After Friday’s round in Louisiana I drove to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where I stayed the night. I’m not sure what is going on with hotels, but I had to book super early this week to find a place. Happily, my hotel choice worked out well and I was up early on Saturday for another day of driving and golfing.
Instead of going directly to Central Florida, I made a detour to the Destin area to play another of the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort’s courses. I was here last November and played the Raven Golf Club, which I enjoyed. This time around I found a discounted green fee for Baytowne Golf Club. Baytowne actually shares the same parking lot and clubhouse as the Raven, so that familiarity should help the directionally-challenged golfer (me).
I knew going into my round at Baytowne that the course wasn’t on the same level as the Raven, but as you know by now I enjoy trying to play everywhere. Ultimately, I thought Baytowne turned out to be a fine course with some interesting holes. However, if you only have one round to play at Sandestin then the Raven (or Burnt Pine if you can get out) is the clear winner.
I found an online deal for $60 and that turned out to be a fair price for what you get here going into the summer season. Unfortunately, the greens were recovering from aeration and were quite slow. I’d give the greens another ~10 days if you are considering heading out here to play. They should be fully recovered then.
Other conditions were good, highlighted by the great fairways. The fairways were flawless, full, and the ball always sat up. The tees were dried out and firm. The rough was cut down, probably in anticipation of the vacation crowd. Considering that many areas of the course slope into water or are lined by homes/condos, I think growing the rough up some would have helped with the lost ball situation.
Baytowne is a Tom Jackson design with a front nine that plays through the area’s pines trees and then a back nine that plays out towards the beach. Like many Florida courses, there is a lot of water to avoid. While you never end up seeing the beach, Baytowne has that coastal feel to it. The wind was quite strong my entire round and became more of a challenge on the back nine, once you get closer to the Gulf of Mexico. The par-3 14th is the closest you get to the beach and it is a cool hole, since that area is surrounded by all the high-rise hotels.
The course is a par-71 and I made up my own set of combo tees. I ended up playing the blue tees on the front and then the gold tees on the back. My yardage turned out to be 6,468 yards which is about perfect for my game. Ridiculously, there is a 738 yard gap between the blue tees (6,074 yards) and the gold tees (6,812 yards). Needless to say, Baytowne desperately needs some combo tees!
My favorite holes were the 7th, 8th and 9th. The 7th is a fun par-3, featuring a narrow green and water to the left. The 8th is a shorter par-4 requiring some strategy and then the 9th is a risk/reward par-5 with more water in play. On the other hand, my least favorite hole was the 463 yard par-4 13th. It plays up a large dune and was directly into the wind. Personally, I think it is a not-so-good par-4 and should be played as a par-5, at least outside of tournament play.
In case you aren’t picking up what I’m putting down, Baytowne is a decent course. It is one I’d recommend if you are in the area and don’t want to drop a ton of cash for golf. However, to me, it felt like the course would have been better if it was a more carefree design for the vacationing golfer.
Course Pictures (click any picture to scroll through the gallery):