This Ross course is consistently rated a top ten course. I've never played it nor even seen it in person. But every picture I've seen makes it look as falt as a pancake and rather uninteresting. What makes this course so good?

Well it's in Florida, max elevation 500 some feet or less... so there's not gonna be much elevation change.

Golf Club Atlas is my favorite resource for course info... they don't disappoint here.

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/seminole1.html

Tell me about it...I stay up reading that site for hours on end.

Somethings I would love to ask the guys that run golfclubatlas...

1) How long have you been playing?
2) What is your favorite course?
3) What is your handicap?
4) What is the toughest course?
5) How in sam hell do you get to do what you do? Play the best courses in the entire world year in and year out? Seems almost too good to be true.

Was wondering the same thing today looking at my Golf Digest (or is it Tiger Beat?).
Think I'd be disappointed rolling up to that track.

I live down the street from it. its a old stogy country club that all the big names had memberships to in the 50's and 60's. very blue blood club

The course sits in a bowl, there is a big elevation change on several of the holes. It doesnt have the wow factor of some of the newer courses. It has some great golf holes. The first time I played it I wasn't very impressed. After I played it and thought about it and especially after I played it the second time I appreciated it much more. The design of the holes and the green complexes are fantastic. The club has a ton of history, incredible locker room, and some of the best members of any club in the country.

First hand experience ftw So many older clubs and courses, you just gotta be there to really understand.

Finding a decent photograph of Seminole is just about impossible. The fact that the place is so elitist and secretive must add something to the mistique. However looking thru the new top 100 list on Golf Digest I begin to wonder if their reviewers are swayed by old money and reputation above enjoyment.

A friend of mine is a caddie there and basically echoes everything you just said. He actually carried Ernie Els bag the day after he won at Honda last year for the Seminole Member Guest Tourney. He said, the list for that tournament is a whose who of current and former PGA Tour players, corporate titans, etc. One member plays Seminole ONCE a year just so he can play in the Member Guest. Its pretty impressive. He also said, the course is pretty benign when the wind is down, but can be a real bear when it kicks up. Hogan always practiced there leading up to the Masters.

That's true of pretty much every course, isn't it?

Wind effects all courses. A windy day at Seminole is much more difficult than a windy day at other courses. There are many approach shots that can land on greens and roll or spin off on a calm day, add wind on top of that and it can be brutal.