by jon bosworth jaxvillain@yahoo.com
As the ides of spring waft into the Florida air, beautiful weather is afoot. The sky is blue, the sun is warm, but the air still has enough of a chill to make outdoors bearable. Floridians know that this won’t last long, it is the brief moment of beauty before a scorching summer and then a La Nina hurricane season, so we have to enjoy it while we can. The way many Jacksonvillians do this is through the game of golf.
North Florida is internationally known for golfing. From the annual Tournament Players Championship at Sawgrass, with the biggest purse for pro golfers, to the World Golf Village in St. Augustine and the Professional Golfers Association of America’s World Golf Hall of Fame, the First Coast is a premiere stop for people who are serious about golfing. We have some of the most beautiful and challenging courses in the world and we have golfing weather nearly year-round. Just look at the King & Bear golf course at the World Golf Village. Designed by living golf legends Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, this beautiful course is one people travel from overseas to play.
Not everyone on the First Coast can afford a membership at Sawgrass, or even a single game on the Slammer & Squire course at the World Golf Village, but that doesn’t cut you out of the game. Jacksonville has a wealth of public courses that span the gamut from expensive and worth the money to expensive and not worth the money, to truly hidden gems that are both affordable and fun to play.
When my friend Crosby came to visit me from Los Angeles he scolded me for not knowing how to play golf, but as a young punk rocker and counter-culture advocate, I had never come across any reason or means to learn the game. He, on the other hand, had found it a great way to meet people that could advance his professional career out West. So he dragged me and a couple of other punks out to Palm Valley and we rented some clubs, got the feel of them on the driving range, and played on a little 9 hole course called the Palm Valley Golf Club. In less than four hours I had a basic understanding of the game and found that I didn’t have a half-bad swing.
Of course he went back to California and I didn’t step foot on a green for many months after that, but when I did I found the aspect of this game that was truly endearing to me: drinking. Golf is the only game that lets you drive around while drinking beers (they’ll even loan you a cooler) and smoking cigarettes without being frowned at by other participants of the sport. It’s revelry with just a touch of exercise.
So here is what I recommend: Go to a thrift store, garage sale or second hand store and pick up a set of used clubs. You can usually find something for twenty dollars that has at least a driver, a nine iron, a putter, and a bag. If you are certain that this will be a sport you spend a lot of time playing (ie. you have some golfer friends) you may want to consider stopping by an Edwin Watts or Masterfit and finding a cheap starter set for around $200 that is the right fit for your height and swing.
Personally I play with a set my father found at a garage sale. It is a piece-meal set of woods that I think were carved by Ben Hogan himself when he was still a child, because they are old and crappy, and a driver I stole from a friend long ago. This set isn’t ideal, and I really should invest in new clubs, but I can’t help but feel as though using these clubs improve my game, much like a professional swimmer will wear sweatpants in the pool to train. This thinking is incorrect, but I live by it none the less. Knowing is half the battle, right?
Jacksonville has a number of driving ranges strategically positioned all over town. Just because it’s called a driving range doesn’t mean you have to spend all of your balls and energy just trying to whack it as far as possible, utilize the driving range to get a feel for all of your clubs. You may find that you are most accurate with a three iron, or that you hit better with one of your woods than you do with your driver. That is valuable information once you get on a real course. If you live near Philips Highway, you are in luck because many of the good ones are in that area. I will list them in order of my favorites, and there are a lot I am leaving out.
12121 Philips Highway (904) 292-4678
Located just South of the Avenues mall on Philips Highway, this range has a full bar, food before 5 pm, a package store, and a nice driving range that is even lit at night. For as little as $7 for a bucket of balls, you can spend hours smacking away, and if you drink enough, you won’t even worry about how bad your drives are. They have 50 practice tees, a small practice putting green, and even a practice sand trap.
14055 Philips Hwy (904) 886-4800
Located even further South down Philips, this driving range has a pro shop attached and they provide lessons. Personal or video. A bucket of balls is only $6 and they have 20 practice tees. Their Orange Park location (at 295 and Blanding) doesn’t have a full driving range, but they have a hitting bay and all of the other amenities of the Philips Highway location.
4567 St Johns Bluff Rd S (904) 620-2050 - www.unf.edu/rocksports
Featuring a lighted driving range with target greens and more than 10,000 square feet of short game practice areas, this UNF facility was developed to help you work on all aspects of your game. The UNF golf team uses this course and they have an interesting pricing scheme that allows you to choose the holes you want to play so that you can enjoy a short session on your lunch break. They have four championship holes, a pro shop, food and refreshments, lessons, and rental equipment.
Once you have practiced up and know a little more about how you and your clubs work together, you should set out to play on a course. Get a friend that is also a new golfer to go with you. Don’t be fooled by the friend that says they are bad even though they have been playing a long time. All golfers say they are bad, but once you get on the course they rock, they gloat, and they try to teach you their secrets. This is the most obnoxious occurance to any golfer, but it is especially discouraging to a new golfer.
Where you play depends largely on what side of town you are on and what you can afford. I have been all over town this week looking for the best public courses that cost less than $40 to play 18 holes. 18 holes is an entire day, so this may be a little extreme for a beginner and 9 holes will probably be more fun. Keep your score card with you just to keep track of how you do, but don’t worry too much about the score. To keep the game moving, and to keep you from getting frustrated, don’t keep hitting the ball until it goes in the hole. Give yourself a maximum of about eight strokes. If you haven’t gotten into the hole by eight, just write down a nine on the score card and move on to the next hole, maybe your luck will be better there.
6439 Hyde Grove Ave, Jacksonville
(904) 786-5410 www.hydeparkgolf.com
This is easily the best public course in Jacksonville. The TPC used to be played on this course back when it was called the Jacksonville Open. Hyde Park has been around for decades, but it is one of the best maintained courses in town. Featuring a comfortable clubhouse with a lounge that has a full bar of cheap drinks, pick up a cooler of beer and climb into your cart. Whether you play all eighteen or just nine (I recommend the back nine) this is a fun course. Warm up on their driving range then hit the green. Every hole has its challenges and their water hazards are truly hazardous, so look out for snakes. This course embraces Florida’s natural environment, so be careful when losing your balls to the water hazards and don’t try to play through if it lands on the back of a sunbathing turtle. The trees on this course tend to reach out and smack your ball, so be careful about putting too much loft on your drives.
The sixth hole on this course, also known as Hogan’s Alley, is one of the most famous. During a Jacksonville Open professional tournament half a century ago, legendary golfer Ben Hogan took eleven strokes to get past this short 3 par hole. He hit it near the water hazard off the drive (which is directly adjacent to the green) then hit two into the water, dropped it next to the water only to flub the chip back into the water and finally made it to the green to sink it on the eleventh stroke.
You can enjoy this same frustration as an amateur when you play this course. It is only $28 per player for the full eighteen holes during the week and only $24 after noon during the week. Holidays and weekends are busier, so a full game costs $38. Get there early, get on the list, and enjoy a game of pool in the bar or sharpen your short game on their practice putting green. When your turn is up they will assign you a golf cart and you can play the day away.
22680 North Hampton Club Way, Fernandina Beach
(904) 548-0000 www.hamptongolfclub.com
Although a little out of the way for most of us, the North Hampton golf course is a nice treat that is still at or below $40 per person to play. Arnold Palmer designed this par 72 championship course. The manicured greens and beautiful rolling hills were designed to be reminiscent of a classic Scottish course. This signature course is semi-private, but the public are welcome. Almost any day except Friday mornings will be $40 or less if you book them in advance through their website.
605 South Penman Road, Jacksonville Beach
247-6184
This full eighteen-hole public course is a treasure near the coastline. In the past this course has been known to be a bit choppy, but there is a new superintendent improving the course. The greens aren’t very fast, but for only $36.75 for 18 holes with a cart (equipped with GPS), it is the best place to play for that price at the beaches. It also includes a lighted driving range plus a practice chipping and putting green. Private and group lessons are available as well.
153 Northside Dr S, Jacksonville
(904) 757-0318
This eighteen-hole course is among the cheapest in town. If you are close to the Northside, this course is off of Pecan Park Road. Featuring 6,651 yards of golf, it has the longest tees of any nearby par 72 course. At $20 on the weekdays and $34 on the weekends, this is one of the area’s most affordable courses.
No matter what your flavor, you have to at least get out there once this summer. Pick a friend to start golfing with if you don’t already golf on a regular basis. Get good enough to spend some quality time with the old man, or turn a profit by taking business associates out on the course. People find everything from new jobs to Zen on those greens, so there is no reason not to give it a shot. See you at the tee!
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