JUST GOT BACK FROM SARASOTA

[caddishack]

Had a weeks holiday down in Sarasota. This was a golf holiday with 3 other buddies and we played 10 rounds in 7 days. Needless to say I am pooped and sore but it was worth it and was a lot of fun. We played some pretty nice courses.
I was just curious about how other golfers deal with the strange fairway grass down there. We found the fairways to be so different than up here. The grass was in a way sparse and laid very flat which was almost like hitting off of a hardpan type of surface ( not quite to that degree). I completely gave up trying to hit a 3 wood on par 5's for my second shot as I just couldn't get the club to stay down on the ball, was almost like it would skim off the surface and hit the ball on the high side resulting in a worm burner. Plenty of traps and water on every hole practically combined with hard low cut fairways resulted in plenty of penalty shots from extreme roll...not to mention lack of course knowledge. We played University Park / Waterleif / Sarasota National / Legacy / Brookstone / Tara Golf / River Strand.

I would definately do it again over Myrtle Beach as we can go earlier and get much better weather.

[Clevelandfan]

Agree with you on both counts, bermuda grass on a sandy base is a lot different to hit off of.
Florida is much warmer but requires a flight down vs MB where you can drive non stop in 16-18 hrs.

[Shake99]

Agree with you on both counts, bermuda grass on a sandy base is a lot different to hit off of.
Florida is much warmer but requires a flight down vs MB where you can drive non stop in 16-18 hrs.

You can drive non stop to Sarasota in about 23 hours

[goshawk]

If you think Bermuda grass is tough to hit from in the fairway, you should try it from the rough during the summer when it's lush and thick. Something like trying to hit a golfball half buried it steel wool!!

[Samick]

You can drive non stop to Sarasota in about 23 hours

I did the drive from Orlando to my home just north of Guelph in 19.5hrs straight through...little rough though.


The courses I played a couple weeks ago...I would equate it to hardpan. First bounce off a drive was 6 - 8' in the air...and sometimes on a 45* left or right. I lost more balls in 3 rounds than I did all last year! Greens were bad though, but the hardpan fairways, dormant grass, and lack of course knowledge played its toll. Still managed low 80's rounds...but man!

[Leftygolfer30]

If you think Bermuda grass is tough to hit from in the fairway, you should try it from the rough during the summer when it's lush and thick. Something like trying to hit a golfball half buried it steel wool!!

No kidding. I found that out the hard way :rolleyes: