I had a few days off from work and spent the morning kayaking at Weeki Wachee Springs State Park. That was really fun and I actually saw a manatee early on during my time on the river. Never seen one of those in the wild before! I got done kayaking about 11:00 AM and headed up the street for a round of golf at Glenlakes Golf & Country Club.

I wasn’t sure what time I’d finish kayaking so my plan was to book a tee time via GolfNow from the course’s parking lot. Well, that didn’t work out exactly as I hoped. The guy running security at community’s gate wouldn’t let me in without a tee time. I told him what I was trying to do, but he wouldn’t have any of it. So, I booked my time sitting next to the entrance gate and then waited a few minutes. If you are planning to play here don’t wait until the last minute like I did.

Glenlakes was on my radar because the course started allowing some public play recently. I believe it was completely private for many years and I was surprised to see it listed on GolfNow. I didn’t want to miss out on a round here in case the course goes fully private again, so I made sure to check it out while I was in Weeki Wachee. The green fee was $75 for an afternoon round, just a so-so value. But playing a private course isn’t about the value, at least from my experience.

Thankfully, the conditions reflected the price – everything was very nice. The tees, fairways and greens all had good turf coverage, except for a couple tee boxes in shady spots. I think the course had a bit of ryegrass overseed to give it a green look, but I needed to hit down into the ground to cleanly contact the ball. So, the fairways played more like bermuda than reygrass. The rough had thin and thick spots – I never really knew what type of lie I was going to have. The greens rolled smooth and were a medium pace.

I feel like I’ve been on a Ron Garl design tour so far this winter in Florida. Garl designed Glenlakes and like most of his courses I’ve played, Glenlakes is more about function than flash. The course is located in a residential development and homes line most holes. Thankfully, many mature trees dot the property. The most unique thing about the course is probably its sandy look. The bunkering here is pretty cool with multiple bunkers having trees growing in the middle of the sand. There is also good use of mounding throughout the design.

I played the black tees which are 72.2/138/6659. While Glenlakes isn’t the longest course, its many tight tee shots will be a challenge. The front nine is shorter and more open, however the back nine will be a good test with the driver. The fairways seem average size, but there are many tight chutes to fire through from the tee boxes to get to those fairways. The 10th and 18th, par-5’s on the back, are two of those tee shots that may be a problem for those who don’t drive the ball straight (me).

The 469 yard par-5 9th and the 349 yard par-4 14th were my favorite holes at Glenlakes. The 9th is very reachable and has a large fairway. Challenging the water to the left provides the best chance to reach the green in two, but a pine tree in the fairway can cause all sorts of trouble. The 14th is slightly uphill and another one of those uncomfortable tee shots. I pulled my tee shot to the left side of the fairway and had to hit a big hook to find the green.

If you golf at Glenlakes I think you’ll be treated to good conditions and an above average pace of play. The staff was courteous to me as a visitor. When it comes to the design, some of the narrow tee shots bothered me and considering the price, there are other courses in the area I’d play first. Still, if you are in Brooksville on a golf trip checking out World Woods, Southern Hills Plantation or Brooksville Country Club it wouldn’t hurt to throw in Glenlakes as well.

Course Pictures (click any picture to scroll through the gallery):