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THE EMERALD COAST – GREAT GOLF GETAWAYS ON FLORIDA’S GULF
August 27, 2009
DESTIN • FORT WALTON BEACH • OKALOOSA ISLAND, Fla. – Acclaimed for its great golf escapes, the southern sea towns of Destin • Fort Walton Beach • Okaloosa Island boast savings up to 40 percent off seasonal rates on nearly 16,000 Gulf-edged rooms and more than 1,080 holes of championship golf through Dec. 15, 2010. Ranked one of the top ten "Best Golf Towns in America" by Golf Digest, the Emerald Coast - located on Florida's upper Gulf of Mexico - offers challenging courses with huge value rates and specials year-round (www.destin-fwb.com).
From challenging links designed by world-renowned architects to panoramic enticements engineered by Mother Nature the courses capitalize on woods and wetlands for scenic – yet sinister – contrasts. Florida's Emerald Coast features an array of bay-lined courses, including:
• Shalimar Pointe Golf and Country Club course fees start at $25
• Indian Bayou Golf Club course fees start at $49
• Regatta Bay Golf & Country Club course fees start at $59
• Kelly Plantation Golf Club course fees start at $59
The creation of Fred Couples and Gene Bates, the 7,099-yard Kelly Plantation Golf Club is one of the newest additions to the Emerald Coast. The 225-acre course is layered throughout the southern shores of majestic Choctawhatchee Bay. Its landscape represents perfect harmony between nature and humanity, while its fairways cater to the novice or master golfer.
Featuring varying views, the 18-hole Regatta Bay Golf & Country Club -- the area’s only Audubon registered course -- is punctuated by heavily wooded interiors, mazed marshes and alternating rolling and flat terrain. Winding along the shore of Choctawhatchee Bay for picturesque play, the 6,864-yard Robert C. Walker design wraps tight fairways and narrow greens around an array of crystal-clear lakes that demand displays of shot placement. The signature seventh hole, a 464-yard par-4, challenges expert golfers with a blind tee-shot over a fairway-dominating sand trap, leaving a long downhill approach to a green engulfed in bunkers, palm trees and lurking water. Surrounded by 120 acres of never-to-be-disturbed nature preserves, the Regatta Bay Golf Club is a phenomenon of natural hazards.
Golfers relish Shalimar Pointe Golf and Country Club -- situated on the banks of Choctawhatchee Bay – which boasts 18 holes of Finger-Dye acclaim. Bordered by rolling white dunes and dense hammocks of pine, oak and magnolia, the course blends beauty with the beast. Heralded by Links magazine as having “Two of the Hardest Holes on the Emerald Coast,” the 6,765-yard course beckons the brave with the scorebreaking 11th and 17th holes.
For a hole-in-one, visitors indulge in the Indian Bayou Golf and Country Club. The Earl Stone-designed links are a challenging, yet playable assortment of 27 holes. The 3,541-yard Seminole and 3,417-yard Choctaw courses present gracious fairways and long, wide holes punctuated with periodic “problems.” The newest nine, the 3,475-yard Creek, applauds accuracy with all nine holes winding through natural swamp.
Florida’s Emerald Coast is famous for 24 miles of sugar-white sands, accommodating both the competitive and amateur golfer. After a morning of play, the surrounding area presents simple pleasures, from basking on the sugar-white shores and casting lines in the “World’s Luckiest Fishing Village” to enjoying the warm breeze at one of more than 400 open-air seafood cafes and unwinding in one of nearly 16,000 guest rooms - ranging from beachfront hotels and condos to seaside bungalows and B&Bs.
To experience “Great Golfing Getaways on the Gulf,” visit www.destin-fwb.com or call the Emerald Coast Convention & Visitors Bureau at (800) 322-3319.
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