although the risk is significant.

World Woods Pine Barrens belongs in the very top tier discussion on American golf architecture.  They would kill in merchandising if they had a decent logo.  I HATE the World Woods name.  Sounds cheesy and ridiculous, but Pine Barrens is everything golf can and should be.  100% a FAN!

[Mike Hendren]

Depending on the size of your group I STRONGLY recommend staying at The Chaz Hotel:

http://www.chazhotel.com/

For our group of eight, we got the run of the place with each man having his own bedroom.  David Strickland is a great host and prepares some serious meals for breakfast and dinner around one large table in the kitchen.  BYOB and large room for watching tube or cards.  Just tell him what time you want dinner served when you leave in the morning.  Not a wife kind of place though they can arrange snorkeling trips to harvest scallops which David will then prepare. 

As for the golf, in my opinion the quarry holes at Brooksville CC don't make up for the pedestrian front nine.  The Dunes is quite good and the favorite among several in our group. 

Bogey

[astavrides]

How far is Streamsong from World Woods?

[Tom Ferrell]

2+ hours.

[Dan Grossman]

#4 at WW is one of my favorite par 5s anywhere.  I love the various risk / reward strategies and I have taken a go at the green in two a couple of times.  On Joe's photographs (which are great), the second shot up and over that massive fronting bunker doesn't nearly look as uphill as I remember.  But, I think it is the photography and not my mind?

I'm always amazed by how much photographs flatten the topography.

[Tom Ferrell]

You are correct.  I also have a photo from #12 that does no justice at all to the uphill nature of the second shot.

I, too, love #4.  As good as it gets, but possibly only the second best par-5 on the course, as number 14 is OUTSTANDING as well.

The other three-shotter, the sixth, while a fine golf hole, strikes me as pedestrian in contrast to the rest of the golf course.

[Kyle Harris]

2+ hours.

I've made that drive in under 2 hours. Head north on Lakeland on US98 and just avoid I75 altogether.

Just played Pine Barrens on Sunday. It's Pine Barrens as always. For me, the Rolling Oaks course is the better of the two simply because of the routing. Pine Barrens lingers around the sandy quarry, in my opinion, and I am often hard-pressed to remember holes in the middle of each nine. The Pine Barrens routing does little to explore the character of the site. With Rolling Oaks, you get the better topography and much less of the "A or B" option hole that tends to get overdone on the Pine Barrens.

My highlight hole for the Pine Barrens is #8, which in my estimation is a fine example of a sub 400 yard hole and one of Fazio's best. It can be very daunting to target the approach into this green far enough right and the bail left leaves a very tricky downhill up and down.

The overseed combined with some rain on Friday that soaked things on the peninsula made for some slow conditions but the course is quite fine along with the twilight rate of $40.

[Wade Whitehead]

Pine Barrens is a blast, plain and simple.  It's got four of the best opening holes anywhere and the middle stretch on the back is fantastic.

I haven't played Rolling Oaks since the redo but hear good things.

I wouldn't miss the chance to play World Woods.  Second place, from a distance, is The Dunes at Seville, and it's quite a fall to third.

WW

[Anders Rytter]

Thanks for all the comments!

Definitely Sounds like a place to see. Will see if i can squeeze some days in here but will have to mixed it up with some beach and city as I'm planning a SW Ireland trip later this year

again, thanks.

[Adam Clayman]

I love the 4th hole at WWPB.

Tom, There's another difference you probably didn't notice. The maintenance. 10 years ago it was management company mediocre. They only follier fed their turf, so the blade had no strength to hold up the ball. All lies were down. it was more probably noticeable on the Rolling Oaks.

Is The Plantation, the former, Southern Plantation, Pete Dye course?

[Greg Tallman]

Pine Barrens is a blast, plain and simple.  It's got four of the best opening holes anywhere and the middle stretch on the back is fantastic.

I haven't played Rolling Oaks since the redo but hear good things.

I wouldn't miss the chance to play World Woods.  Second place, from a distance, is The Dunes at Seville, and it's quite a fall to third.

WW

Love the course as well, though it could use some real TLC these days (played it in December). I think Fazio missed the marke on bunkering in a few places and the first hole is one of them. Your best play is basically a layup to the bunker that cuts across 2/3 of the fairway??? How about a smallish center line bunker cheating toward the lower left side? Something askew with the location of teh left fiarway bunker on 18 as well.

[Wade Whitehead]

18 is my least favorite hole on the course (though I made a putt there last month to push our match to the short course).

I actually like the bunker on the first because it forces you to make a decision right off the bat.  Hit less club to avoid the trap, or play to the right to go around it.  It's not a grab-your-driver-and-let-it-fly opener like so many courses have.  There's nothing subtle about it, either, which sets the tone for much of the look to come.

WW

[Greg Tallman]

18 is my least favorite hole on the course (though I made a putt there last month to push our match to the short course).

I actually like the bunker on the first because it forces you to make a decision right off the bat.  Hit less club to avoid the trap, or play to the right to go around it.  It's not a grab-your-driver-and-let-it-fly opener like so many courses have.  There's nothing subtle about it, either, which sets the tone for much of the look to come.

WW

I am ashamed to admit I can hit driver on 1 and finesse it just short of the bunker leaving a pretty easy approach.

[David Kelly]

I played WW a number of times in the first months after they opened and I've never seen a public golf course in better condition. The greens were brutally fast, especially on PB, and I saw a number of balls putted off greens.  

The people who ran WW back then had delusions of grandeur and had more courses, hotels, etc. planned.  I think it cost more to play there then than it does now and that was the mid-90s.   Then reality set in and the place slowly got shabbier.  The last time I was there the greens at PB were so shaggy they probably putted at about a 6.

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

yes

[Greg Tallman]

I played WW a number of times in the first months after they opened and I've never seen a public golf course in better condition. The greens were brutally fast, especially on PB, and I saw a number of balls putted off greens.  

The people who ran WW back then had delusions of grandeur and had more courses, hotels, etc. planned.  I think it cost more to play there then than it does now and that was the mid-90s.   Then reality set in and the place slowly got shabbier.  The last time I was there the greens at PB were so shaggy they probably putted at about a 6.

The conditions are decent, fairwasy and greens are fine. Nothing like in the past however. Green in early Decemebr were rolling nicely, maybe 9.5 or so which is fun given some of the contouring (more hole locations... or in the case of 12 upper honest hole locations).

The rates are as such at this point that, even if relatively busy (say 60,000 round), I highly doubt it pays the bills considering the amount of ground they have to prepare. Their only hope was to go the Bandon route and create a bit of a golf mecca in central florida and now with Streamsong that opportunity may be lost but I would guess Streamsong goes a but more commercial or corporate.

If the owner said I woill give you the property and ll the equipment I woudl actually have to consider the offer as I do not have another 10-15 million to pour into the place immediately.

[David Kelly]

The rates are as such at this point that, even if relatively busy (say 60,000 round), I highly doubt it pays the bills considering the amount of ground they have to prepare. Their only hope was to go the Bandon route and create a bit of a golf mecca in central florida and now with Streamsong that opportunity may be lost but I would guess Streamsong goes a but more commercial or corporate.

If the owner said I woill give you the property and ll the equipment I woudl actually have to consider the offer as I do not have another 10-15 million to pour into the place immediately.

Do they still maintain all of the practice areas?  I noticed that the WW website doesn't advertise the 3-hole practice course but it looks like the short course is still there.  Do they still have the irons-only ranges next to the first tees at both PB & RO?

The practice area is fantastic but it shows how out of touch they were to think that they needed that much space.

[Kyle Harris]

All the practice areas are there and maintained. The three practice hole greens are overseeded while the fairways are dormant. I feel as though the practice par 5 and par 4 are amongst the finest on the property!