28 replies to this topic

[bvmagic]

Hi everyone,

I was able to play both Streamsong courses over the last week and thought I would share my thoughts and throw in a group of pictures along with it.  Kind of a long review, so if you don't feel like reading you could just skip to the pics.  Pics will be added later by one of the mods since there are a bunch.  

First off if you haven't heard of Streamsong, its located in southwest Polk county near Fort Meade.  Pretty much in the middle of nowhere.  Its a 36 hole design with the Blue course (Tom Doak) and Red (Coore Crenshaw).  Course was built on reclaimed land that has sat untouched for a while since they have mined phosphate there.  So the majority of these huge dunes you see in the pictures have been there for years.  

The clubhouse from the front view looked so plain to me I actually thought it was a maintenance/cart barn area.  From the beginning there are staff on hand to help you with taking your bag and getting you set up.  One feature I like is the tunnel that goes directly beneath the center of the clubhouse and leads to the practice green/ first tee boxes.  All the carts are stored below the clubhouse and it looks very efficient and neat.  So if you drove in to check it out in the afternoon, you would never see a line of carts waiting to be cleaned, they line them up in the tunnel.  Inside the clubhouse looks very modern.  You can stay in a room above the clubhouse (don't know the rates) which have a great view of the practice green/betting hole.  There is also a "man cave" above the clubhouse where guests can play some pool, watch some tv, and also hit practice putts with holes cut out into the carpet.  Now as bland as the front of the clubhouse was, the back makes up for it.  They have a nice viewing deck where you have a front row seat to the 120 yard "betting hole".  

Practice facilities are really nice.  Titleist nxt tour practice balls.  Huge chipping green by the range.  Only complaint is the range short.  Hitting downhill to a range that ends with some swamp land at about 250.  

Blue course starts you off a huge dune and gives you the best view of the whole property.  Blue course is a little wider and doesn't have many forced carries.  The only forced carry is a big one, 7th hole par 3 over a lake (pic with the long bridge).  Tee is probably 2-3 storys above the green, beautiful hole.  The greens on the Blue course played tougher for me.  The ground was so hard its tough to get full shots and chips to check after the first big bounce.  Greens were running 10-11 and with the huge slopes on the Blue some putts seemed impossible to stop.   Greens also seemed to be wider than the Red just from the looks.  

Red course has more water hazards in play and a little narrower.  After just playing it once I can picture more holes from memory on this course compared to Blue.  The greens here are huge, but not in width, the length.  The 16th hole is a par 3 over the lake which you gives you a great view of both Red 16, Blue 7, and the clubhouse to the far right (should see it in the pics).  This green was probably 60 yards long and 20 yards wide.  Right in the middle of the green is a huge valley which I had to putt through since I was on the back of the green.  I was happy with just the 3 putt.  The Par 5's on this course played easier for me and were more reachable.  And some of the Par 4's were ridiculously long and felt like par 5's.  I felt more comfortable putting on the Red, but that may be due to the fact that the Blue had already scarred me.  

Both courses have great views and it was nice for once to play a course with no houses/ buildings surrounding the area.  The wind will always be blowing out here because there are no trees or buildings to block them.  The forecaddies were a hit and miss for me.  Blue course my caddy could barely get a correct yardage with his laser link rangefinder and he didn't read one putt for anybody in the group.  Red course my caddie was quick with his Bushnell and read every putt for the group.  Also the food was kind of pricey and slow the first time we ate.  Second time it sped up...but still pricey.  


Here is one pic of the betting hole, view from the clubhouse deck.  

 IMG_5103.jpg   226.2K   13 downloads

[bvmagic]

STREAMSONG BLUE


STREAMSONG RED

Edited by HipCheck, 30 December 2012 - 06:19 PM.
Pics added

[kell]

Well i am playing red tomorrow,cant wait.

[parpar41]

_{Awesome:  a little bit of Bandon transported to Florida.  Nice to see massive dunes and significant elevation changes in a plsce that is otherwise often pancake flat..  Thanks for all the pics.}  

Edited by parpar41, 02 January 2013 - 10:46 PM.

[TML]

Very nice.  Doak is a genius.  Anything he builds, I'll tee it up there.  Pacific dunes, old macdonald and cape kidnappers are checked already .  Streamstrong is next

[farmer]

The dunes are just overburden randomly piled by the mining company?  If so, great use of a trash site.

[Philfil]

Awesome!  Thanks, can't wait to get out there.

[JB57]

Very nice photos.    Were you the only one playing that day?   It didn't look like there was anyone else there.

[bvmagic]

We were the first group out when we played Red.  For the Blue there were more people since it was the first weekend it was open for us.  Being in such a remote area with the price of the green fee's I'm sure the place will never get packed, especially with 36 holes.  I wish we stayed longer and just played the betting hole more than once.  It would be a blast to host a tournament out there and use the betting hole as a closest to the pin with everybody watching from the clubhouse deck.

[Colby327]

Courses look amazing!  And great pictures.  Just read a bit on each in Golf magazine as two of the best new courses out there.  Hard to believe its Florida.  

What's the structure you can see off in the distance with the cranes?  Are they building a hotel or something?  If so, that's too bad, as it seems like that's the only man made structure you can see on the horizons (excluding the clubhouse of course).

[bvmagic]

That structure is the official Streamsong Resort.  Something in the neighborhood of 200 rooms I think.  Believe me, it will be the only structure you will see on the course.  I think the plan is to open later in the year.

[myronm]

Actually you can see the towers for the County Power plant as well in a couple of places.  But be that as it may, it's pretty isolated and desolate.

Some questions for those that have played it.  On the Red #7,  what did you think of the large sand mound right in front of the green.  And in any of the mounds besides the fairways did your ball happen to get into someone else's foot prints - or were there none?  And if you were on one of the mounds and did you rake your footprints after you finished playing your shot?

I see these as potential issues for all those mounds.  They really really look impressive, but what are they going to do to shots when your ball lands in someone else's footprints on one of them.

Also, that mound right in front of the green on #7 I did not like.  It seemed like a real issue if you landed the ball short (say the wind was gusting strongly and the flag was behind the green.)  Then you had to climb/slip and slide up the hill, with no way to rake it after you got thru.

  The pin the day i played the course was directly behind that mound and right near the front edge of the green.  It was literally impossible to get the ball close to the hole -  I lucked out and got about 15 feet away.  My partner (+handicap playing from the absolute tips) hit right on the edge of the green and ended up about 25 feet away.

But maybe there's something I'm not understanding or missing.  Could very well be?

[pappaf2]

Great pictures, thanks for sharing. This place looks amazing!

[bvmagic]

As you can see in the pics, the mound was not in play on Red 7 for me that day.  I did however take an extra look at the mound since you mentioned it in your review before.  I didn't see any footprints during this day, we were the first group out though.  Also didn't see a rake next to the mound so I guess if people want to smooth out their own prints they would have to do it with their foot.  Maybe in the future they will put some of the fescue grass on the mound to solve the footprint problem.

[TitleistJunky80]

I want to play this course so bad!!! Is it already completely open to the public and what are the GFs running? It is only about a 45 min drive from my house, so its going to happen soon.

[brownm]

Just got back from a short trip there last week. Played each course twice,  and i will say it is worthy of the hype. We all thought red was the better of the two,  but both are quality. I am postinga review oof the resort later today (overall experience, not just golf courses)

[Philfil]

ugh so far away.... gonna make it soon though

[cbehan]

Wow.

just wow.    Amazing golf.   Lived up to the hype.

I'm working on my review.

[mflores]

LV - would you consider these bucket list worthy?

They look amazing and a buddy just got back and was raving about them

[stringbean502001]

Just returned from a trip to play both courses, and I can't say enough about the place. While it has a few rough edges to be worked out, it is absolutely first class, as you would expect from these designers and from Kemper Golf. This is a "destination experience", which will thrive once the conference center is complete, and the corporate crowd arrives with clients, etc. Even though it is "remote" in its feel, it is VERY accessible from Tampa, Orlando, etc, and is going to start filling up. Go before summer, however...I think it will be very tough in the Florida heat.

It is a must walk course, in my view...Bandon type. Take a double caddie if possible. Caddie master advised they have structured top caddies as doubles. Ours was outstanding...they had transferred him in from Bandon. I will say we had occasion to interface with another caddie, a single, who was not of the same quality (won't go into details).

There are evidently plans for two more courses, not sure of timing.

I would guess that if you have visions of playing for a reasonable cost, the sooner the better...as the resort is finished, I believe you will see higher "Kohler type" prices...it is NOT a destination that will rely on Florida resident business, which would not support the current cost.

The pictures you posted were simply outstanding. One added, non traditiional hazard not found at Bandon...the gators in the fairway.

In my view, Doak's routing and design style won the day on the Blue, and I enjoyed it more, My playing partner thought the opposite, and favored Red.

We both left planning our next visit.

[Hambone55]

They are definatly worth the price its like your in vegas or somewhere outta state. Its a must play the red course to me is definatly more demanding off the tee but both are top notch. Im a mosaic employee so i get a lil discount but id definatly pay full price . My buddy has the course record on the red course with a 66 but im sure it wont stand once the pros start rolling in

[the_matt5]

Since I'm graduating from Florida Southern in a month and my family is coming down I plan on doing all the convincing I can to get them to pay for my greens fees. I was fortunate enough to talk to Josh Lesnik (President of Kemper Sports) this summer about Streamsong and he was raving about it then. When a guy like him is excited about a course, you know it's special. Fingers crossed I get to play it before I head back home for good.

[gr8blueheronbird]

4 of us from Nashville,TN will be playing both courses this Sunday. We are all very excited and I am sure we will not be dissapointed.  Nice pictures taken by the OP.

[TitleistJunky80]

Played Yesterday, What a treat!! If you can only play one, RED course it is. Walk if you can and get your own caddie, its completely worth the walk and the price.

[bvmagic]

Starting May 1st the rates go down to $135.  Florida residents will get it at $75.  If you can stand the heat and have been waiting for a price drop this is your chance.

[jnier75]

bvmagic, on 29 April 2013 - 09:16 AM, said:

Starting May 1st the rates go down to $135.  Florida residents will get it at $75.  If you can stand the heat and have been waiting for a price drop this is your chance.

I heard it was going under 100 for residents. $100 is a pretty hefty cut even for summer rates. Should be interesting to see how low it'll go by early august when it's miserable out.

[bvmagic]

jnier75, on 29 April 2013 - 01:11 PM, said:

bvmagic, on 29 April 2013 - 09:16 AM, said:

Starting May 1st the rates go down to $135.  Florida residents will get it at $75.  If you can stand the heat and have been waiting for a price drop this is your chance.

I heard it was going under 100 for residents. $100 is a pretty hefty cut even for summer rates. Should be interesting to see how low it'll go by early august when it's miserable out.

The $75 is good price cut to entice people to play it who wouldn't want to spend the $175 in season.  But during the summer I doubt anybody will just pay $75 to walk and carry on their own.  So I'm going to guess most will pay the $75 + $25 cart fee + the caddie tip ($25 - $35 a player).  Keep in mind if you take a cart you are requred to take a forecaddie.  If anybody does decide to walk I highly recommend carrying a light bag, walking up those hills and dirt cart paths with the rikshaw push cart is much more tiring than carrying.

[jnier75]

bvmagic, on 29 April 2013 - 03:16 PM, said:

jnier75, on 29 April 2013 - 01:11 PM, said:

bvmagic, on 29 April 2013 - 09:16 AM, said:

Starting May 1st the rates go down to $135.  Florida residents will get it at $75.  If you can stand the heat and have been waiting for a price drop this is your chance.

I heard it was going under 100 for residents. $100 is a pretty hefty cut even for summer rates. Should be interesting to see how low it'll go by early august when it's miserable out.

The $75 is good price cut to entice people to play it who wouldn't want to spend the $175 in season.  But during the summer I doubt anybody will just pay $75 to walk and carry on their own.  So I'm going to guess most will pay the $75 + $25 cart fee + the caddie tip ($25 - $35 a player).  Keep in mind if you take a cart you are requred to take a forecaddie.  If anybody does decide to walk I highly recommend carrying a light bag, walking up those hills and dirt cart paths with the rikshaw push cart is much more tiring than carrying.

I agree with you that most would take a cart, especially in the afternoon when the thunderstorms roll in, don't want to get stranded. I'd be interested to see if the mandatory forecaddie is dropped in the afternoon a la Orlando Ritz Carlton. I guess the unknown is if management will follow the Florida norm in relaxing rules and prices in summer or try to keep the extras mandatory. I'm counting on the former and holding out for some super summer specials with cart and no caddie.

[gr8blueheronbird]

I played there and walked 36 with a rickshaw at the beginning of this month and it was no problem(I am 49 yrs old). I would think they will need to build a few more rain/storm shelters. I only saw 1 on the Red and not sure if any on the Blue. If you are playing 36 and walking, the rickshaw beats carrying a bag in my opinion. The guys with the Rickshaws had more left than the walker who was even younger than us.