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About Golf In Brooksville, FL
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Brooksville, Florida (Return to Previous Page)
For those of you unfamiliar with Brooksville, Florida, this lovely little city and the surrounding area may seem at first glance to be hardly worth a glance when planning your next golf trip. After all, it is a bit remote (40 miles north of Tampa, 70 miles northwest of Orlando). In truth, though, the area is one of the best golf destinations the Sunshine State has to offer. Whether this is the result of an incident that took place well over a hundred years ago is hard to say. But - just like making a hole-in-one - it is possible. Brooksville, it turns out (population 7,000), is named for Preston Brooks, a congressman from South Carolina in the 1850s. And Brooks, it turns out, is actually rather famous for a number of swings that he made with a club in 1856. No, it was not on a golf course; it was on the floor of the United States Senate. It was on May 22nd of that year that Brooks - a representative of a slave state and a proponent of the practice - delivered his response to some recent anti-slavery remarks made by Charles Sumner, the Republican senator from Massachusetts. Walking stealthily into the Senate chamber carrying a metal-headed cane (loft and shaft-flex unknown), Brooks stepped up to the tee behind Sumner as he sat quietly signing papers. Without a word (and without yelling "Fore!" afterwards, either, apparently), the congressman from South Carolina proceeded to pretend Sumner's head was a Titleist Pro V1x. Several swings later ("a bit quick but repeatable," one member of the gallery said later), the congressman calmly left the premises - his club broken in half, his target now literally on the floor and unconscious. Charles eventually recovered and Preston eventually resigned (only to be quickly re-elected), but there simply has to be a connection between the congressman "taking a whack at it" that day and the golf Mecca that Brooksville has become. And while it's definitely difficult to condone the congressman's actions, it's impossible to condone passing up the great golf around Brooksville simply because it's a few miles off the beaten path. That would really be crazy.
In Golf Digest's most recent listing of "America's 100 Greatest Golf Courses," Number 1 was Pine Valley in New Jersey and Number 2 was Augusta National in Georgia. Fantastic layouts? Absolutely. Tough to get on? Nearly impossible. But wait. After experiencing the 36-hole facility at Brooksville's World Woods Golf Club, a past president of the PGA of America said the following: "This is like having Pine Valley and Augusta National - plus the best practice facility in the world - in the same location." And guess what? World Woods is a public access property - plus, it's one of the best values in Florida. Opened in 1993, World Woods features two Tom Fazio designs that are as different as night and day but as cool as they come. The more famous of the two, Pine Barrens, was recently ranked #26 in Golf Digest's list of "America's 100 Greatest Public Courses." Creatively carved out of an expansive pine forest, Pine Barrens would not be considered a long layout by today's standards (6,902 yards from the furthest of its four sets of tees). However, this very interesting and challenging golf course is frequently referred to as "big." The fairways are big, the trees lining many of the holes are big, the visually intimidating untamed waste bunkers are big, and the putting surfaces are big. It's wild, it's wonderful, and it's very different (at least for Mr. Fazio). The second course here, though - Rolling Oaks - is quite typical of Tom's work. Slightly longer than Pine Barrens at 6,985 yards from the tips (three other tees are available), Rolling Oaks is probably a more playable and less intimidating layout for the higher handicap golfer - yet it's still a good test, even for the better players. While Pine Barrens has a wildness to its appearance, Rolling Oaks is straightforward, well defined and much more tidily maintained. Instead of tall pines lining the holes, giant live oaks draped with Spanish moss have been utilized to provide dramatic accents. And when the Azaleas are in bloom? Well, that's when you'll know why Rolling Oaks reminds so many visitors of Augusta National.
World Woods' appeal, however, extends well beyond its gorgeous golf courses. Here you'll also find what many golfers feel is the best practice facility they've ever seen. Its centerpiece is a 22-acre, 360-degree practice range with all-grass tees, and it's designed in such a way that it can offer golfers virtual seclusion while they work. There is also a two-acre practice putting green, two pitch-and-chip practice greens with bunkers, a three-hole practice course (featuring a par three, a par four and a par five), and a nine-hole short course with seven par 3s and two par 4s. Obviously, with all that's available at World Woods, there's a myriad of "play and practice" opportunities to choose from. Thanks to a variety of accommodations in the Brooksville area, a number of "stay and play" packages are available. The wise traveling golfer, however, will allow enough time to experience the other nearby layouts. Two of Brooksville's best - which, unfortunately, are a bit overshadowed by the tracts at World Woods - are Hernando Oaks, and Silverthorn.
One of the area's newest golf courses, and one of its prettiest, is Hernando Oaks - a Scott Pate design that opened to excellent reviews in 2003. Like Rolling Oaks at World Woods, this lovely layout takes advantage of the numerous, moss-draped oak trees on the property and uses them to frame many of the holes. At 6,905 yards from the tips (four other tees are available), it's also similar in length. Unlike Rolling Oaks, however - which only has water on two holes - Hernando Oaks features water in play on seven holes. Thankfully, all of the carts here are equipped with a Global Positioning System (GPS) that will tell you exactly how far you have to hit it to carry the H2O.
More "classic" in its architecture is Silverthorn, a Joe Lee layout that was built in 1994. Somewhat surprisingly - since it's not that old - Silverthorn only has three sets of tees. It's not brutally long, either, at only 6,827 yards from the back markers. However, it wouldn't be wise to think that Silverthorn's modest length means it's a pushover. Tight, tree-lined fairways, links-style holes that are open to the stiff Central Florida wind, well-sloped greens, and a total of 96 bunkers combine to make this golf course a real challenge.
Outside of the City of Brooksville, another great place to drop your anchor for a few days (and kill two birdies with one stone, so to speak) is the Plantation Inn and Golf Resort in nearby Crystal River. Opened in 1962 but extensively renovated in 1997, the Plantation Inn offers guests a beautiful natural setting and tons of Old South Charm. In addition to the 143 rooms here - including 12 villas and five condos - there's an 18-hole golf course that was designed by Mark Mahanah and a nine-hole "executive" course.
Even sturdier - at least in terms of length - are the layouts that you'll find at Lake Jovita Golf & Country Club. Located in Dade City, less than a half hour south of Brooksville, Lake Jovita is a gorgeous 36-hole facility equipped with an element rarely found on Florida golf courses: elevation changes. And many are quite dramatic. Lake Jovita's original course, the South, is the design effort of architect Kurt Sandess and former British Open champion Tom Lehman. Opened in 1999, the South features fairways lined with live oak trees, velvety putting surfaces, near-immaculate playing conditions, and terrain that puts the "R" in rolling. At the par-five 11th, for example, the drop from tee to green is a whopping 94 feet - the largest natural elevation change on any course in the Sunshine State. Equally whopping is the back-tee measurement at the South: 7,153 yards. Lake Jovita's North course, also designed by Mr. Sandess, is the newest course in the area. Opened in 2005, the North is even bigger than the South (7,226 yards from the back markers), arguably even more beautiful, and its elevation changes are even more dramatic - if that's possible. Lake Jovita is definitely worth a look.
In truth, the whole Brooksville area is worth a look when you're searching for a new place to tee it up. At first glance, without a doubt, it will seem as if it's "out in the middle of nowhere." In reality, it's out in the middle of great golf.In truth, the whole Brooksville area is worth a look when you're searching for a new place to tee it up. At first glance, without a doubt, it will seem as if it's "out in the middle of nowhere." In reality, it's out in the middle of great golf.
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