The Laker/Lutz News

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Hitting the links? Check these local golf courses

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As we flip the calendar to October and corresponding cooler outdoor temperatures, it makes make an ideal time to dust off those golf clubs, iron your polo shirts and hit the links again in the morning or afternoon. Another reason: it’s also one of the more socially distanced sports or recreation activities at the ready. (Just watch out for those incoming snowbirds.)

Locally, there’s more than 20 courses spanning Odessa, Lutz and New Tampa, and all the way through East Pasco. Each presents a unique quality, from Scottish links to Florida-style with wide open fairways and water hazards, to some with rolling hills reminiscent of North Carolina-esque layouts.

Some courses are longer than others, some more expensive and exclusive, but there’s seemingly something for anyone, whether a novice or scratch golfer.

With that, here’s a closer look at the local golf courses to check out in The Laker/Lutz News coverage area.

Pasco County golf courses

The Groves Golf and Country Club, in Land O’ Lakes (Courtesy of The Groves Golf and Country Club)

The Groves Golf and Country Club: 7924 Melogold Circle, Land O’ Lakes
18 holes, par 65

Skinny: The Groves promotes itself as “the longest short course in Florida” suited for golfers of all skills levels. Designed by professional golfer and sportscaster Gary Koch, the 4,019-yard course surrounding 200 acres of conservation wetlands features holes ranging from 105 yards to 375 yards. Greens are well-bunkered with winding fairways flanked by trees and water. Course also features an aqua range and full-sized putting green.

Lake Jovita Golf & Country Club, in Dade City (Courtesy of Lake Jovita Golf & Country Club)

Lake Jovita Golf and Country Club: 12900 Lake Jovita Blvd., Dade City
Two 18-hole courses, both par 72

Skinny: The semi-private Lake Jovita features two 18-hole championship courses, the North and South, which Golf Digest magazine once called, “one of the best kept secrets in Central Florida.” Unlike much of Florida, rolling hills and elevation changes provide for scenic views of the surrounding oaks, lakes and ponds. Both courses play a bit longer, tapping out at 7,226 yards and 7,153 yards, respectively. Lake Jovita also is home to the Saint Leo University men’s and women’s golf teams, and has played host to many college tournaments and charity scrambles.

Lexington Oaks Golf Club, in Wesley Chapel (Courtesy of Lexington Oaks)

Lexington Oaks Golf Club: 26133 Lexington Oaks Blvd., Wesley Chapel
18 holes, par 72

Skinny: The 6,646-yard course traverses through woods, marshland and waters, requiring players to avoid bunkers on elevated, massive greens — including a 62-yard wide surface on the 18th hole. Three of its par 3s are handicapped as the toughest holes on the course — including the 233-yard second hole, carryover water on a two-tiered green.

Links of Lake Bernadette: 5430 Links Lane, Zephyrhills
18 holes, par 71

Skinny: The semi-private club was designed, built and previously owned by former golf Dean Refram, who also designed the original Saddlebrook. The 6,400-yard course is regarded for rolling fairways, towering pines, and playable for golfers of all ages and skills levels. Golf Digest once rated it as the “Best Overall Value” in Tampa Bay.

Plantation Palms Golf Club, in Land O’ Lakes (Courtesy of Plantation Palms Golf Club)

Plantation Palms Golf Club: 23253 Plantation Palms Blvd., Land O’ Lakes
18 holes, par 72

Skinny: The 6,831-yard course presents a difficult layout, with water hazards on all but one hole en route to rolling, elevated greens. Property also features a lighted driving range and 18-holf miniature golf course.

 

 

Saddlebrook Golf Club, in Wesley Chapel (Courtesy of Saddlebrook Resort & Spa)

Saddlebrook Resort: 5700 Saddlebrook Way, Wesley Chapel
Two 18-hole courses, par 70 and par 71

Skinny: The renowned Saddlebrook Resort features two 18-hole courses — Palmer Course, Saddlebrook Course — which incorporate rolling fairways and well-maintained greens, along wilderness areas full of cypress, pine and palm trees. Other frills also stand out — including a 16-acre golf training center and professional golf instruction utilizing state-of-the-art swing technology through Trackman, SAM Balance Lab ad SAMPuttLab. The facility is home to Saddlebrook Preparatory School, which has groomed many elite-level junior golfers, including Australian-born Karl Vilips, one of the world’s top-ranked amateurs now competing at Stanford University.

Saint Leo Abbey Golf Course: 33640 State Road 52 W., Saint Leo
18 holes, par 71

Skinny: The manageable 5,659-yard public course with a slope rating of 105 is convenient and affordable for Saint Leo University students and faculty, located directly across the road from the main campus.

Scotland Yards Golf Club, in Dade City (Courtesy of Scotland Yards Golf)

Scotland Yards: 9424 U.S. 301 S., Dade City
18 holes, par 72

Skinny: The 6,661-yard course plays into its namesake — a traditional links-style layout reminiscent of courses played in England and Scotland. Though relatively few water hazards, many pot bunkers are strategically located throughout.

 

 

Silverado Golf and Country Club, in Zephyrhills (Courtesy of Silverado Golf and Country Club)

Silverado Golf and Country Club: 36841 Clubhouse Drive, Zephyrhills
18 holes, par 72

Skinny: The semi-private 6,671-yard layout is accented by 100-year-old oaks shading the course’s clubhouse and fairways. It also is home to a variety of Florida wildlife like sandhill cranes, red-tail hawks, egrets, grey squirrels, ducks, geese and even foxes. The club features a full practice area including grass driving range, chipping and bunker areas, plus a 3,000-square-foot practice putting green.

Southport Springs: 3509 Southport Springs Parkway, Zephyrhills
18 holes, par 69

Skinny: The nearly 5,000-yard course prides itself on being a quick round and accommodating senior golfers, but still testing low handicappers because of narrow fairways and small greens.

Tampa Bay Golf and Country Club, in San Antonio (Courtesy of Tampa Bay Golf and Country Club)

Tampa Bay Golf and Country Club: 10641 Old Tampa Bay Dr., San Antonio
18 holes, par 71; 9-hole executive, par 27

Skinny: The 6,210-yard Scottish links-style courses requires golfers to steer narrow tree-lined fairways and water hazards on all 18 holes. It’s been labeled a “shot-maker’s course,” whereby accuracy and skilled iron play are a must for respectable scores. Fairways are made up of 419 Bermuda turf while putting surfaces are made of TifEagle Bermuda grass. Novices not quite up to the task are welcome to try the club’s 9-hole, par-3 executive course.

Zephyrhills City Golf Course: 39248 Ave. B, Zephyrhills
18 holes, par 68

Skinny: The 5,054-yard layout has a 70.0 course rating and a slope rating of 113. Since opening in the 1970s, it’s been a local favorite —approachable for beginners, yet offering advanced players an opportunity for a quick round. Lakes and streams play throughout the course, along with the occasional bunker strategically placed out.

Hillsborough County golf courses

The Club at Cheval, 4312 Cheval Blvd., Lutz
18 hole, par 71

Skinny: The semi-private, 7,005-yard layout is one of the area’s more ballyhooed courses, running through 860 acres of development property. Shot-making is critical, as the course features water hazards on every hole and 108 bunkers total. Its signature hole is a par-3 17th, where water short of the green wraps around the left side to the back of the landing surface.

The Eagles Golf Club, in Odessa (Courtesy of Eagles Golf Club)

The Eagles Golf Club: 16101 Nine Eagles Dr., Odessa
Two 18-hole courses, both par 72

Skinny: Features two 18-hole golf courses surrounded by more than 30 lakes, ponds and canals. The 6,604-yard Forest Course requires accuracy, thanks to contoured fairways and well-protected greens. Meanwhile, the lengthier 7,101-yard Lakes Course is aptly named, as water comes into play on nearly every hole, and plays more like a traditional Florida course with a generous driving area.

Heritage Harbor Golf and Country Club, in Lutz (Courtesy of Heritage Golf and Country Club)

Heritage Harbor Golf and Country Club: 19502 Heritage Harbor Parkway, Lutz
18 holes, par 72

Skinny: The 6,900-yard public course offers its fair share of water and marshes to cross. One appreciative feature the club markets is homes don’t crowd fairways — as only five holes out of 18 have housing on both sides. During a round, you’re bound to spot hawks, ospreys, loons, ibis, herons and kingfishers. It’s also one of the newer courses locally, built in 1999.

Hunter’s Green Country Club, in New Tampa (Courtesy of Hunter’s Green Country Club)

Hunter’s Green Golf Club: 18101 Longwater Run Drive, Tampa
18 holes, par 72

Skinny: The 7,059-yard course — designed by Tom Fazio, one of the most well-known golf course architects of all time — is sculpted from existing pine flatwoods and wetlands, giving it a picturesque element. The course in 2017 was renovated with new TiFEagle Bermuda greens on all 18 holes and practice areas. Additional sand bunkers also were recently constructed throughout the entire course, bringing more of a challenge.

Northdale Golf & Tennis Club: 4417 Northdale Blvd., Tampa
18 hole, par 72

Skinny: The 6,824-yard course presents a Florida-style layout with wide-open fairways, and large, inviting greens. Natural surroundings are highlighted by cypress trees and spring-fed lakes.

Pebble Creek Golf Club, in New Tampa (Courtesy of Pebble Creek Golf Club)

Pebble Creek Golf Club: 10550 Regents Park Drive, Tampa
18 hole, par 71

Skinny: The 6,436-yard course is set on a secluded layout with moss-draped grandfather oaks and water on 16 holes. There’s all sorts of wildlife, from alligators to sandhill cranes. Elevated greens are another noted feature.

 

 

Silver Dollar Golf Club: 12711 Silver Dollar Drive, Odessa
Three 9-hole courses, par 35, par 36, and par 37

Skinny: Silver Dollar’s three 9-hole championship-length courses (Gator, Panther, Bobcat) can be played individually or consecutively, each featuring a wide variety of fairways, bunkers and water features flanked by stately trees. The course also boasts one of the better practice facilities, including a full driving range, two putting greens, pitching and chipping green with sand trap, and three practice holes. Measures a long of 6,489 yards when the Gator and Panther courses are paired together.

Tampa Palms Golf & Country Club, in New Tampa (Courtesy of Tampa Palms Golf & Country Club)

Tampa Palms Golf & Country Club: 5811 Tampa Palms Blvd., Tampa
18 hole, par 72

Skinny: The 7,004-yard private course sits on an Audubon sanctuary and claims to test golfers of all skill levels, as water hazards come into play on 10 holes and bunkers, strategically placed throughout. Its signature par-3 17th hole requires a tee shot over an expansive body of water to a green abutting two left side bunkers. The course is the former home of the Senior PGA Tour’s GTE Suncoast Classic Tournament.

TPC Tampa Bay, in Lutz (Courtesy of TPC Tampa Bay)

TPC Tampa Bay: 5300 W. Lutz Lake Fern Road, Lutz
18-hole, par 71

Skinny: Consistently ranking among the top-rated courses in all of Florida, the PGA Tour-built 6,898-yard course winds through natural wetlands, cypress heads and lagoons. The course presents its share of difficulties with a slew of uneven lies and water found on 15 holes. It’s played host of the PGA Tour Champions event for 21 years running.

Published October 07, 2020

Zephyrhills chamber ‘pays it forward’

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The seventh annual Pigz and Z’Hills BBQ & Blues Fest is over, but its community impact lingers on.

The Greater Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce earmarked more than $19,000 in scholarships and donations during its annual “Pay it Forward” dinner on Feb. 23, at the Silverado Golf and Country Club.

Evan McBride, part of a grilling group called Peachy Boys, from Mount Dora, turns some meat on the grill during the seventh annual Pigz in Z’Hills BBQ & Blues Fest on Jan. 21. Revenue from the event allowed The Greater Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce to earmark more than $19,000 in donations and scholarships to civic clubs, youth groups and graduating seniors from Zephyrhills High School.
(File)

The post-barbecue banquet celebrates volunteers’ efforts during the Pigz in Z’Hills BBQ & Blues Fest, which just wrapped its seventh year on Jan. 21. More than 100 sponsors, participants and volunteers attended the celebration.

Throughout the banquet, the chamber handed out $14,500 in donations to 11 civic clubs and youth groups, from money raised through the barbecue event.

Those donations ranged from $250 to $1,900.

The chamber also announced $5,000 in scholarships to graduating Zephyrhills High School students in May. Among those are a $1,000 performing arts scholarship, a $1,000 culinary arts scholarship and a $1,000 scholarship to a student “who may not have started well, but has made a turnaround in his or her scholastic life.”

Organizations receiving donations were the Pasco County Sheriff’s Posse, Zephyrhills Civil Air Patrol, Zephyrhills Noon Rotary, Zephyrhills Museum of Military History, Zephyrhills/Wesley Chapel Ministerial Association, Relay 4 Life committee, and the Resurrection House Mission.

Several groups from Zephyrhills High School also were rewarded, including Army JRTOC, Interact Club and Drama Club.

Each organization, which contributed the bulk of the festival’s 3,000 volunteer hours, was also presented with various certificates, plaques and other prizes.

The seventh annual Pigz in Z’Hills festival, meanwhile, was its most successful to date, chamber officials say.

Net revenue from the event totaled more than $50,000 — the highest mark yet, according to Melonie Monson, executive director of The Greater Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce.

Moreover, the economic impact for the city of Zephyrhills from this year’s barbecue fest was estimated at about $500,000, Monson said.

Pigz in Z’Hills, now a mainstay for east Pasco, drew somewhere between 11,000 and 14,000 attendees.

It also featured 54 teams, and more than 140 vendors.
In a release, Monson credits some of the event’s success — both financial and turnout — to the new festival venue, which was completed just prior to the barbecue shindig.

The $70,000-plus venue spans 14 acres, and includes amenities such as a 20-by-40 stage, and 50 spaces equipped with water and electric.
It was constructed via a public-private partnership, with contributions from Florida Hospital Zephyrhills and the City of Zephyrhills. Additionally, John Kinsman, of Martin Electric, and Paul Correia, of Sunstate Aluminum, contributed labor and expertise in electrical, plumbing and construction.

The venue is now expected to be used for various events and fundraisers organized by nonprofit organizations.

Published March 8, 2017

Zephyrhills plans to buy property next to City Hall

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The conceptual plan of a new City Hall complex in Zephyrhills has taken another step forward.

The city council unanimously authorized city manager Steve Spina and city attorney Matt Maggard to negotiate the purchase of the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) chapter building, at 5325 Eighth St. The .16-acre property, appraised at $71,200, sits on two lots measuring 50-by-140 feet.

The City of Zephyrhills plans to purchase the Disabled American Veterans property, shown on the left, to use as temporary office space once construction begins on the $6.2 million City Hall project. Post-construction, the DAV property will be used for additional parking and sidewalks, linking the City Hall with the city’s library and fire department.
(Courtesy of City of Zephyrhills)

The action came at the council’s regular Feb. 13 meeting.

In November, the council authorized obtaining an appraisal to determine the value of the property after DAV Chapter 65 announced it was shutting operations.

The now-vacant property — which sits adjacent to the current City Hall along Sixth Avenue — includes a 924-square-foot main building, a 450-square-foot aluminum storage building and a 335-square-foot concrete block building.

Its planned usage is multi-layered.

Initially, it will provide temporary office space — likely for the city’s Building Department, when construction is underway on the new, $6.2 million City Hall complex.

The City Hall project is expected to be complete sometime in mid-2018.

After construction is completed, the main DAV building will be torn down to make way for additional parking and sidewalks along Sixth Avenue.

The property, too, encompasses the city’s vision of a courtyard plaza and walkway, linking the new City Hall and the city’s public library, and fire department on Eighth Street.

“We’re buying it for the big picture,” Spina said. “Part of the appeal of the area is it would be a government complex.”

Zephyrhills city manager Steven Spina
(File)

Council president Kenneth Compton agreed, saying the “location couldn’t really get any better.”

Spina said the DAV building is move-in ready, but additional funds will be set aside to make it a suitable workplace for city employees.

Funds are available to purchase the building in the city’s contingency budget. Likewise, expenses could be billed into the construction of the new City Hall.

Spina advised the council he plans to negotiate an offer several thousand dollars less than the appraised value.

Moreover, the city is eyeing another temporary quarters along Ninth Street and Sixth Avenue. One possibility, Spina said, is the former police station, at 5344 Ninth St.

Meantime, the design of the new City Hall is already in motion.

City staff members have met with engineers and architects to outline project goals and objectives, along with a construction timeline.

The project calls for a two-story building of 19,615 square feet, significantly larger than the current City Hall, which is 13,497 square feet.

With a modern stone and brick exterior, the new City Hall follows an architectural template similar to the Zephyrhills Public Library.

In other action, the council heard an update on the Pigz in Z’Hills BBQ & Blues Fest, from Melonie Monson, executive director of The Greater Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce.

Monson told council members that the event drew more than 11,000, its largest turnout ever.

That compares to about 6,000 the previous year.

She estimated the economic impact for the event at about $500,000.

She also shared a few statistics:

  • About 30 percent of attendees were regional; 20 percent were out-of-state.
  • There were 39 sponsors.
  • Fifty-four cook teams took part, and there were 73 judges.
  • There were 140 vendors and expo participants, and there were 180 volunteers who contributed more than 3,000 hours of service.

“With the overwhelming success of the new venue and this year’s barbecue, the economic impact will be felt in our community for some time,” she said.

The chamber’s annual Pay It Forward dinner is Feb. 23 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., at the Silverado Golf & Country Club. There, donations and scholarships will be dished out from money raised during the BBQ fest.

Published February 22, 2017

Dreaming of a golf league of their own

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WESLEY CHAPEL — As a self-proclaimed “range rat,” it doesn’t take much to keep Ron Nelson happy. Give him a bucket of balls, room on the practice tee and a game on the radio for company, and he’s set.

“It’s golf heaven,” he says.

It is insufficient to call the 69-year-old Nelson a regular at Pasadena Hills Golf Driving Range; he is, more accurately, a devotee to this little patch of paradise off Handcart Road.

It might be the range’s proximity to his home in Zephyrhills. It might be the ease of using an electronic key to retrieve a practice bucket from the ball dispenser. Location and convenience are always big sellers.

Most likely, however, it has to do with the red sign affixed to the entrance gate that declares the range home to the Florida Veterans Golf Association, and also that half the ownership team — PGA teaching professional Fred Bender — served, as Nelson did, in Vietnam.

Fred Bender is seated with, from left, Robert Jones, Melvin Blair, Ron Nelson and Jim Murphy standing behind him. (Tom Jackson/Photo)
Fred Bender is seated with, from left, Robert Jones, Melvin Blair, Ron Nelson and Jim Murphy standing behind him.
(Tom Jackson/Photo)

Bender, a Marine, endured in 1968 the four-month siege of Khe Sanh, a U.S. stronghold in the northwest corner of South Vietnam near Laos. Whatever else he took from the experience — bitterly, as people back home turned against the war, U.S. forces abandoned Khe Sanh within months after winning the battle — Bender knew then he always would be the brother of anyone who wore an American military uniform.

On a recent Monday in an air-conditioned corner of the golf center, Bender was surrounded by military kin, fellows such as Nelson who remember vividly their days as young soldiers, sailors and Marines.

Here was Robert Jones, 65, a 24-year Navy man who experienced Vietnam as a 19-year-old orderly transporting other 19-year-olds, amputee patients, between air transports and the U.S. Naval Hospital in Philadelphia.

And here was Jim Murphy, 74, a Marine machinist who spent six years in the Pacific just as Vietnam was beginning to heat up. And here, too, was Melvin Blair, 69, who learned to hit golf balls as a 12-year-old in the north Florida citrus groves where his father picked for a living, then earned four Purple Hearts as an infantryman during a two-year tour in Vietnam.

And, even if those wartime experiences aren’t the sum of who they are, they still shape how they think and how they form their happiest associations.

Put him in a room with 60 random strangers, Bender was saying, and he’ll look for the nearest escape route. But last year, when he screwed up the courage to attend a reunion of Khe Sanh Marines in Savannah, the welcome felt like being surrounded by 300 family members.

Even as he began making plans for the next Marine gathering, “It got me thinking, about what I could do to help get veterans together here,” Bender says.

He thinks, at last, he’s onto something: a veterans’ golf league that tours area courses on a regular schedule, then gathers in the clubhouse to share a meal and whatever is on their minds.

The inaugural event is set, appropriately, for Veterans Day at Silverado Golf and Country Club, off Eiland Boulevard in Zephyrhills. “I just think it would be great to get the guys together on a regular basis,” Bender says, “somewhere other than their usual watering holes.”

Not that there’s anything wrong with watering holes, he says, and here Nelson interjects, “But, you never get to know someone like you do when you play golf.

“It’s four hours together, alone in the outdoors. It’s quiet. You’re playing a game that makes you think. And, you start talking about things that would never come up anywhere else. Stories you’ve never told anyone.”

Nelson, himself, isn’t one to tell stories, even though the one he has to tell is as plain as the scar on his face: a jagged disruption working its way across the bridge of his nose to just below his right eye.

“I picked it up in the A Shau Valley,” he shrugs.

“A Shau?” says the often-wounded Blair. “Man, I get scared just hearing the name.”

Rightly so. A Shau served as a conduit for soldiers and supplies flowing from North Vietnam, and attempts to thwart Hanoi’s operations were costly and largely ineffective. The most infamous of these, in May 1969, involved the taking of an insignificant nob survivors dubbed “Hamburger Hill.”

Nelson, a member of the Army’s 101st Airborne Division, came in on a helicopter and left on a stretcher. He survived, but kept the shrapnel in his sinuses; now it rarely comes up in conversation unless the X-ray tech at the dentist’s office is new.

Then, inevitably, it’s, “What the hell is that?!” And, Nelson patiently explains how he came by his souvenir from the Viet Cong.

Jones told of the courage of lads his age, fresh “out of country,” getting used to the idea of facing life without a limb or two, “and not one of them said, ‘I can’t.’ ”

Blair recalled sitting by the mess hall door nearest the bunker after the Tet Offensive, because you never knew when a rocket would come flying through the window. “If that seat was taken,” he says, “I didn’t eat.”

The conscientious Murphy, who’d already given blood that Monday morning, spoke with pride about looking after machine guns that never broke down on his watch.

All that and much, much more, came out of an hour spent in the vicinity of a golf practice range. Imagine an entire day on actual links.

Area veterans don’t have to imagine. They can hook up with Fred Bender and turn a dream of ball-striking camaraderie into a tale-spinning reality. You can visit his web site — PasadenaHillsGolf.com — or catch him at (813) 857-5430.

The same contacts work for potential sponsors. Ring up the man. Send him an email. He survived a siege to make this happen. But, even a Marine capable of creating golf heaven can’t take this hill alone.

Tom Jackson, a resident of New Tampa, is interested in your ideas. To reach him, email .

Published September 21, 2016