I worked a couple days in Florida this week and Thursday was one of them. I finished working around 4:30pm and figured there was enough daylight left for a quick nine. So, I headed over to the Heron Executive Course to check it out.

The rain cleared out last night and today featured plenty of sun, just with chilly temps and some wind. All the late evening sunlight led to great lighting for photographs, as you’ll see in the slideshow. I walked for $11 (the usual rate) and finished up just as the sun was setting through the oak trees, yeah!

The Heron Course is Pelican’s sister course and, like Pelican, has many holes along a natural area. There is a pond which frames four holes and compared to many executive courses at The Villages, Heron’s location sets it apart. While I was out golfing I saw a hawk, cardinal, blue heron, egret and ibis!

Heron is a par-28 and plays up to 1,468 yards. Most of the par-3’s are in that 150 yard range and the sole par-4 is 274 yards, so it could be driven. The 8th is the longest par-3 on Heron and has the most unique green. The green bends around a bunker from front right to back left, almost in the shape of a horseshoe!

Like most of the executive courses at The Villages, Heron was a nice walk and I enjoyed my round. As things stand now I’d put the Heron/Pelican combo of courses towards the top of my favorite executive courses at The Villages!

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