Course: Saddlebrook Resort & Golf Club

Location: Wesley Chapel, FL

Date Played: December 27 , 2007

Played By: Ross

Overall Rating: 90

Friendliness of Staff: 9
My first impression of their resort was okay at best. When you arrive you are directed to the resort main check in area and you must valet park. The gentleman greeting us there was less than pleasant and acted like he couldn't be bothered. Never having been there, the set up was new to us and this guy wanted nothing to do with helping us. As far as the golf course staff goes, they were much better. The bag attendant I met, Jim, was outstanding and welcomed us with a big smile and pointed us in the right direction. Every employee should be as nice as Tiffany was, their on-course beverage cart attendant. Tiffany even went as far as taking our lunch order, picking it up at the clubhouse and driving it back out to us on the course so we didn't have to wait. Now that's service! The ranger was a pretty good guy, informing us of things to be aware of and even checked on us through a couple holes to see what we thought of the course.

Facilities/Pro Shop: 10
Well for the most part it can't get much better than what they have to offer. Being a resort, they have several restaurants to choose from, an absolutely enormous pro shop, practice facilities and even a world-class tennis operation that hosts numerous tournaments and is home to many tennis celebs. I expected to see inflated prices in their pro shop but was surprised to find nice golf shirt for between$50-65. What I couldn't believe is the sheer size of the resort with the huge amount of houses and condos associated with it. For those of you who don't know, Saddlebrook is home to the Arnold Palmer Golf Academy World Headquarters so if you need a lesson this is the place to go! Very impressive.

Quality/Value of Food/Snacks: 7
Honestly I expected better from this type of place. Two of the guys I played with ordered hot dogs with fries and while the hot dogs were okay there fries weren't that good at all. I attribute that to Tiffany having to drive out to us and the fries getting soggy, so even though it's a nice perk to have her deliver your food, I wouldn't recommend it. I was excited about what I ordered, a Hawaiian wrap that had roasted chicken, Canadian bacon and pineapple and I was pretty let down. It was average and gave me the worst indigestion. All that for $36 and it left me a bit disappointed. I'm sure if we had time to experience the steakhouse or one of the other places to eat we would have loved it by the looks of it.

Fairway Conditions: 9
I would say about 99% of their fairways are like carpet, absolutely gorgeous. Little excess water in places because they keep them watered well but they were very nice. I was a bit curious as to how they drain because quite a few of our drives plugged in the fairway. Other than #4 and 5 which were a bit bare in a couple spots, they can't get much better. Made for great lies and every one of them was lush green which I haven't seen in Florida as much.

Greens Conditions: 10
Perfect in every way! They rolled very true, hardly any damage other than your occasional ball mark and a thing of beauty to look at. The shade of green is pretty close to Ireland and if you stop to look at the 18th green on your stroll up the fairway, it looks like something out of a magazine. My only issue was that I had adapted to World Woods which were lightning fast and these were ten times slower. Saddlebrook has some of the nicest greens I've played on. The only green that needed any work at all is #6 which was a bit bare.

Scenery: 9
You have your ample share of signature holes at this course, similar to World Woods. Whether it's the third hole, a gorgeous par-3 guarded by water, or the 9th hole which is a beautiful par-4 with a slightly elevated green fronted by water. What a great hole looking in from your approach shot. They even took the time to build walkways into several of the bunkers and most of the hole posts are nicely accented with a landscape of either flowers or shrubs. The finishing hole is one of the prettier holes in golf. A longer par-4 guarded by huge cypress trees, the fairway snakes its way up to a two-tiered green that is magnificent. Take a picture from the fairway looking in on it. Off to the right of the green is a water fountain that gives it a nice touch. Visit their website and you'll find an aerial shot of the 18th on their homepage.

Difficulty of Course: 7
Other than the fact there is water on every single hole, notably hole #3, 9 and 18 being very tough holes, this course isn't overly challenging. They only have three sets of tees with the farthest being their blues, which we played, only measuring 6500 yards. The only other challenging part of the course you need to be careful of other than the water hazards is the deception of the holes. For some reason, possibly the giant cypress trees used as a backdrop on a lot of holes, the distance on your approach shots and most of your tee shots looks extremely deceiving. Quite a few of the holes look a lot longer than they play from the tee boxes so stick to your instincts! You really can't get in much trouble at Saddlebrook and for the most part it's pretty open off the tee.

Value Received: 7
Let me start by saying if I had paid the full amount of $105 or $145 after January 12, I probably would have been a bit disappointed. However, they offer a great deal designed for the local golfer where if you book online within 24 hours the rate drops to $55 and $75 after January 12. Almost half the price! Chances are if you're traveling to the area to play golf here you're not going to wait and risk not getting a tee-time but if you can wait, do it. They have a lunch card you can fill out on your cart and then call it in so it's ready for you at the turn. The also give you sand bottles and a cooler too. Get this though, they give you a cooler but they were empty with no water and no ice in it! At most courses I've played, if they give you a cooler it's fully stocked with water and ice. I found some of the intangibles to be lacking at Saddlebrook, which was a little surprising. A little saying I've heard and read comes into play here, "Success is in the details!"

Speed of Play/Design of Course: 7
Starting with speed of play, it was a great day on the course because at no time were we pushed or did we push people in front of us. It made for a very relaxing round and we still finished in 3 1/2 hours! Personally that means a lot to me, I hate being slowed down or pushed from behind be jerks trying to rush through a round. As far as design goes, the layout of the course is gorgeous. A lot of nice backdrops, great water hazards with several holes having retaining walls built in front of the green with that nice wood-finish look to it. However, what we all couldn't believe and were a bit frustrated by was the fact you drive in to the main check in area and have to hightail it on a long walk to the clubhouse, lugging your clubs on your back. That aspect of the design we all found to be very poor. It would be okay if there was someone with a cart that takes you to the pro shop with your clubs, but we found nothing of the sort and had to walk ourselves. Not a big deal, just inconvenient.

19th Hole: 10
There really isn't just one 19th hole, there's several. You have the poolside café, a sports bar & grill and the steakhouse. Take your pick! Their restaurant facilities are fantastic but I cannot vouch for the quality of food in the sports bar or the steakhouse. That will have to be for another time, but as far as choices go they're unlimited. Heck, at the poolside cafe you're not limited to just beer or liquor, you can order a pina colda or daquiri if you wanted to.

There is a beer cart on the course. +5

Comments:
It was a real treat to play several nice courses in the area on this trip. Saddlebrook is really an amazing facility and resort. It was hopping with activity and people. The golf course is beautiful! While I found the course to be great I still left feeling they were lacking on a few intangibles. I had trouble getting over the fact there was no one to drive us to the pro shop. Maybe they normally do, but we certainly didn't witness it. I also found it odd they would put a cooler on your cart without water and ice in it. Whether you should play here or not goes without saying...just look at their rating. I also had the chance to meet their head pro briefly, Bill Holden, who seemed like a good enough guy and was open to some brief conversation with me. I'd love to come back in second to play the Palmer course. I hear it's quite different from Saddlebrook.