In the past few years, course designers Jack Nicklaus (The Concession Golf Club), Robert Trent Jones Jr. (The Founders Golf Club) and Tom Fazio (The Ritz-Carlton Members Golf Club) have garnered plaudits for their high-end (and highly exclusive) additions.
For the average duffer, getting on one of the above-mentioned courses can be as difficult as getting up and down from a plugged lie in a sand trap. Play on the Concession and Founders is limited to members and guests, and you must be a member or guest of Ritz-Carlton to experience all that layout has to offer.
But that should not discourage residents or visitors from tossing their clubs in the trunk and setting out for a day on the links. No fewer than 25 semi-private or public courses are within easy driving distance of Bradenton.
Affordable golf is in the pocketbook of the club holder, and demand during the tourist season can send green fees spiraling. But for anyone who likes to play more than once or twice a month and plans on being here past April, the Big Summer Card may be a solution to the cost dilemma.
The card costs $60 and entitles bearers to up to 50 percent off green fees and cart fees from May through October at courses from Ocala to Charlotte County. For details, call 923-2232 or visit www.bigsummergolf.com on the Internet.
The area's municipal offerings include Manatee County and Buffalo Creek, each run by Manatee County; River Run Golf Links, operated by the city of Bradenton; and Bobby Jones Golf Complex, run by the city of Sarasota. River Run underwent a $570,000 renovation by Jed Azinger (brother of Bradenton resident and U.S. Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger) and is host to the popular City of Bradenton Amateur Championship series.
Other popular layouts open to the public include Imperial Lakewoods, designed by Ted McAnlis; Legacy Golf Club at Lakewood Ranch, a creation of the Arnold Palmer design team; Links at Greenfield Plantation, designed by Chip Powell; The River Club and University Park, both by Ron Garl; and the Arthur Hills-designed Stoneybrook and River Strand.
If you're more into the spectating aspect, both the PGA Tour and Champions Tour stage major events along the west coast.
In March, many of the world's best will descend on the Westin Innisbrook Golf Resort in Palm Harbor for the PODS Championship, won last year by Mark Calcavecchia. The 50-and-over set is within driving range twice: for the ACE Group Classic from Feb. 11-17 at Quail West Golf Club in Naples and for the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am from April 14-20 at the TPC of Tampa Bay in Lutz.
Regardless of where you choose to tee it up, keep an eye open for the stars of tomorrow. Bradenton is home to the David Leadbetter Golf Academy at IMG Academies, which has developed such up-and-coming professionals as Paula Creamer, Aree Song, Casey Wittenberg and Julieta Granada.
