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Tampa, Florida
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For hundreds of years, people have been coming to the area now known as Tampa, Florida, in search of one thing or another. In 1521, before moving on to the northeast empty-handed, Ponce de Leon made a visit here in hopes of finding the Fountain of Youth. Eighteen years later, Hernando De Soto dropped anchor in a nearby bay and came on land looking for gold (also unsuccessfully). Many others since then, however, have come here (especially during the winter) and found exactly what they were looking for: warm weather and great golf.
 Two indications of how sensational the golf is in Tampa is (1) the fact that both the PGA Tour and Champions Tour have events here each year, and (2) the players rave about the sites, neither of which is a private club. The PGA Tour stop is the Chrysler Championship, played on the
Copperhead Course at
Innisbrook Resort. How good is the Copperhead? Ernie Els said: "It's the best course the PGA Tour plays in Florida." Fred Couples said: "This is easily one of the four or five best courses we play all year." Stewart Cink said: "They should play a U.S. Open on this course." Even higher praise comes from guests at the Innisbrook Resort, who are allowed to play the Copperhead and/or any of the three other Larry Packard-designed courses there. Gee, wouldn't a chance to play the Copperhead warm up your winter?
The Champions Tour event each February - the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am - takes place at the
TPC of Tampa Bay, a Bobby Weed-design that's located in Lutz, just north of the city. Tom Weiskopf, Ray Floyd, and many other players love it. Hey, if you plan your trip right, you could play the TPC of Tampa Bay and then watch the pros play it when you get back home. Or better yet, play it and then get tickets and watch the pros play it in person. "Honey, I had that same putt last week. Watch, it breaks a little to the left. See?"
Two other great spots to tee it up just north of Tampa are
Saddlebrook Resort in Wesley Chapel and World Woods near Brooksville. Saddlebrook's first course was designed by former PGA Tour player Dean Refram in 1976. Ten years later, Arnold Palmer was hired to remodel the course and to also design a second 18-hole layout for Saddlebrook. Not surprisingly ("the King" wouldn't have it any other way), neither course is a pushover. Oh, and you definitely need to keep it in play - there's water on 34 of the 36 holes.
No reason to sugar coat it: World Woods - roughly 40 minutes north of Tampa via the Suncoast Parkway - could be described as "off the beaten path." The same, however, could be said for the Village of Pinehurst - but if you've had that experience then you know it's worth the trip. World Woods is, too. The two courses here,
Pine Barrens and
Rolling Oaks - both designed by Tom Fazio - are as different as night and day but truly exceptional layouts, especially the former. Partly due to its numerous and expansive waste bunkers, Pine Barrens is frequently compared to the course that is annually rated No.1 in America: the exclusive Pine Valley in New Jersey. In 2004, GOLF Magazine rated Pine Barrens No.9 on its list of "Top 100 courses you can play" - ahead of such famous tour stops as Spyglass Hill, Torrey Pines and Harbour Town. How's that for a recommendation? If you're heading down for some sun and fun - winter or summer - make sure World Woods is part of the package.
 New to the Tampa golf vacation scene is the upscale Emerald Greens Private Resort. This new resort features 27 newly renovated holes of championship golf by Dan Maples, famed for his outstanding design work in the Sandhills region of North Carolina, a beautiful full service clubhouse, and brand new vacation villas are opening in October 2007. While in Tampa, be sure to stay & play the only Dan Maples design in the state of Florida.
Other fine Tampa tracts to take a look at include Heritage Isles, Northdale, Westchase and Fox Hollow. Fox Hollow is a remarkable Robert Trent Jones Sr. design that boasts brand new Seaside Paspalum putting surfaces. Heritage Isles, a Jed Azinger/Gordon Lewis design that measures nearly 7,000 yards from the back tees and has water in play on every single hole is a great challenge. Ron Garl's gorgeous Northdale and the tight and tough Lloyd Clifton-designed Westchase can also play as big as you want them. A suggestion, though: Since you're here on R & R, leave the back tees at all these courses to the people that mow them. You'll have more fun in the sun if you do.
Should you find yourself in need of a break from golf (hey, it could happen), you won't have to search long to discover other things to do. Depending on the time of year, you could spend a few hours cheering (or jeering) one of Tampa's three professional sports teams: the Buccaneers, Devil Rays and Lightning. Love water sports? Tampa Bay and Hillsborough Bay are close by for boating, snorkeling fishing and kayaking. Prefer canoeing to kayaking? Hillsborough State Park is a 16,000-acre nature preserve that offers some of the prettiest paddling and best wildlife watching in the state. And if you'd rather consume fish than catch them, the restaurants of Tampa and nearby Westshore can provide you with more choices of excellent - and international - cuisine than you can count. Among the many fine establishments to consider are Charley's Steak House & Market Fresh Fish, Hope Restaurant & Brewery, Crabby Bill's Beach Club, and Hemmingway's.
And when the Sun rises in the morning, you can tee it up again, or shop, or hit the beach or any of a number of enjoyable activities that are available. After all, that's why so many people have been coming to Tampa for so long. Most are searching for a good time, and they know they'll find it.
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