Golf Insider

I like watching the golf pros as much as the next guy, but given the choice between watching or playing – especially on a good course – I'll take playing.

The Player Pass gives you both: a week's access to the 2009 Shark Shootout Dec. 9-13 as well as 48 rounds of cart-fee-only golf at a dozen Southwest Florida courses. It costs $110.

That includes the course that the Shootout, hosted by Greg Norman, will be played on – Tiburon, at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort, Naples.

It also includes the Rookery on Marco Island, a personal favorite. The Rookery is inside a development, but it manages a wild feel, being perched as it is on the edge of the 10,000 Islands.

It has wild, native grasses like Fakahatchee and fountain grass. Then there's the brilliant red of firecracker weed, the purplish-pink muelhi and the elegant sabal palms dotted around the grounds. Click here for a video on the Marco Island Marriott Beach Resort.
 
The two Tiburon courses, the gold and black are also fun to play. Here's one big reason: no rough!

They have a British feel, with stacked sod bunkers, and fast and firm fairways. You can be imaginative around the close-cut greens. The gold course is more popular – people like to play where the pros do – but the black is a fun, shot-makers course.

Click here for more information or call 888-667-4275.