Travel
Dynamic Duo, Experience Florida’s Sports Coast and Saddlebrook Resort Come On, Let’s Play
By CLAUDIO DEMARCHI
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et’s Play is what they say at Experience Florida’s Sports Coast. You might not be able to find Florida’s Sports Coast on a map simply because it is a tourism district, and tourism districts in my mind don’t get their “just rewards”. Read on and you will know exactly where it is and all that there is to do! If you are a golfer, paddler, fisherman, beachgoer or just a toe dipper, there is a good chance that you have been to the Sport’s Coast. This region, on the Gulf of Mexico is located about 35 miles north of Tampa, 90 miles east of Orlando and 75 miles south of Ocala, is a magnet to outdoor adventurers’ as well as those into Extreme Sports…..skydiving anyone? Golfers from the Northeast USA and Canada have been flocking to Saddlebrook for years. The two Arnold Palmer designed courses are surely the number one reason and I suspect, the gazillion gallon pool with its conveniently located Tiki Bar could be number two. There are 11 premier golf courses in the immediate Sports Coast region with
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Golfing Magazine
the crown jewel in the region, is without a doubt Saddlebrook Resort. Coming north from Tampa, Saddlebrook Resort is a short drive off I-75 on Route 54 towards Wesley Chapel. Wesley Chapel offers up another for of adventure, unless it is really hot outside you might not even break a sweat! Shopping!!!! The community grabs your attention like a shiny new penny with first-class retail, a plethora of restaurants and contemporary homes that look like they were built yesterday. SHOP TIL YOU DROP The Shops at Wiregrass lures shoppers with a pedestrian-friendly, open-air and aesthetically pleasing alternative to the generic big-box-in-a-giant-parking-lot headache that’s found everywhere else in America. No shop till you drop would be complete with the ultimate in brand name deals at Tampa Premium Outlets. Staying and Playing at Saddlebrook Resort is almost like being at home. Except that your home here has 2 Arnold Palmer designed courses in your back yard. No walking required and if you decide not to
walk to the Pro Shop from your villa, call the concierge and a golf cart will come get you. There are over 500 condo style units 1-3 bedrooms, so not everyone can be right next to the pro shop or pool. “On the Saddlebrook course, it’s about course management,” said director of golf Kyle Bruce. “There are water and tree lines on both sides of the fairway, you basically want to get the ball to the 150-yard marker, then move the ball from there. The greens are relatively flat so it’s easy to get up and down. It’s more course management than a grip-it-and-rip-it type of golf course. Its fairways are lined by a hammock of cypress and oak, the natural beauty will transport you back in time to the Florida of the Conquistadors. The signature hole, the 425-yard 18th, magnifies this sensation. The drive must be sent down an emerald ribbon between stands of towering cypress, whose branches are adorned with Spanish moss. Three white-faced bunkers staring at you in the landing area. The soft afternoon sunlight glints softly off the deep pond fronting the green, where gators and turtles rest on the bank. Two solid, aggressive shots
