After yesterday’s round with my friend we had one more round together planned. He was staying in the Daytona Beach area so I used that as an excuse to check out one of the courses at LPGA International. LPGA International is one of the many Florida golf facilities that is on my lengthy list to visit.
From where my parents live it takes about an hour and a half to get over to either coast, including Daytona Beach. They tagged along and spent some time at the beach while my friend and I golfed. Then we all had a tasty dinner at the Chart House – a place I’d recommend if you enjoy seafood!
LPGA International is an upscale 36-hole facility that is close to Daytona International Speedway and less than a mile from the I-95. I booked us on the Hills Course (designed by Arthur Hills) and the other course here – the Jones Course – is designed by Rees Jones. I haven’t played the Jones Course yet, but from what I’ve heard the Hills Course seems to be the preferred course.
I found us an online deal for ~$60 per person which was a nice savings off the usual $85 rack rate this time of year. For a more premium course that was a good deal! And, as you’d expect, the maintenance was solid.
Like many of the Florida courses that I played this trip the turf was soft (thanks to all the recent rain) so it was easy to catch a shot heavy. Besides that the Hills was in beautiful shape. The bermuda still had some “green” to it and the fairways, tees and greens had great grass coverage. The greens were firm, pure and fast – too fast for this hack!
Hills lies on the south side of the clubhouse at LPGA International, out in the Florida wetlands. The 2nd hole is the only one with homes in play so Hills has a very natural feel to it with a great look. I’d say that natural feel (and the nice conditioning) was the most enjoyable thing about playing here. We even got to see some wildlife, spotting a couple bobcats and a bald eagle on the front nine!
We played the blue tees which are 72.4/138/6594. As shown by the slope, Hills is a very difficult course. And, that difficulty isn’t too surprising considering the other Arthur Hills courses that I’ve played. Golfing here is not for the faint-hearted!
The wetlands landscape creates some of that toughness with lots of lost ball trouble and then Hills adds in his smaller, well-protected and heavily contoured green complexes that seem to repel shots. Thankfully, once on the greens you might have some reasonably straight putts.
If you can get past the difficultly then there are some good holes here. My favorite holes were the 6th (par-4), 7th (par-3), and 8th (par-5). The 6th and 8th are risk/reward holes where you can challenge water with your drive to potentially give you a shot at birdie. I pulled my tee shot on the 6th, barely carrying the water and was able to knock an iron close. The 7th is a long par-3 and what I thought was the prettiest hole on Hills.
I think Hills is a course that is worth checking out if you are near Daytona Beach. Personally, it isn’t a place I’d play often if I lived in the area because I’m not the biggest fan of Arthur Hill’s work. However, the setting is fantastic and the conditioning is very good.
Course Pictures (click any picture to scroll through the gallery):