After a rainy day yesterday I was anxious to get out on a golf course and excited to check out one of the courses at Saddlebrook Resort. Fortunately, there was plenty of sunshine for the round and the temperature was comfortable. Unfortunately, it was very windy! That wind affected things quite a bit but more on that in a moment.

For Sunday I found a tee time for $35 on the Palmer Course at Saddlebrook. That seemed like a good deal and as I’ve commented before, I usually enjoy a Palmer design. The “Palmer” part of Saddlebrook interested me the most and actually both courses here were designed by Palmer. So, that is how I ended up golfing here!

I haven’t made it to the Saddlebrook Course yet so I cannot compare the Palmer Course to that one. For what it is worth, the single I paired up with said the Palmer Course is more open and usually in better shape than the Saddlebrook Course.

One of the things I’ll share is that for a first-time golfer here finding the proshop could be a bit confusing – at least if you don’t use the shuttle from the parking lot. I decided to walk and got turned around. The resort is massive and the proshop is actually tucked behind a large pool. Then the 1st tee on the Palmer Course is actually back by the parking lot.

Once I found my way to the 1st tee I ended up enjoying the round, besides the irritating wind. I think the wind turned out to be the most difficult thing about the Palmer Course today. Although, it won’t be an easy course in calm conditions! The course only plays 6,273 yards (par-71) from the blues but there is plenty of trouble to be found. For reference the rating is 72.5 and the slope is 136 from the blue tees.

I’ve replayed the round a couple times in my head while working on this review and the Palmer Course doesn’t seem that tough. However, out of bounds pinches in spots, many greens are well guarded by water and the green complexes are very tricky (think many narrow necks and tiers). I didn’t drive the ball well and the strokes added up quickly!

Both nines have a mix of so-so holes and a few that stand out. The front nine has the watery 5th while the back nine has the watery 13th. In my opinion, both of those holes tie for the best holes on the course. The 5th is a 371 yard par-4 where the drive sets everything up. I sliced it into another fairway (I had a long day) and had no angle at the green, which has water short and right of it. The 13th is a 156 yard par-3 with more water short and right. That green is narrow and angles from front left to back right.

For $35 the conditions were just fine, no complaints. The ball sat up mostly in the fairways, however there were bare/dirt areas. The tees weren’t very good and many had large dirt sections. The greens were good surfaces (slow but good rolls) besides some sanded edges that really didn’t affect play. Overall, there are quite a few areas that should be re-grassed.

When it comes to the design the Palmer Course here at Saddlebrook reminded me a lot of the design of the Plantation Course at Kingsmill Resort in Virginia. This course has good bones and is fairly interesting to play – on a piece of property geared towards resort life. Sadly, the conditions don’t measure up to the pedigree of the Palmer design name nor the higher class vibe the resort gives off.

Bottom line – if you are a local and can find a deal (as I did) then sure I’d recommend a round here. If you are visiting the area on vacation then there are other courses I’d recommend playing first (World Woods, Lake Jovita, and Fox Hollow come to mind).

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