JKrutec

I jumped on GolfNow and noticed several open tee times on a Sunday. Not always a good thing, but I wanted to get in a quick round. Front 9 went fast, but back 9 slowed because I was behind guys who spent quite while searching for balls in the water. 4 hour round overall.

A few things to note:
-No starter or marshalls.
-Tee boxes are pretty sparse on grass and the ground is very hard.
-Greens have some dead patches, and #1 had various types of grass growing in it.
-Pretty open track, but short grass in the fairways is pretty narrow in places.
-Some postage stamp sized greens.
-Beef O'Brady's restaurant in clubhouse is pretty good.
-Carts are in good shape. Good power.
-Typical old country club style winding through a neighborhood of 1980's style homes, but none of the homes seemed too close to the course.
-You will likely see deer at various places.

Overall - not great, but good basic course.

I am from the Tampa Bay area, but was in Orlando for a conference and on my way back I played a round at Providence. It was lunch time when I started, and I was all alone...I mean all alone...on the course, so a fast round.

I like the course. Just getting back into golf after 20 years off, and the wide open fairways were good to me. I lost a couple of balls in the water, but I think the water is not in play as much as most other course....I just hooked a couple bad. It was very dry, and I have played at least once or twice a week in the Tampa Bay since mid-June where it has been soaked.

I thought most of the greens were fast, but I am comparing that to wetter courses and some that have been punched over the summer. They were dry and true. Nice undulations in some of them. A couple of tough pin placements. I found a couple of bunkers too, and the sand was very dry. No punched balls in this round anywhere on the course. Not much rough, everything was manicured very nicely.

I don't know about the food, but the pro shop was basic. Not much merchandise. The staff was very friendly.

If I was in the area (and it is a bit off the beaten path if you don't own a home around there), I would definitely go back again.

Decided to head south over the Skyway to see if a could find a course that was not as wet as those in St. Pete and Clearwater. Had a great experience at Stoneybrook. The fairways were in great shape. Greens had been punched some time ago and still had some sand on them, but pace was good.

At their range, you hit balls into the lake. Pretty decent balls. Saw a good sized gator cruising that lake and then saw another out in the wetlands on the course.

Staff was very friendly. Had lunch in the restaurant after - turkey and cheese wrap with some bacon added and fries on the side - it was really good. Better than average.

Pro shop had limited stock, but the staff was great, as I said above.

I will definitely be back!

It was pretty wet from the recent rain, but still played pretty well. I am recently getting back into the game and did not find the course to be too difficult, but it has some tough sections. Old 1920's style course with downward sloping fairways and greens that mostly are sloped from back to front. Bunkers were pretty hard, with some ponding from the rain, but I fortunately stayed out of all but one.

Starter was a really nice guy. I went out mid-day on a Monday, and was by myself for much of the course.

I am a high handicap, and had a tough, but fun day. The course was challenging, and I found both water and sand, primarily on the back 9. Started on #10 with first tee time, and the morning dew was quite troublesome, especially in the relatively deep rough. Recent rains had the course still soggy along the edges.

Was not told the greens had been aerated, and they were covered in sand. I normally 2-put most greens once I am on, but the sand was killing me, adding another put on most holes. They were really bad. Even my putter was covered in sand coming off the greens.

It is higher priced than most of the public or semi-private courses you can play in Pinellas County. If the greens had been in good shape, I thought it would have been a fair price though.

I am just getting back into the game after years off. I went out as a single on a "member for a day" rate. Had lunch first - pretty good burger in the clubhouse. Some members came in and they put 2 groups of guys ahead of me right at my tee time. I think they were members, so I get that....but it turned out they were doing the old guy shuffle. They ultimately let me play through once we got to the 4th hole. I caught up to a pair of even slower older guys, who also let me play through. Round still took 3.5 hours, even though the course was pretty empty.

Despite all of the rain we have had, it was starting to dry out pretty well. I thought the greens were in great shape. I would definitely go back.