Streamsong 2020-2021

[FlashinLeather]

Hey all,

 

Thought this could be a helpful post for anyone heading to Streamsong for the 20'-21' golf season. I have been there once before and had the same caddie two days in a row, he was fine but not very helpful besides holding the bag, pulling clubs, and cleaning balls. Going second week of November this year to play Red and Blue - excited for the new greens.

 

1. Any recommendations for a caddie?

2. What is expected as a tip for a enjoyable experience with a caddie. (Single Bag v. Double Bag).

3. Anyone play Red or Blue since it has opened - how was it?

4. Any changes re: Covid-19 - any restaurants/bars/etc. closed?

 

Thanks

 

Edited October 23, 2020 by FlashinLeather

[SouthLand]

I’m there on Monday for the first time ever.

 

Three nights and at least four rounds.  Any pro tips would be appreciated.  

[Austincountyag]

headed that way in May. Staying in Lakeland and plan on playing all 3 courses. As of now planning on carrying my bag all three rounds. Maybe take a cart for one round?

[NJPhil]

1 hour ago, Austincountyag said:

headed that way in May. Staying in Lakeland and plan on playing all 3 courses. As of now planning on carrying my bag all three rounds. Maybe take a cart for one round?

 

It can be hot in May. I would recommend taking a cart in the afternoon, but then a forecaddie is required.   

[SouthLand]

That. Was. Awesome.

 

I have to qualify this recap by leading with: this place isn’t Shangri-La. There are not so much warts, but small pimples.  I’ll lead with those.  
 

Cons:

They gouge you just because they can.
- I was charged $16 to pull a rikshaw.  Huh? It was five bucks at Bandon two years ago.  Maybe $6 this March.

- $35 to ride.  Ouch.  
- ~$25 to sit in the steam room or spa.  Come on.  You’re just cleaning and throwing new towels in the rack.  
- No putter or club demos at the Black clubhouse at least.  Charged me $15 to rent a putter when I was playing a half round with my shirt set and didn’t want to wait on them to pull out my bag from the other clubhouse.
 

* The staff was very nice and tried to be accommodating, but the quality of service for food and beverage was not good enough.  We were constantly correcting orders, asking for things that come out in the wrong order, or bewildered that something wasn’t available.  The main restaurant in the Lodge didn’t have *draft beer* if you can believe it.  Cans and bottles only.  I’ll allow that this could be due to operating with new staff and unpredictable demand due to COVID, but this area of the experience did not stack up.  I was there three nights, and neither the Italian restaurant or the rooftop bar were open at any time.  F&B options very limited with smaller menus.

 

They were running a barebones facility, which likely contributed here, but I think someone pickier (non-golfer) could really be put off here if they don’t get it up to snuff.

 

Only golf drawback was the top dressing of sand the second time we played Red.  Totally changed the look of the course for the worse (only for the first four holes or so) and the new Mach1 greens were very sandy on Red.

 

That said, I’ll definitely try and get back, ASAP.  Because the golf is totally worth it.  
 

Caveats:  I am a transplanted Southerner living in Oregon.  I miss sweating for having the gumption to step outside wearing pants or maybe just at the wrong time/lack of cloud cover.  I’m sure some don’t have the pungent nostalgia for heat and humidity that I do, so bear that in mind.

 

Golf:

 

The courses were wonderful.  
 

We walked Red the first day there, and I carried.  It was low 90s and one of our group quit after 12 holes.  Granted, he’s not very fit, but it was not the 78• I hear they’re getting next week.  I am 42 and in decent shape, but I was spent at the end of the round.  I think Red is the toughest walk, but everyone else said easiest.  
 

Great track.  Totally worth the trip on its own.  Black tees on the back are a killer of you’re not long.  Played the mixed tees with black on the front and silver on the back on our second go a few days later, and it was still plenty challenging.

 

Walked Blue pulling the rikshaw yesterday, and had no trouble, even though it was 90. Acclimated a bit, I suppose.  Awesome course, good blend of the other two.

 

Black was my favorite.  Yeah, the greens are large, but they didn’t seem absurd.  Yes, some pins can be damn tricky, but I only really paid the price when I played an awful lag or a low-quality shortgame shot.  If you didn’t take a caddy, you could easily get lost just walking around, much less get a bad break on a good shot that was just played at the wrong spot.  Reminded me a lot of Old Macdonald with alligators and better weather.

 

Golf courses beat Pinehurst and compares very favorably to Bandon in my mind.  I loved the middle of nowhere Florida vibe, and thought the architecture and style was very cool and comfortable.  We had hot weather, but got lucky and never chased off the course by storms.  Not a drop of rain.
 

Justin was our caddy for three of the rounds, and he was great.  Highly recommend him.  Low key but cool.  Knew the tracks and greens well.  
 

I’d get on a plane to go back right now if the  budget and family allowed.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SouthLand]

And we paid $50 each to have Justin forecaddie for the group.  Would have paid $125 each if he carried on a double-bagger.    Would likely pay a bit more if I were ‘weller off’. 

Edited October 30, 2020 by SouthLand

[FlashinLeather]

On 10/30/2020 at 5:38 PM, SouthLand said:

That. Was. Awesome.

 

I have to qualify this recap by leading with: this place isn’t Shangri-La. There are not so much warts, but small pimples.  I’ll lead with those.  
 

Cons:

They gouge you just because they can.
- I was charged $16 to pull a rikshaw.  Huh? It was five bucks at Bandon two years ago.  Maybe $6 this March.

- $35 to ride.  Ouch.  
- ~$25 to sit in the steam room or spa.  Come on.  You’re just cleaning and throwing new towels in the rack.  
- No putter or club demos at the Black clubhouse at least.  Charged me $15 to rent a putter when I was playing a half round with my shirt set and didn’t want to wait on them to pull out my bag from the other clubhouse.
 

* The staff was very nice and tried to be accommodating, but the quality of service for food and beverage was not good enough.  We were constantly correcting orders, asking for things that come out in the wrong order, or bewildered that something wasn’t available.  The main restaurant in the Lodge didn’t have *draft beer* if you can believe it.  Cans and bottles only.  I’ll allow that this could be due to operating with new staff and unpredictable demand due to COVID, but this area of the experience did not stack up.  I was there three nights, and neither the Italian restaurant or the rooftop bar were open at any time.  F&B options very limited with smaller menus.

 

They were running a barebones facility, which likely contributed here, but I think someone pickier (non-golfer) could really be put off here if they don’t get it up to snuff.

 

Only golf drawback was the top dressing of sand the second time we played Red.  Totally changed the look of the course for the worse (only for the first four holes or so) and the new Mach1 greens were very sandy on Red.

 

That said, I’ll definitely try and get back, ASAP.  Because the golf is totally worth it.  
 

Caveats:  I am a transplanted Southerner living in Oregon.  I miss sweating for having the gumption to step outside wearing pants or maybe just at the wrong time/lack of cloud cover.  I’m sure some don’t have the pungent nostalgia for heat and humidity that I do, so bear that in mind.

 

Golf:

 

The courses were wonderful.  
 

We walked Red the first day there, and I carried.  It was low 90s and one of our group quit after 12 holes.  Granted, he’s not very fit, but it was not the 78• I hear they’re getting next week.  I am 42 and in decent shape, but I was spent at the end of the round.  I think Red is the toughest walk, but everyone else said easiest.  
 

Great track.  Totally worth the trip on its own.  Black tees on the back are a killer of you’re not long.  Played the mixed tees with black on the front and silver on the back on our second go a few days later, and it was still plenty challenging.

 

Walked Blue pulling the rikshaw yesterday, and had no trouble, even though it was 90. Acclimated a bit, I suppose.  Awesome course, good blend of the other two.

 

Black was my favorite.  Yeah, the greens are large, but they didn’t seem absurd.  Yes, some pins can be damn tricky, but I only really paid the price when I played an awful lag or a low-quality shortgame shot.  If you didn’t take a caddy, you could easily get lost just walking around, much less get a bad break on a good shot that was just played at the wrong spot.  Reminded me a lot of Old Macdonald with alligators and better weather.

 

Golf courses beat Pinehurst and compares very favorably to Bandon in my mind.  I loved the middle of nowhere Florida vibe, and thought the architecture and style was very cool and comfortable.  We had hot weather, but got lucky and never chased off the course by storms.  Not a drop of rain.
 

Justin was our caddy for three of the rounds, and he was great.  Highly recommend him.  Low key but cool.  Knew the tracks and greens well.  
 

I’d get on a plane to go back right now if the  budget and family allowed.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Awesome. Glad you enjoyed and thanks for the review.

 

What was the caddie situation? Did you need to take a forecaddie if you were using a pull cart. We were planning on just having our guy double bag it this weekend but that could be a good option as well.

[SouthLand]

Didn’t take a caddie the first round out, at Red.  I’d say you don’t need one at Red or Blue. But he did save me strokes both on how to play the course and reads.   
 

Black, you probably want one your first round.  There are some greens you can’t miss in places, and some lines you should definitely not take that would be hard to know just looking down the course without having played it before.  Some blind shots.  And it’s helpful just to know where to go just waking around on some holes.

 

Again, thought the golf was fantastic.  I’d play it every other month or more if I lived in S. FL. 

[ND2005]

I've heard the service and F&B have been huge issues post-Covid. 

 

They were basically shut down all summer (1 of 3 courses open and hotel not open) and they furloughed a large percentage of their staff. Now that they've reopened they haven't been able to get everyone back. 

 

So now they are operating with a smaller crew while simultaneously training new employees, and still dealing with covid issues. 

 

[UCFKyle]

Does anyone know if Streamsong is still offering the Florida resident rate? When I look for tee times, there is no mention of the Florida resident rate.

[italianstallion]

12 hours ago, UCFKyle said:

Does anyone know if Streamsong is still offering the Florida resident rate? When I look for tee times, there is no mention of the Florida resident rate.

They are not. Florida rate is typically May-September 

[Phparton]

Went to Streamsong 11/6-11/9 3 nights and 3 rounds, 1 on each Red, Blue, Black.

 

Met or exceeded all expectations for service, food, hospitality, and everything in general.

 

Courses were amazing, and my order of favorites were 1.) Blue, 2.) Black, and 3.) Red. Courses were in great shape.

 

Pricing for everything I thought was fair considering what you were getting. $35 for a cart, recommended gratuity for a group caddie is $25 each, we tipped $40 each.

 

Our caddie Maverick was awesome, and I would recommend him highly. Super cool dude and knows his stuff. We were up against it with Eta and had anywhere from 20-40 MPH winds. Didn't really notice the wind because of the great advice from "Mav"

 

When we go back I would add an extra day to spend more time on the round about and 18 hole putting course on Black. Reservations were hard to come by before hand, but once we got there it didn't really seem like you actually needed reservations, walk in seating was available at all the restaurants we went to.

 

I would definitely recommend bringing your own beverages/beer and snacks for the room. Cart girls are non existent, so make sure to stock up at the clubhouse and turn.

 

That's about all I can think of at the moment. We had a group of 8 for our annual tournament and had an amazing experience. Reached out to beforehand to have custom scorecards printed with dots on each hole for our formats and handicaps, and they did which was cool.

 

Highly highly highly recommend, and would definitely recommend staying on site.

 

Can find photos from our trip here https://www.instagram.com/blanketmasters/

Edited November 22, 2020 by Phparton

[ND2005]

Just got back from my 3rd trip to Streamsong. 

 

The golf was, as usual, fantastic. 

 

The service, however, is now officially a problem. 

 

We sat around for 30 minutes after our first round waiting to even order drinks. 

 

One waitress admitted this was her first time working in this particular restaurant. We had to repeat every order 2-3 times. I ordered one of the beers on the menu and her response was "What's that?". 

 

Another meal, half our group had their food before the others ordered. 

 

Every meal something had to be corrected or just accept the wrong order (one of the waiters and I even had a conversation about how we both hate coleslaw...and then when he brought my sandwich out, guess what was on top...yup, coleslaw). 

 

I'd like to chalk this all up to Covid blues. But I'll probably be mixing more other resorts into the rotation and probably won't be in a hurry to go back for the time being. 

[FLGOLFJUNKIE]

No comments on the BBQ at the turn on ReD? LOL! 

 

I have a buddy that works for Mosaic so we play for a VERY reasonable rate, and we played Red on Saturday, which was an absolute washout unfortunately. It rained for about 15 holes, we still enjoyed being out there and getting drenched. We walk every time with a pull/push cart, my only complaint of theirs. C'mon really? This place makes so much money and they can't afford some nicer carts? 

 

The new greens are awesome!! They're super firm, and super fast. Can't imagine how fast they would be like on a dry weather day. 

 

Can't comment on anything else other than the course, we didn't really take advantage of any other amenities. Just get there, golf, and get out. 

 

I must add, it's like 30-45 mins to get there from the closest habitable town, and in those towns you really won't find anyone that's probably provided the kind of service level that people expect to receive at the resort. I also assume there's a TON of turnover in that place, it has to be hard to operate. Regardless, the golf experience is superb, and that's why I'll keep going back!

[SouthLand]

The shrimp/lobster roll on Black at the shack (after 10, I think) was killer.  Maybe the best thing I ate all trip for price/quality/right-time-effect.  I’d get that again every time.
 

The BBQ was fine, and definitely a nice changeup compared to brats, etc that you find at other halfway shacks.  But my bar for BBQ is pretty damn high, and this stuff was perfectly serviceable but not great.  Still, one of the better values on the food front for sure.  
 

Didn’t do the tacos on blue.  Was a touch too early in the day, as we had an 8:30 tee.  Would next time.

[RobYakes]

Does Streamsong offer discounts on same day replays? Spending holidays about two hours away and figured I’d drive over early and try to get Blue and Black in on one day. Can’t justify to the lady taking a vacation from our vacation and staying in the Streamsong area for a night when we have an AirBnB on the coast already haha. 

[ND2005]

18 minutes ago, RobYakes said:

Does Streamsong offer discounts on same day replays? Spending holidays about two hours away and figured I’d drive over early and try to get Blue and Black in on one day. Can’t justify to the lady taking a vacation from our vacation and staying in the Streamsong area for a night when we have an AirBnB on the coast already haha. 

yes. I want to say replay rate is $100. But you’d need to call to verify. 

[jerebear21]

I love streamsong so much and it pains to say it but the customer service during covid19 has gotten even worst.  No fault to them but it's hard to get any type of folks working there long enough.  Hopefully things change moving forward post covid.  We're living in strange times so we got to keep everything in perspective and have extra patience.

[JLo_73]

Heading there on Saturday to play Red.  In Bradenton for a quick visit with family and was able to schedule a time.   Any input on latest course conditions?  It's been helpful to read up from others on their experience. 

[ND2005]

4 hours ago, JLo_73 said:

Heading there on Saturday to play Red.  In Bradenton for a quick visit with family and was able to schedule a time.   Any input on latest course conditions?  It's been helpful to read up from others on their experience. 

courses were in great shape. Red had a couple areas of semi-dormant grass but that’s to be expected this time of year
 
The new greens may or may not be top dressed 

 

They roll well but as a rule the caddies (and players) are over-reading break on them compared to the old greens. 
 
Grain didn’t seem to be much of a factor on pace/break - too young/short I think. 
 
Pretty receptive for young greens, they hold short irons and wedges well. 

[JLo_73]

ND2005 was spot on on Red course.  Near perfect day yesterday.  A little overcast for front 9 and then the sun came out.   

 

For sure some of the similarities with Bandon Trails.  Add in a few swamps and alligators.   

 

Place is money and for sure a future buddies trip destination.   Curious how tough it is to get the 12 rooms above the clubhouse...

 

 

[jerebear21]

There is nothing similar about red to bandon trails. One traverse through the sand dunes from an old mining site while the other takes you through the meadows and forests of Oregon. 

[ND2005]

One of my friends on our last trip inquired about the rooms above the clubhouse. Supposedly you have to rent them all out as a group- i.e. either have 12 guys in single rooms or however many in doubles (I don't know the configuration of the 12 rooms).

[bvan]

If I make the trek out that way the week before New Years is there any WRX'rs that need a fourth? Happy to play most friendly games. Usually play 6600-7000 at 7.8 index.

 

Merry Christmas and Happy NY....

[RobYakes]

2 hours ago, bvan said:

If I make the trek out that way the week before New Years is there any WRX'rs that need a fourth? Happy to play most friendly games. Usually play 6600-7000 at 7.8 index.

 

Merry Christmas and Happy NY....

I’m in Fort Pierce, FL until New Years. Would definitely make the drive for an 18 or 36 day with other WRXers. 

[bvan]

16 hours ago, RobYakes said:

I’m in Fort Pierce, FL until New Years. Would definitely make the drive for an 18 or 36 day with other WRXers. 

I'll be in Tampa area and will repost if I can get out....Cool

 

[EZ_]

I just played Red (12/30) and Black (1/2).  We took a group caddie at Red and he was not very good - a middle aged guy (50's maybe?) Mark Pascavage "Pasco".  At one point on the 5th tee box he pulled me aside and told me they are contractors with the resort he had to pay for his own health insurance... which is fun convo when you're about ready to put your tee in the ground.  He seemed to have a hard time reading breaks - sometimes telling us to aim left edge when the putt broke right to left. He tried at times to give us advice about our swings and putting stroke, which is never a good idea unless someone specifically asks for your input.  He just didn't have good social skills and seemed to demand we fit into his style of caddying instead of adapting to fit with the group of golfers he's with.

 

Caddie experience aside, I loved the courses.  I preferred the Black course to the Red.  I'm a 6 handicap and played the black tees at both (one up from tips), both in about a 15 mph wind.  Shot a 91 (39-52) on the Red course and a 85 (43-42) on the Black.  The front 9 on the Red was a real treat, so many memorable holes and some excellent scoring chances.  The back 9 toughens up quite a bit, and if you're not in mid-season golf shape the fatigue can catch up with you, as it did to me.  The par 3 16th hole plays over water to a green that is 60 or 70 yards long.  We played that hole into the wind to a back pin that measured about 220 yards. The new greens rolled really well.  I'm not a golf turf connoisseur, so I didn't really see a difference between the Black greens and the new Mach 1's on the Red, but the caddie said they were rolling around 15, and that some PGA guys were out and said they were the best greens they've seen.

 

The huge greens on the Black course were really fun, but you kinda have to know what you're getting into and come in with some expectation of how large and undulating they are.  Super wide fairways.  If your game is on point, or even if it isn't, you can have a pretty fun day out there.  I'd liken it to Mammoth Dunes at the Sand Valley resort.  Hard to lose a ball (although I lost 2 due to very poor shots).

 

I didn't stay at the resort, so I'm not sure about Covid policies there.  I can tell you that the proximity with which Mark told me about his health insurance woes, he doesn't care too much about social distancing.

Edited January 5, 2021 by EZ_
correction

[Robber6656]

I love the exaggerated green speeds, no they are running 15. Caddies at almost every club I’ve played are independent contractors. That’s not unusual. Caddies are always hit or miss. The only way to insure a good one is to call ahead.

[ND2005]

3 hours ago, Robber6656 said:

I love the exaggerated green speeds, no they are running 15. Caddies at almost every club I’ve played are independent contractors. That’s not unusual. Caddies are always hit or miss. The only way to insure a good one is to call ahead.

 

Yup. Call ahead and talk to the caddie master, tell them your preferences and skill level and they will usually help you out. 

[alaaro]

Curious re: the folks that didnt stay on property - how close is the nearest hotel/town? How did you handle that logsitcally - just drive in each day? How far? Certainly seems like a better option as I keep hearing how overpriced the restaurants/bars are.