Tampa golf trip. Golf package or Wing it?

[ticktock]

Looking to do a golf trip with some buddies to Tampa in late August. we all reside in Boston, so we figured we can play some golf and catch the Sox at the same time. I was wondering if anybody has an recommendations to certain golf packages or agencies that can help with booking the hotel and golf, or do you think we are better off doing it all on our own? I've found some packages to Innisbrook and Saddlebrook, but pretty much everything else looks kind of sketchy.

 

Thanks

[NJGolfer33]

we did a trip to tampa two years ago and booked everything ourselves, so I am not sure about golf packages. we stayed in down town tampa and played 4 rounds in two days- TPC Tampa Bay, Fox Hollow and the two courses at World Woods. If you have the time, the drive upto world woods is worth it, about 50 minutes north of tampa. the two courses are great and the practice facilities are one of the best in the country. I think no matter what you do you will probably get some good deals in august.
Good Luck!

[tpariff]

I've lived in Tampa since 1996. No need to use an agency when you can get the info here. Course recommendations are as follows, in no particular order:

Lake Jovita - Dade City - 20 to 30 minutes north of Tampa. Of the North and South courses I prefer the South, but both are good. Greens are usually some of the best in the area.

TPC Tampa Bay - Lutz - 15 to 20 minutes north of Tampa airport. Site of Outback Pro Am. Can be pricey but is a challenging layout.

World Woods - Brooksville - 45 to 50 minutes north of Tampa airport. Great facility with 2 awesome courses. My issue is that sometimes the courses are in less than average condition.

Innisbrook - Palm Harbor - 30 minutes west of Tampa. Great resort with a few good courses. Copperhead is the site of the Transitions Championship and it's easily one of the most difficult courses you'll ever play. Can be pricey.

Fox Hollow - Trinity - 20 to 25 minutes northwest of Tampa airport. Challenging layout that's usually in good condition.

Plantation Palms - Land O'Lakes - 20 to 25 minutes north of Tampa. Good course that's very reasonably priced.

There are others, but these are the ones I'd choose if I had a couple of days. There are also some good courses just south of here in the Bradenton / Sarasota area - only 45 minutes or so from downtown Tampa.


As for a place to stay, I'd recommend the Westshore area which is adjacent to the airport. You're close to all major roads and can get anywhere pretty quickly. You're also close to the...hmmmm...."gentlemen's clubs" if that's something you wish to see. Tampa has at least one world famous club. And you're only 20 minutes or so from Tropicana Field.

Without knowing how old you are, I'll say that the Hyde Park area is the place to be for the mid 20 to mid/late 30 set for night life. I'll be 39 this year, and while I don't go out too often (wife and 2 kids) I have been known to be a wing man for my single friends who are in their mid 30's.

If you're part of that crowd you'd enjoy places like MacDintons, Drynk, Lime, Cheap, etc in Hyde Park.

Feel free to PM if you need more info.

Kevin

[bbgator]

Also a Tampa local. If you're planning to catch a couple Rays games your best bet may be to stay in downtown St. Pete. Lots of good bars/restaurants and you can walk to the game. Bars/restaurants are near Central Ave and 1st-4th street so maybe find something in the middle. I second the World Woods/Lake Jovita recs, although they would be a little far from St. Pete. Good courses in Bradenton too, which would be closer. Legacy is a nice track. Bardmoor in St. Pete isn't bad either.

[ticktock]

thanks for all the tips, obviously we want to play some of the better courses while we are down there, but we all are right around the low 20s handicap range. so i guess with that, which courses would you possibly exclude from the list? I'm typically shooting mid 90's give or take 5 strokes, depending on the course. maybe even what course do you not want to see us on during that weekend while you're playing? haha

we're all in our mid to late 20's, so we'll definitely be keeping busy at night. I have a buddy who lives in Tampa but he doesn't play much golf. although he's going to help us navigate all those "gentlemen's clubs" that Tampa has to offer.

can you guys also comment on what's the typical avg price for golf during august? does it get really busy?

appreciate all the help, i was getting antsy, since there weren't any responses for a couple weeks. hope to hear back soon.

[bbgator]

Play World Woods - Pine Barrens. Probably about $50-60 in the summer. Kind of far, but worth it. Don't worry if you hack it up. Golf is cheap around here in August, but be prepared for some heat. It also thunderstorms almost every afternoon around 2:30, so play in the morning if you can manage. Westchase, Fox Hollow and both Lake Jovita courses are also worth checking out. And the "gentleman's clubs" won't disappoint either. But that's for a different forum I suppose.

[tpariff]

As bbgator mentioned golf rates in August are at their lowest of the season because of the heat/humidity. You'll get the lowest rates if you play during the week or in the afternoon on the weekend. You can play many of these courses for $50 or less including cart.

I'd probably stay away from Innisbrook if you're looking for a more forgiving course. If given the option of 3 courses for 20 handicaps I'd agree with bbgator's suggestions on Lake Jovita; Fox Hollow; and even Westchase.

Since you guys are in your 20's I'd definitely recommend the "gentlemen's clubs." But before you do that you MUST party in Hyde Park. MacDinton's goes off on the weekends as does Lodge, Drynk, etc. They're all within walking distance of each other.

Have fun!
Kevin

[Mward2002]

TPC Tampa Bay's overpriced IMO.

Westchase, ehh not bad. Greens can vary in condition.
P-Palms went semi private, course varies in condition but is normally not good. Community got hurt by housing bubble bursting.
Jovita and World Woods, yes. Jovita South, Pine Barrons are the good two up there.
Fox Hollow's good but can be pricy for no good reason.
I've heard Hernando Oaks and Brooksville cc are nice.
Emerald Greens has a coupon in the clubhouse called member for a day. Up to 4 people $55 each. Not too bad for a private club. I have an extra if need be lol
If you stay at the Hyatt, rumor is that Old Memorial was calling them months ago and offering guests a round there for like 100-130 bucks. I was so mad I missed that. Ask the right people in the hotel and see what you can do.


Gentlemans clubs.. PM for details lol

Guys, MacDintons, Cheap (warning: NOT a cheap bar) etc are in the SoHo area not Hyde Park! Actual Hyde Park is pretty boring, especially for guys under 30. Ladies are all in SoHo for happy hour.

[tpariff]

[quote name='Mward2002' date='29 April 2010 - 11:21 PM' timestamp='1272597706' post='2409346']
TPC Tampa Bay's overpriced IMO.

Westchase, ehh not bad. Greens can vary in condition.
P-Palms went semi private, course varies in condition but is normally not good. Community got hurt by housing bubble bursting.
Jovita and World Woods, yes. Jovita South, Pine Barrons are the good two up there.
Fox Hollow's good but can be pricy for no good reason.
I've heard Hernando Oaks and Brooksville cc are nice.
Emerald Greens has a coupon in the clubhouse called member for a day. Up to 4 people $55 each. Not too bad for a private club. I have an extra if need be lol
If you stay at the Hyatt, rumor is that Old Memorial was calling them months ago and offering guests a round there for like 100-130 bucks. I was so mad I missed that. Ask the right people in the hotel and see what you can do.


Gentlemans clubs.. PM for details lol

Guys, MacDintons, Cheap (warning: NOT a cheap bar) etc are in the SoHo area not Hyde Park! Actual Hyde Park is pretty boring, especially for guys under 30. Ladies are all in SoHo for happy hour.
[/quote]

SoHo / Hyde Park - basically the same. Hyde Park proper (shops, etc) is exactly 0.7 miles from MacDintons. My office is a stone's throw from Post Hyde Park apartments.

And you're right...Cheap is NOT cheap.

[Mward2002]

Fair enough, I'll agree they're side by side. I'm just tryin to keep him from telling a cabbie, "Hey take me to Hyde Park!" and then he gets dropped off in front of Bloomingdale's wondering where MacDintons is.

The irish pub place next to Cheap is also a very good bar, but I've always been going there post-happy hour so that may be skewed.

[Berndog2]

Play westchase! use golf now or paradise tee times to get good greens fees

[ticktock]

great ideas guys, i'm definitely considering all the places you guys mentioned. been looking at the prices, and i gotta say they are all pretty reasonable. must be nice being able to play year round. hopefully we can make this a yearly thing.

[bbgator]

Re: Mward's suggestion of Brooksville CC, it has 5 or 6 of the coolest holes I've seen in Florida winding around an old quarry and 12 extremely boring straight, flat holes. Still worth it for the quarry holes, but not worth the trip by itself. Good to play Pine Barrens in the morning and ride out there for the afternoon. I've heard Old Memorial requires caddies @ around $100/pop. I'd love to check it out, but that'd be a $250 day.

[thechief16]

I've done trips to Tampa the last three years (stayed in Westpark area) and golfed at:

Plantation Palms -- good bang for the buck
Legacy -- Great course if you don't mind hour drive
Fox Hollow -- meh. Decent but probably not worth the $$ you pay
Bardmoor: We had a BAD experience -- got to the tee box at appointed time only to find 5 4somes lined up in front of us, followed by a 5.5+ hour round.

[tpariff]

[quote name='Mward2002' date='30 April 2010 - 11:19 AM' timestamp='1272640765' post='2409993']
Fair enough, I'll agree they're side by side. I'm just tryin to keep him from telling a cabbie, "Hey take me to Hyde Park!" and then he gets dropped off in front of Bloomingdale's wondering where MacDintons is.

The irish pub place next to Cheap is also a very good bar, but I've always been going there post-happy hour so that may be skewed.
[/quote]

The Irish place behind Cheap is "The Dubliner" - south Tampa location on Azeele.

http://www.thedublineririshpub.com/

It's another great place to hang out, and just a couple blocks from MacDinton's, Lodge, etc.

If he tells a cabbie to take him to MacDinton's, Lodge, Dubliner, etc he'll get there.

Kevin

[tpariff]

[quote name='ticktock' date='30 April 2010 - 02:23 PM' timestamp='1272651816' post='2410355']
great ideas guys, i'm definitely considering all the places you guys mentioned. been looking at the prices, and i gotta say they are all pretty reasonable. must be nice being able to play year round. hopefully we can make this a yearly thing.
[/quote]

It is nice playing year round, but the rates you're getting in August aren't representative of the rates we get from November through April. Winter rates are double (or more) than summer rates.

Let us know if you need any other tips.

Kevin

[bulfrog2004]

World Woods is well worth the trip it will take you 45-50 minutes to get there straight up the toll road but the golf course is amazing and should be in good shape in August.

[jtmagic]

I took a buddies trip to Innisbrook last August and it was great. Courses are all very different, service was great, excellent prices given it is hot (we came from Texas so no issue there for us), food/room was much better than expected, etc. We'd definitely go back. If you want a place where you can drive in, play golf on different courses for 4 days, and never have to leave it is a good choice. As mentioned above, courses are not easy with the exception of one that is fairly wide open.