On Tuesday I stayed close to The Villages. After another morning of nothing (you sense a pattern on my vacation?!) I played nine holes by myself, before my dad joined me for a second nine.

I’ve got a long way to go, but one day I think it would be fun to say that I’ve played all of the courses in The Villages! I’m no expert on golf in The Villages (yet) but from what I’ve gathered the executive courses are ranked by their difficulty. The Pelican course is one of the harder courses, so it was a good one to check out on my own.

Because Pelican is a more difficult course for the average golfer the pace will likely be slower than the easier executive courses, at least from my experience. It took a bit under two hours to play Pelican, compared to an hour and a half at the other executive courses I’ve played.

The first thing that someone should know about Pelican is that if they don’t get the ball in the air consistently, then the course will be worthy of its difficult ranking. Most of the holes play across edges of wetlands and there is a water hazard which comes into play on two holes. This results in forced carries and visually intimidating shots.

For those who can consistently carry the ball in the air, or those who are out to enjoy the scenery, Pelican will be a great little course. Out of the handful of executive courses I’ve played here in The Villages, Pelican is my favorite. Besides the forced carries the biggest challenge will be all the contour in the greens, which is a staple of golf in The Villages.

One of the things I enjoyed about Pelican was that the yardages varied. I hit seven different clubs into the greens, everything from 3-wood to gap wedge. It isn’t a course where you’ll need driver, as there are only two short par-4’s and the max distance is somewhere around 1,800 yards. The remaining seven holes are par-3’s.

Finally, there are some good angles. The 1st and 2nd tee boxes ring around portions of the wetlands, allowing the angles and visual presentation to change significantly from one tee to another. From the back tees those two greens were almost hidden from view. As I walked past the other tees things opened up.

The conditions at Pelican were nice, just like you’ll find at the other courses in The Villages. Everything was full and the greens rolled well, with a bit of speed. Like most courses around here the lower shots around the greens worked best because of the firmer ground.

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