Golfer’s Guide Tampa Bay Golf Courses Stories

The folks at Westchase Golf Club are far too low-key to create a brassy slogan like “It’s Not Private, You’ll Just Think It Is”. That line has actually come from more than one visitor to this quiet, upscale, but very public corse located in the masterplanned development of Westchase in Hillsborough County just north of downtown Tampa.

The visitors who coined that moniker aren’t the only ones impressed by the dayin-day-out excellence of this 15-year-old Lloyd Clifton design. The National Golf Foundation surveyed players at hundreds of courses for their prestigious CLASP (Customer Loyalty and Satisfaction) awards and ranked Westchase Golf Club in the Top 10 nationally, and #1 in the state of Florida. 

Hidden away among the sand hills of north Hernando County is a gem of a golf course that continues to get better. Located on U.S. Highway 19, ten miles north of Weeki Wachee and SR 50, The Dunes Golf Club offers an extraordinary golfing experience well worth the trip from anywhere in the Tampa Bay area.

Renowned golf course architect Arthur Hills designed the Course - which originally opened in 1988. Other area courses designed by Hills include Tampa Palms (Tampa), Stoneybrook (Sarasota) and River Strand (Bradenton). The Dunes remains his favorite design to this day. In 2007, Hills was given free reign to transform the award-winning Dunes layout into a new and improved spectacular golf setting.

Heritage Golf Group recently announced that TPC Tampa Bay, one of Florida's premier daily-fee golf facilities, has officially re-opened to the public following a two-month closure. The award-winning layout which annually hosts the Champions Tour Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am was closed in mid-June so its greens could be re-grassed.

"Our greens were the original greens from when we opened in 1991," said Brady Boyd, general manager at TPC Tampa Bay. "Over time, even with the best maintenance practices, the greens need to be replaced. The average life-span of a green is not much more than 15 years. We have a commitment to our guests to provide unrivaled golf and uncompromising service. This project is an investment in that commitment."