Golf Courses with Attitude

By Tim McDonald
Published: May 12, 2011
Last Updated On: June 26, 2011

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The Ocean Course at Hammock Beach Resort is known as one of Florida's most scenic.

Photo Credit: Hammock Beach Resort

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ChampionsGate International Golf Club in Orlando is modeled after the courses of the British isles.

Photo Credit: ChampionsGate Golf Club

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No. 15 hole of the Jim McLean Signature Course, Doral Golf Resort & Spa in Miami

Photo Credit: Doral Golf Resort & Spa

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The Conservatory course at Hammock Beach Resort in Palm Coast

Photo Credit: Hammock Beach Resort

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The famous island green at the Stadium Course of TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach

Photo Credit: St. Augustine CVB

Looking for trouble? Let these Sunshine State beasts challenge your game.

Some people are at their best in tough situations. There are legions of golfers, for example, who play their best on the most difficult courses, possibly because it forces them to focus more intently.

Those golfers love a course that frightens and challenges them and threatens to whip them if they don’t fight back. Florida has some of the most challenging courses in the country. When you tame these beasts, you can say you’ve done something special. Are you up for it?

So here they are, Florida’s most challenging golf courses:

The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach is hard even for the pros. You see them every year, scratching their heads and taking their licks at the home of THE PLAYERS Championship. From the back tees, where the pros play, the slope rating is 155, the highest the USGA allows. Even from the blue tees, it’s rated a whopping 146. Hardest course in the state.

Course officials brought in Nicklaus’ design company to soften it, and guess what. It’s still hard, though much more fair than it used to be.

The Conservatory is the newer course at the Hammock Beach Resort in Palm Coast. It’s 7,776 yards long from the back tees, the longest in Florida, and also carries a scary 155 slope rating. It has 76 acres of man-made lakes, rippling fairways, deep greenside bunkers and dramatically undulating greens.

The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton is so scenic it will almost ease your pain if you’re struggling. Course builders trucked in northern Ohio sand for the bunkers — I guess our Florida sand is too easy — that’s how serious they are about making this course challenging. It also has a 155 slope rating and is 7,470 yards from the pro tees.

The Champion Course at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens is more than 7,000 yards from the back tees and designed for major tournament play. Though the fairways are wide, obstacles lurk all over the place: devilishly placed bunkers, wind and water everywhere. You won’t forget the closing holes, nicknamed the “Bear Trap” after designer Jack Nicklaus.

Beware of The Jim McLean Signature Course at Doral Golf Resort & Spa. So you’re surprised the more famous TPC Blue Monster isn’t the hardest course at Doral? I was, too, until I played the McLean course. It has an ornery slope rating of 153 and features the “Bermuda Triangle,” holes 13 to 15. No. 14 has a smaller island green than the Stadium Course! The opening holes will also jump up and bite you.

Crandon Golf on Key Biscayne is another of those courses that will lull you with beautiful scenery. Still, it’s more than 7,300 yards long and has nasty mangrove thickets, tough bunkers, saltwater lakes and even a subtropical lagoon.

ChampionsGate International in Orlando is modeled after the links courses of the British Isles, with water added. At 7,363 yards long, it features hard, fast playing surfaces and 160 pot bunkers set at random throughout the routing. And, if you mishit a shot, you could land in the thick grass that sprouts up along the wind-swept dunes down to the fairways. Tricky greens, too.

The Nicklaus Course at the Bay Point Marriott Golf Resort & Spa in Panama City Beach used to be known as one of the hardest courses in the country. Course officials brought in Nicklaus’ design company to soften it, and guess what. It’s still hard, though much more fair than it used to be. Wait until you get to No. 17, a 234-yard par-3 over water.