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Grand Haven is Grand

The Palm Coast Resort is a 700-acre resort located in the town of Palm Coast some 40 minutes drive north of Daytona Beach. The resort consists of a charming 154-room Harborside Inn on the Intracoastal Waterway, an adjacent marina, a tennis complex and five public-access golf courses all within a few minutes drive of one another.

The courses include Cypress Knoll, a Gary Player signature course of about 6600 yards that features very narrow fairways and Pine Lakes, a 7074-yard (from the tips) Palmer/Seay design that is fairly wide open and features some excellent risk/reward par 5's. There are also Palm Harbor, a pleasant William Amick design, and Matanzas Woods, another Palmer/Seay creation that has a fine wooded back nine. Unfortunately for the course and the area, the forest fires of June 1998 wiped out the wooded ambience of the front 9, depriving it of the character and challenge which had made it one of the best courses in the area. Nevertheless, the course is superior and one that should be included on your "B" list.

The best of the resort's courses is Grand Haven. Opened in the fall of 1998, this signature Nicklaus design runs along the waterway through magnificent stands of pines, cypress and palms. Featuring higher elevations than a typical Florida course, Grand Haven is the most attractive and enjoyable Nicklaus course I have played. With its generous landing areas and large, moderately sloping greens that feature open fronts, Grand Haven does not require the brutal accuracy of many of his other designs. As he noted at the grand opening, "Grand Haven wanted a good course, not a back-breaking course." This is not to say Grand Haven is a cinch. There are plenty of pines, bunkers, water and natural areas planted with pampas and other tall grasses to snare recalcitrant shots.

On an outstanding front 9, #3 stands out as a masterful par 4. From the back on this sharp right-hand dogleg of 436 yards, you drive over a marsh to a wide fairway from where you have a medium to long iron to an elevated green. If your tee shot is too far left, you must negotiate another marsh to get home. A medium-length par 4 of 375 yards, # 7 is another beauty that starts with a tee shot from thick woods over a marsh to a wide, uphill fairway flanked by large bunkers. The green is well bunkered on this hole that is beautifully framed by woods on both sides. The down-hill 155-yard 8th is arguably the weakest link in this otherwise strong chain, if for no other reason than it is Nicklaus' concession to the pressures of gimmickry. Since island greens sell these days, the Golden Bear put one in on this hole. It is perhaps a minor flaw in an otherwise, thoughtful layout whose back 9 features a wooded par 3 with a waterway view, two long, back-to-back par 4's and a delightful finishing hole, a slight dogleg left reachable par 5 requiring a high second shot to clear three oaks on the left side of the fairway 50 yards out.

Expertly superintended and serviced with a smile, Grand Haven is a semi-private club that will one day go completely private. In the meantime, resort guests and the general public will continue to have access to one of the best courses in the area. That is, until Ocean Hammock is completed some time in 2000. Ocean Hammock is another Nicklaus signature design that is located just north of the private club of Hammock Dunes (A Fazio). Featuring six ocean front holes, it is being laid out on a site that Nicklaus has called one of the best he has ever worked with. For tee times at Grand Haven, call 1-904-445-BEAR (2327). For resort information, call 1-800-654-6538.

The good news is that Sugar Mill, a fine member-owned private 27-hole Joe Lee golf club, is open to the public. The bad news is that it is only open to the public between May 1 and October 1. If you're in the Daytona area during Florida's off season (when many of the members are up north), take advantage of the club's policy and get a tee time. Sugar Mill lies a few miles off I-95 in New Smyrna Beach, about a 30 minutes drive from Daytona Beach Shores.

Opened in 1970, Sugar Mill is one of the area's older, more established golf/residential communities. Both the golf course and the community reflect a graceful maturity not always found in other developments. Aged cypress, pines and oaks and other vegetation that line many of the fairways provide canopy for the residences, secluding them from the golf course. The phased development of Sugar Mill is reflected in the varied architectural styles of the homes, which range from the wood-frame to the contemporary.

Before the land was developed, hunters stalked deer, wild bear and even boar on this heavily wooded site that later became a retreat of the Ford Philpot Evangelistic Institute. Now, the only religious activity on the site are the orisons silently performed by golfers negotiating a beautifully groomed course that consists of three nines -- the White, Red and Blue. The White-Red course was finished in the 1970s and the Blue was completed in 1984.

The Sugar Mill course is a throwback to the best in traditional architecture. There are no tricks here, just straightforward, what-you-see-is-what-you-get golf. The course is not overly long but it is not a pushover. Lakes, trees and the occasional tight fairway keep golfers alert. The best of the nines is the blue that includes a marvelous dogleg left short par 4 of 357 yards from the back. A huge oak whose branches tower over the left side of the fairway all but ensure a bogey here if the tee shot is too far left. Another oak similarly situated at the joint of the dogleg on the 416-yard 6th hole puts a high price on distance and accuracy off the tee if this one is to be mastered as well. As with all the nines, if you pick the correct tee markers, you'll have a fun and challenging experience. For more information about Sugar Mill, call 904-426-5210. 

Photos courtesy of LPGA International, Grand Haven, Sugar Mill.

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