Paul5069707

Beautiful scenery abounds at this mountain-situated golf course. A front nine filled with tee shots over chasms, down mountain sides, and onto narrow fairways contrasts a back nine set into a valley with longer, more forgiving holes.
The greens are in outstanding shape and the fairways aren't bad, either. But there is no 'rough' and a few of the bunkers are in sore need of sand.
The driving range is commendable and conveniently located immediately behind the clubhouse, where you also pick up whichever cart is parked outside.
I had a great time both rounds I played here. Once in cold, windy and wet weather, and once in blue-skied hot weather. The landscape is just stunning and makes good shots seem that much more rewarding as you contentedly walk after your ball while admiring the views. Playing from the white's makes the course highly playable and playing from the blues or blacks significantly increases the course's difficulty. A great course for any level of player.
If this course grew some proper rough and rejuvenated it's bunkers, it'd be considered a prestigious private-level course. But even with its imperfections, it's beautiful and rewarding to play.

Beautiful course. It has a very warm, welcoming feeling to it. It's forgiving and open, but still requires accuracy and distance. Visually its impressive, and each differently styled hole brings a sense of freshness to the course.
My only complaint is that the driving range was closed from 1115 to 1230 so they could cut the grass. That was not a well thought-out decision and caused my partner and I to have to move back our tee time an hour in order to warm up. It also caused at least 20 other players to have to skip their warm up. It's completely nonsensical to close the driving range during the busy hours of a golf day, and especially to do it without notifying golfers in advance.
All in all it was a perfect day for golf and the course is a lot of fun to play. It will not test the likes of a scratch golfer, but will allow any level of player to have a blast and enjoy the game.

One of my favorite courses in Sarasota. Beautiful condition and setup. Players have access to unlimited practice balls at driving range and chipping area. Greens in great condition along with bunkers, tee boxes and fairways. Wildlife along the course is abundant with sightings of alligators, snakes, fowl and jack-rabbits aplenty. An extremely forgiving course if played from the front few tees and an extremely challenging course from the back. Love this place.

Gorgeous course. Everything is manicured to an extremely high level. The way the course is carved through conservation land is beautiful. It looks like every square foot of the two 9's I played was considered and executed excellently. I played Sanctuary to Estuary. I found it extremely difficult playing from the blues with the huge amount of water in play and the strategic bunkers around the course. My only complaint would be the aquarange.... I generally dont like them because you can not see the distance your ball travels and you cannot see the spin you're imparting on your ball. Otherwise this course was a great experience.

Bent Tree has always had a prestigious reputation, from what I've heard, but today's round showed neglected conditions. First off, the grass at the general tee box for the driving range was long and inconsistent. The ball sunk below the level of the grass, so we were essentially practicing out of the rough. The tee boxes on the course were the same. They looked to have grass an inch and half tall. Teeing up the ball for iron shots was frustrating because the grass held the ball up higher than I'd normally tee the ball for an iron shot. The worse aspect of the course was the bunkers. They were baked hard as clay. In many of the bunkers, walking through them barely left any indentation. The greens were also poor. Most of the greens seem to be diseased and are discolored with foreign greenery and many of the greens had dried out dirt spots on them. The length of the grass is also too long on most of the greens. On a positive note, the fairways were in good condition, though the grass was too long. Also, the round cost us $20 each, which included the cart, hence my high rating for value. However, I will not return while Sarasota National and the Venetian golf courses offer green fees + cart for under $30.

Pretty course! Very 'mogully.' Narrow. A couple beautiful par 3's and glimpses of Ballyowen along the course. Was confused at first by the first nine being called Villages, and back nine, Classic, but we figured it out. The Classic 9 had most of its tee boxes covered in sand with aeration holes, but we didnt mind so much. The course was in good condition and the pace was decent. It's a nice place to play golf.

Pretty course that was well maintained considering it was late April.
Challenging holes mixed with moderate holes. Lots of hills (Hudson Hills) and resulting blind shots that can be frustrating.
Played for $55 because of golfnow.com deal, which made it worth it for sure. However, $115 on the weekend is not worth it.
All together I had a pleasant round and would recommend the course when it's not crowded (like on a Monday) and you have time to find balls and consider shots.