I’m in Miami with family for the holidays, so I’m enjoying getting away from the cold rain of the Pacific Northwest and playing some south Florida golf. My first round of the trip was on the day after... Continue »

I’m in Miami with family for the holidays, so I’m enjoying getting away from the cold rain of the Pacific Northwest and playing some south Florida golf. My first round of the trip was on the day after Christmas at the Biltmore in Coral Gables, a place I had played about 10 years ago, and was dying to try again to see if it would live up to my fond memories. While it wasn’t perfect, it did.

I’ll start with the one disappointment, which was the greens. They had been verticut recently, and were being sanded that very morning right in front of us as we played (I was in the 4th group out). I don’t mind that this was being done, I appreciate them taking good care of the course, but no mention was made when I had called a few days before to book the tee time, and confirm that I’d be allowed to walk. The greens still rolled pretty well, but their speed was quite inconsistent. There were showers off and on, so on some greens the sand wasn't as present as others, so it often felt like a total guess at what was going to happen with a putt.

The rest of the course was really quite nice. There were some bare spots in the fairways, but they were always in spots that you shouldn’t be in. If you hit a solid shot off the tee, you got a nice lie in short grass that was very pleasant to hit from. The rough was consistent, and the ball could really sit down and be tough to play from. Tee boxes were level for the most part, with the par 3s being a little bit beat up. I found one green side and one fairway bunker, and both had the right amount of nice, soft sand.

The layout here is what really shines. Unlike a lot of Florida courses, walking is allowed (there are some restrictions on weekends) and I wasn’t the only one taking advantage of this, as it is a great layout to walk. I played the blue tees (6448 yds, 71.2, 126) and found it to be just the right length and challenge. The front 9 has a couple of short 4s that aren’t exactly thrilling, but other than that all of the holes are really fun, nice to look at, and very fair. All of the greens have some obvious and subtle breaks, so 2 putts can be very difficult. The complexes are also a bit raised, so most up and downs aren’t simple either. I paid the rack out of town rate, somewhere around $180, and even with the sanded greens I’m glad I played it. I bet on any other day, when the greens are in their normal condition, the place is awesome. For me, it’s definitely a must play when in Miami.