On Saturday I continued my journey to Florida and split up the remaining six hours of the drive with another round of golf. On my last couple Florida trips I’ve stopped down near Destin, but that is a bit of a detour off the I-10. This time I stopped in Tallahassee to play Capital City Country Club, a highly-regarded course in the golf community.
Capital City Country Club is a country club in name only these days as the tee sheet is open for public play. I’m not sure when the course started allowing non-member tee times, but I think for many years it was completely private. I actually booked my time through Golfnow and with a coupon, my green fee only cost $53. Awesome deal!
Capital City CC is located about 15 minutes south of the interstate, not far from downtown Tallahassee. If you are into government or politics, it would be a couple extra turns to see the Florida State Capitol. So the course is in the middle of all the city’s action.
I paired with two locals on a quite afternoon, thanks – I think – to Florida State hosting Miami for a football game. We played quickly on the front nine before they let me split off on my own for the back nine. I ran into a foursome on the 16th hole which slowed me down, but it was a nice 3.5 hour round.
Capital City CC has a rich history and that history is one of the best things about the experience here. The course dates back to 1908 when it was just six holes, before it was expanded to an 18-hole course in 1935 by famed designer A. W. Tillinghast. Then, in 2009, it looks like a green and bunker renovation were completed. The course’s website has a more detailed history and other writers, such as Jay Revell, do a much better job of explaining the history than I do.
The other thing that makes Capital City CC stand out is the great piece of land the course occupies. As you’ll see in my pictures, the holes here are framed by massive oak trees and the terrain is hilly. The oaks and hills are found throughout Tallahassee and make it one of the prettiest cities in the Southeast – at least if you ask me. So, the course has a great look.
I played the blue tees which are 71.2/131/6502. While Capital City CC isn’t a long golf course by today’s standards, it still has some teeth because of all those trees. Oaks line most holes and create some very narrow corridors. Straight shots are important and if the ball gets going sideways then it might take a couple swings just to get it back in play. Besides the trees, the course’s other defenses are its greens and the constant elevation change. The greens have plenty of contour and I faced many sideways breaking putts.
I found the front nine difficult and quite penal while the shorter back nine allowed me to balance out my scorecard. I’m not sure there is a signature hole and if I’m honest, the layout felt somewhat repetitive to me – tight fairways, semi-blind landing areas and built up green complexes. The driveable par-4 13th (276 yards) and the long par-3 16th (220 yards) were my favorite holes. The 16th is uphill and was into the wind when I played it, yikes.
The conditions were outstanding and the course played fast. The bermuda turf is going dormant, although it had more color than the pics reflect. The grass coverage for the tees and fairways was good, with tight lies. The greens were some of the fastest I’ve putted on all year. Considering the contour, they were too fast for my tastes.
Overall, I had a positive experience at Capital City CC and would recommend a round here if you are in Tallahassee. The course really shows off the beauty of the city. That said, I thought the playability for the average hack suffered with all the tree-lined holes. Bring some patience if you drive the ball like I do. A popular golf magazine ranks the course as the 13th best course in Florida and while I think it is worthy of being on the “best” list somewhere, I’m not sure I see it that high.
Course Pictures (click any picture to scroll through the gallery):