Jacksonville, again

[ChrisLC40]

My wife and I will be in JAX as of next Friday for a few days on our way to a week long cruise. We'll be staying with family, about 5-10 minutes north of the airport, and won't have our own transportation so proximity is a factor. The closest course would be North Hampton, which is right now at the top of my list. I'm going to avoid the rest of the Amelia Island courses out of respect for my wife and her [developing] playing abilities. We played St. John's over X-mas of 2017 and she enjoyed it and that type of course. Right now my ideas consist of:

• North Hampton
  
• Windsor Parke
  
• Hidden Hills
  
• Jax Beach GC
  
• South Hampton
  
• St. John's GCC
  

I've really enjoyed St. John's the times I've played there and the type of course it is, and North/South Hampton appear to be of similar style. To me, those are northeast FL golf. I realize South Hampton and St. John's are a ways away, but my parents can busy themselves in St. Augustine without issue.

 

Thought on those above? Any places you would go instead?

 

TY

[OffTheDole]

My wife and I will be in JAX as of next Friday for a few days on our way to a week long cruise. We'll be staying with family, about 5-10 minutes north of the airport, and won't have our own transportation so proximity is a factor. The closest course would be North Hampton, which is right now at the top of my list. I'm going to avoid the rest of the Amelia Island courses out of respect for my wife and her [developing] playing abilities. We played St. John's over X-mas of 2017 and she enjoyed it and that type of course. Right now my ideas consist of:

• North Hampton
  
• Windsor Parke
  
• Hidden Hills
  
• Jax Beach GC
  
• South Hampton
  
• St. John's GCC
  

I've really enjoyed St. John's the times I've played there and the type of course it is, and North/South Hampton appear to be of similar style. To me, those are northeast FL golf. I realize South Hampton and St. John's are a ways away, but my parents can busy themselves in St. Augustine without issue.

 

Thought on those above? Any places you would go instead?

 

TY

 

North Hampton and South Hampton are actually quite different from a design and playability perspective. North Hampton has a lot more natural areas with tall grasses and is generally a tougher layout than South Hampton, which is much more likely to yield lower scores.

 

I'd take Windsor Parke off your list for conditioning and pace of play reasons.

 

Since you'll be in the Yulee/Amelia Island/Fernandina area, you might want to call over to Amelia National and see if you can play. It's a nicely-conditioned Fazio track and they tend to offer a "member for a day" rate of $50-60 to people on their email list.

 

Also, Amelia River is nearby and tends to have good Hot Deal prices on GolfNow. It's a solid course that doesn't have what I would consider too much water for someone just starting out.

[ChrisLC40]

Thanks Dole. How is Amelia River for fairways and greens? Tight vs. generous-ish? Time to sign-up for emails to Amelia Nat'l.

[OffTheDole]

Amelia River's fairways and greens are fair, though not overly generous. Some of the holes coax long hitters into cutting a corner and bringing some trees into play. If you don't get too greedy you should be fine.

[ChrisLC40]

Definitely not a greedy player. Sounds like my sort of place. Really appreciate it Dole.

[tylerchaney904]

You should add Omni Oak Marsh along with Queens Harbour to the list

[jaxbeachpackerfan]

Agree, no Windsor Parke. Also, Northhampton is undergoing a bunker renovation project (sorely needed), so perhaps not the best time to play it. Amelia National is our group's favorite when we can't play our course. We also like Oak Marsh and some of us liked Amelia River. Jax Beach CC is getting rave reviews following its recent renovation, but it is a muni. Plus, hard to get on right now as everyone is trying to test it out. Farther south, we do like Southhampton as well as St Johns.

[ChrisLC40]

As a follow up, my wife and I ended up playing Amelia River. Weather was great albeit windy at times, staff was phenomenal. The fairways were decent while the greens were in great shape. My experience with winter golf in FL is limited to St. John's and Amelia River, but I would have to give the nod to St. John's for conditioning and consistency throughout the course. That said I definitely want to give Amelia another go around March/April. Thanks again everyone for their input.