My final round in Florida on this trip was another “close to home” round! With a twelve hour drive looming on Sunday and some sketchy-looking clouds, I didn’t want to drive very far to golf. So, cue a round at Cane Garden – one of the many courses in The Villages! Plus, this way it was easy for my dad to ride along as a spectator while I golfed.
The weather on Saturday was gloomy (and almost 80 degrees!) with occasional rain showers and the proshop seemed surprised that I’d go play in a light rain! A single followed me out, but I lost him after a few holes. It was a bizarre feeling having the course to myself during peak season!
The rain stopped after five or six holes and by the time I got to the end of my round the sun was shining through the clouds. So, the weather couldn’t have been too much better! Although, the gloomy conditions didn’t help my pictures.
I flew through eighteen holes, playing in 2 hours 45 minutes, and wasn’t really trying to hurry. I know that is slow for some, but I try not to rush a round unless I am racing daylight!
Somehow, I ended up with a bonus nine here at Cane Garden! Like most of the championship courses in The Villages, Cane Garden has 27 holes (named Allamanda, Hibiscus and Jacaranda) and I only planned on playing 18 holes.
I started out on Allamanda and then headed over to Hibiscus. As I was playing my last hole of the day a ranger stopped and chatted with us about the course. He offered to let me play Jacaranda, so I headed over there. Then, midway through my bonus nine another ranger gave me the impression that I shouldn’t have been playing Jacaranda. I’m not sure exactly what happened, but I was happy to see all 27 holes!
I picked the gold tees which are somewhere around 6,600 yards, depending on which nines you play. The rating is between 70.5 and 71.3 and the slope is either 121 or 123, again depending on which nines are played.
As you can probably guess, there isn’t a bunch of lost-ball trouble at Cane Garden. Well, except for a few holes on Hibiscus! Most of the difficulty comes from challenging green complexes and large, beautiful bunkers that guard the fairways and edges of greens.
Hibiscus was my favorite nine, and I’m not alone with that opinion! One of the rangers said that everyone likes Hibiscus, especially in the summer months because of how much shade it offers.
Hibiscus is located between the homes and a wetlands area, so it has the most natural feel of any of the nines at Cane Garden. The other nines are almost completely surrounded by homes, a feature that defines much of golf in Florida.
Hibiscus has plenty of old oak trees that were left in place when things were built, and those oaks provide that shade that everyone loves! The oaks also place importance on positioning the golf ball, as I had to slice a couple shots around the trees after getting out of position.
Hibiscus has some solid holes, starting with the 2nd hole. The 2nd is a long par-4 that slides right, along the natural area. Trees on the left push tee shots over towards the lost-ball trouble, so you need to hit your best drive of the day there! The 5th is a 170 yard par-3 that plays over water. The green has two tiers and is framed by the water, and trees in the background.
After Hibiscus, Allamanda was my next favorite nine. I thought it had a resort feel to it with wide fairways and some simple greens, which allowed me to tinker with my game.
The 3rd hole, a 500 yard par-5, is probably the best hole on Allamanda. It snakes to the right and then back to the left, around some water. A large oak tree may force you to think on the second shot. I missed the fairway to the right and had to hit a low slice to end up in a decent spot for my third shot.
My least favorite nine at Cane Garden was Jacaranda, just because it didn’t seem to have much variety. It wasn’t terrible to play, but it didn’t engage me like Hibiscus or relax me like Allamanda. The holes on Jacaranda are mostly mid-length and have homes on each side. Like most of the holes at The Villages, you can freely swing without much penalty and the contour on the greens will be the biggest challenge.
Cane Garden was only the second championship course at The Villages that I’ve played, so I’m not really sure where it ranks in The Villages’ portfolio. From what I’ve gathered the Palmer Legends and the Nancy Lopez Legacy are the top courses in The Villages, but Cane Garden is a decent course for the residents.
If you don’t have time to play all 27 holes then I’d suggest that you try to include Hibiscus in your round! I won’t say much about the conditions, just that they were solid – like every other course I’ve played in The Villages.
Hibiscus Nine Pictures:
Allamanda Nine Pictures:
Jacaranda Nine Pictures:
