Streamsong Resort

[jattruia]

So i got the privilege to play the Streamsong Resort this past weekend; just an hour and change outside of Tampa. The resort and courses were amazing, seriously top notch. And the third course opening next month looks to continue what they've already done. I didn't play as well as i had hoped, but then again, this was more than just for golf. There were 8 of us there, and we rarely are all together (usually a bachelor party, wedding, or something along those lines). So the booze were flowing, cigs were burning, and full nights of sleep were not happening.

So a quick summary of the course/resort. The whole place is in the middle of nowhere; you only use highways for about half the trip from the Tampa airport. It's built in and old phosphate mine and they did a really good job implementing parts of that history wherever they could. The hole numbers are posted on old railroad ties from them mines, and they're placed between brackets that held the rails in place. They even use painted cross sections of old rails as tee markers.

We stayed in the lodge (hotel) which was a nice modern building a few restaurants and bars, plus a lakeside pool. It's a pretty small place, but extremely nice and luxurious. It's not by the course, so you need to take a shuttle to the clubhouse that takes roughly 7-10 minutes. The clubhouse is build in the same vein as the lodge and looks nothing like any clubhouse i've ever seen. There's a nice steakhouse and bar there along with the pro shop. This is also where the first tee boxes and putting green are located. To get to the driving green, the staff will cart you over a few minutes. The putting green and driving range were nice, but the best part was the large chipping green; i could have spend hours there.

So, the way the weekend was planned, we were just hanging out Friday, then playing red on Saturday afternoon and Blue Sunday am. So Friday was a late drunk night, but we had a blast. We took a handful of beers to the putting green around dusk and found a 19th hole of sorts. Theres a tee box next to the green and another green with a flag and hole hot 92 yards over some water. We collected about 40 balls from the green and took turns hitting wedges on there for probably over an hour.

Now for the golfing. We teed off on the Red course at close to 2:00. I made a few mistakes this day, namely walking. It was as hot and humid as i have ever felt and after a 5.5 hr round, i was spent. It all hit you after maybe 10 holes, and it was just a mess. I also played the black tees with the group i was with, who were a little more serious golfers than me and out drive me by an easy 30-50 yds on average. I was completely out of sorts and probably shot close to a hundred. Either way, the course was amazing. It's just cut out of the land with rolling fairways, some elevation changes, bunkers and waste areas everywhere, and tall whispy grass all over the pace. This course was also TIGHT. If you were off on your tee ball (which i was) it was gong to be a long day. That combined with the weather, previous night's festivities, etc just led to a pretty piss poor round.

The next day we teed off bright and early on the blue course. This time we ALL rode. When you ride there you also have to have a fore caddy (this pace gets expensive fast). The Blue course is a little different. The fairways feel like they're the size of football fields and the par 3's seem more manageable. I was also playing from the silvers which may have been a little up even for me, but i was happy to get the break. I missed maybe 4 fairways all da (hit all on the front) and although i feel like the fore caddy gave me a couple poor reads, i did manage 3 birdies so he was doing something right. Aesthetically, it looked very similar to the Red course, but it played very differently. It had a few short par 4s, shorter 3's, and the greens didn't seem as punishing. I probably liked this one best since it was more forgiving, but I am clearly biased.

Overall, if you ever get a chance to play here, go. It can get pricy, but if your'e careful you can get by. For 4 rooms, we each paid $336 which included 2 nights, one round, and came with a $50 giftcard. Food and booze add up quickly, as do tips. Rounds are ~$120 and you can use a push cart for free. Otherwise you need to ride which comes with a fore caddy at an additional $30 plus tip per person. I promise you though, this beats walking in that heat and humidity in July.

I'll get some pics uploaded soon.

[DougE]

Thanks for taking the time to review the course. Enjoyed hearing about it and your rounds. I want to play Streamsong before I am too old to walk it.

One asterick, I might add: Rounds are $120, * in the summer. In the winter they are nearly twice that.

[jattruia]

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Some Photos

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[jattruia]

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[jattruia]

Red Hole 1

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Blue Hole 1

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[Duke of Hazards]

Good review. Looks awesome.

[legitimatebeef]

nooooooooooooice.

[jfurr]

Congrats Jay - looks like fun. I have friend who went there for a buddy trip and golfed his ass off. They were playing 18/36 a day and walking.

[bkuehn1952]

?.. I want to play Streamsong before I am too old to walk it...

Sorry DougE, we are already too old.

[bkuehn1952]

Thanks @jattruia, that is a place on my list, too.

[MattF]

Thanks for posting this, place looks awesome!

[GBOGEY]

?.. I want to play Streamsong before I am too old to walk it...

Sorry DougE, we are already too old.

No you're not! Just not in the summertime. BTW, it's a hard course to walk in general because the soil is so sandy. Erin Hills is supposed to be similar. But walkable in cooler weather. I thought the lodge and food was spectacular when I was there. On the par 3 with the long bridge I hit an incredible shot to about 5 feet. Ball did exactly what it was supposed to do. As we started walking from the tee, the caddie said, "uh oh." A gust of wind came up and blew my ball off the green and into the hazard.

BTW - was it windy during July? It seemed like 15+ winds were the norm when I was there.

[DougE]

?.. I want to play Streamsong before I am too old to walk it...

Sorry DougE, we are already too old.

No we're not!. Well, at least I'm not. (I'm way younger than you. At least by a couple years. )