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From our Directory of the most recommended golf courses
Saddlebrook Resort
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Saddlebrook is located off I-75 at Wesley Chapel, 30 minutes north of Tampa. It's a full line golf and tennis resort, but the courses are available to public play. Arnold Palmer designed the Palmer course obviously, and from the back tees is 6641 yards, par 71, with a 134 slope in 1982, and is the more open and forgiving of the two courses here with mounded and sloped fairways, bordered by water and trees with more hills and elevation than the resort course. While some of the landing zones are pinched a bit, overall it's fairly forgiving off the tee, with the real challenge to the elevated and slope greens, which are fast with a good amount of break, and some are tiered. The Resort course was originally designed by Dean Refram, a former PGA Tour player, with some redesign work by Palmer. From the tips the course plays to 6564 yards, 127 slope par 70. The course is parkland style with tight tree lined fairways bordered by lakes, ponds, and wetlands, and is the tougher of the two tracks. The course layout has plenty of sand, both at the landing areas, and greenside, and is a thinking man's course with doglegs, forced carries, and tough approaches to the elevated and bunker guarded greens, with water in play on 14 holes. Both courses are resort quality amenities, service, and maintenance, and while a little more expensive than other daily fee courses in the Tampa area, and worth trying.
Published by: Seamus
Posted by: BunkerTlk
Dec 20th, 2011
For this visit to the Saddlebrook Resort, we played the resort’s namesake, the Saddlebrook Course. One of two Arnold Palmer designed courses at the resort, the other being the Palmer Course. In comparison to the Palmer, the fairways on this course are tighter and lined with a lot of Cypress and Oak trees. There is also water and sand that can come in to play on several tee shots - as well as on second and third shots. The Saddlebrook features 4 sets of tees ranging from just over 6600 yards to 5000 making it shorter than the Palmer. Don’t let the shorter yardage fool you, this course might not be as long as The Palmer, but it is set up to be more difficult than it’s neighbor. As can be expected, the conditions of the course were great with freshly cut tee boxes and fairways. The greens were well cut and true. The sand was also clean and easily playable from the fairways and around the greens. The only condition issue was found off the fairways in the first cut of rough providing another reason not to miss the fairways or you can expect your ball to settle down deep. The Saddlebrook Course is a challenge and can be great fun, but it’s best to choose your clubs off the tee wisely to avoid being frustrated by narrow fairways and deep rough. We had a tee time of 8:oo Monday morning and the price was $45 plus tax. This is a good price for this type of resort course and expected great conditions. There are deals to be had depending on what day and time of the week you can get away. Check their website for more details. We played in under 3 1/2 hours and were able to keep moving at a good pace. This course does get busy though and will take longer to play on some weekends. Visit BunkerTalk!
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Posted by: paulb
Dec 24th, 2009
Tough pace of play, took almost 5 hours to play. Golf course was in fine shape, overseeding the entire course really helps in winter conditions. Seemed a little more expensive than some of the other courses at similar quality we played in the Tampa area.
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