Florida Golf

What a different game Florida golf is: the lack of elevation change, slow greens, and no pesky woods to swallow up errant drives, makes for a completely foreign game to the one I grew up playing in New England. Aggressiveness off the tee offers a much greater reward when paired with the defenses Florida courses bring to the table.

Firm fairways: playing a course where drives run out 30+ yards makes life worth living. Scoring shots transform from a pitching wedge up north, to a flip lob wedge down south, which produce immediate results.

Wind: the winds determine how courses play near Tampa Bay. Gusts of over 20mph are commonplace and force you to get creative with ball flight. This has helped tremendously in my ability to hit the ball on a lower trajectory than normal, utilizing a 3/4 swing and low finish to keep spin and height off the shot.

Water: The amount of water I’ve seen in Florida is astonishing. Most holes have water lining one side of the fairways, and with the lack of woods on the other, you have plenty of room to bail out on your tee shots.

The greens are FLAT, (and slow):

I’ve made more putts of over 30 feet in my 5-10 rounds in Florida than I can count. More often than not, I’ll line up a putt from 30 feet and say,”Looks straight…” and proceed to smack it into the center of the hole at about 40mph. Safe to say, I could get used to snowless winters.