Forgot to post two reviews from my trip to Florida last month. I found myself at Stone Creek early one morning and paid $45. Everything that I had read about Stone Creek was that the maintenance was ... Continue »

Forgot to post two reviews from my trip to Florida last month. I found myself at Stone Creek early one morning and paid $45. Everything that I had read about Stone Creek was that the maintenance was spectacular but the design was boring. If this last sentence is the only one that you read when determining to play Stone Creek, then you read a good one! I can enjoy a course for any number of reasons and nice maintenance is one of them. Great conditioning is exactly what I encountered during my visit! The course was very green and lush. The overseed came in fully on all the fairways and tees and the only brown was parts of the dormant bermuda rough. The tightly cut greens didn’t have a blade of grass that was out of place. They rolled as smoothly as anything that I’ll putt on in quite some time! I’d say they were a touch on the slow side, but I think that had to do with the early morning dew and the heavy air. The only thing that could have been better is if the fairways were cut a bit shorter. However, the staff was out with mowers working on that as we played. Before I comment in detail about the design please keep in mind that the course was designed as part of a retirement community for senior and couples play (it is part of a Del Webb community). So, if anyone is looking for a memorable or really challenging design then I’d suggest playing elsewhere. The course is built on flat ground and features massive fairways, large greens without a bunch of slope, and plenty of space to find a wayward shot. The shallow bunkers are set back from the fairways and greens and there is a chance to hit a low, running shot up onto many greens. All these things make the course very player friendly so it would be a great spot to take someone who plays just a couple times a year. I played the black tees which play 6744/71.9/126 and the rating and slope show that there is a chance to put together a good score! The only real challenge for the 0 to 10 handicap is probably going to be the distance and a couple waste bunkers that can come into play. Although, if someone isn’t hitting the irons good then that is going to put some pressure on the lag putting with the large greens. Speaking of the distance, most of the par 3’s are mid-length and the same with the par 4’s so I wish they varied more. Please don’t take my comments about the design in a negative light because I had a very relaxing, stress-free round of golf which I’m sure is exactly what the designer intended! Combine that with the excellent maintenance and I was glad that I played Stone Creek. My one tip from the guys that I golfed with was that the greens don’t break as much as they look. After playing, I agree and will pass that along to everyone else!