Torrey Oaks Golf Course

For the second week of our stay in Wauchula we decided to play golf a little bit closer to home at the Torrey Oaks Golf Course in Bowling Green, Florida. This time we paid $23 each to play eighteen holes with a riding cart and we were able to pay those rates for a 10AM tee time. Credit cards are accepted for that rate also.

The fairways and rough is a little rougher at Torrey Oaks than what they were at the Bluffs. It is a much shorter course, playing shorter than the distances given at the tee boxes and on the score card which was rather confusing for us first time players. Per the score card, the blue tees have a yardage of 6335 with a slope/rating of 128/70.7 while the women's tees have a yardage of 5075 yards and a slope/rating of 116/68.1. As I said, the course played shorter than that, as I ended up with four pars and that is unheard of for me--I am a bogey/double bogey golfer through and through. So I for one, had fun on the course.

There are a several holes with water hazards although they really don't come into play for the women's tees. There are plenty of sand traps and this is a course where they make sure to have a rake attached to the back of the riding cart so there's no excuse for not raking the sand traps.
There are houses built on the course and they can come into play with errant shots as can some of the trees but if you hit the ball straight this is an easy course for the average golfer. We were joined on the back nine by a French Canadian couple whose grasp of English wasn't terrific but who played some really good golf and we managed to have a good time despite a bit of a communication problem at times. For my golfing ego, I'd play this course again simply to see a lower score than I normally shoot.

Although we didn't check out the daily/weekly rates since we're staying at a free-for-us membership campground, Torrey Oaks Golf Course also has an adjacent RV park that is very attractively set up and maintained with spacious RV sites. Stay and play, as it were.

Random Photos

Another two weeks have flown by. Denny and I basically spent the time enjoying the sunshine although it wasn't always warm here. I'm getting some Christmas shopping and gift wrapping done and Denny has worked on some rig maintenance but it's been a leisurely kind of stay for us here. And now it's time to move on for a couple of weeks (rules of private membership campgrounds.)

Therefore this morning I'm posting some random photographs taken here in Florida.

Black vultures as lovebirds--who knew?
Pileated woodpecker.


Looking up into a live oak tree covered with Spanish moss.

A foot bridge at Bulow Plantation Campground.

Fishing boats at Darien, Georgia (just to see if you're paying attention when I said the pix were of Florida)
A Sandhill Crane wandering behind our fifth wheel.A medium sized gopher tortoise that can be found wandering the campground here in Clermont.We were located by the marsh area of the campground and so were treated to the sight of the Sandhill Cranes, Blue Herons and Great White Egrets.This week we were in the flight path of the Goodyear blimp as it left the NASCAR races at Homestead, Florida.

A Lovely Day at Legends Golf Course

After waiting two longs weeks for my strained muscle in my back to stop seizing up whenever I bent over, I finally felt loose enough to try swinging a golf club again. We chose the Legends Golf and Country Club, 1700 Legendary Blvd, Clermont, Florida (352) 243-1118 for our outing since we were able to play for $29.00 plus tax each after twelve noon, down from $35 + in the morning. And since it turned out to be a very cool day, having an afternoon tee time allowed the sun to take a tiny bit of the chill off the air.

Run as a country club the pro shop doesn't allow any jeans/jorts (jean shorts) or collarless shirts and you can't drive the golf carts into the parking lot. There are bag boys to assist you with your bag at the bag drop off and they will put your head covers back on after cleaning off your clubs at the end of your round--always a nice touch. We started off at the tenth hold and had only a threesome behind us for the first two holes and then they dropped well back so Denny and I felt no urgency to rush our play which is always nice and makes for better scoring for both of us. Denny played the blue tees (white at most courses) for a total yardage of 6491 with a slope/rating of 71.1/125. I played the purple (red) tee for a yardage of 4859 and a slope/rating of 68/108.

While the golf course itself is set within a housing development, the fairways are fairly wide in the areas of the homes although the houses can come into play with an errant shot. There are ponds to play around and over, lots of sand traps and the greens are can be tricky as many have slopes and shelves that don't have anywhere near as much break as they appear. Be forewarned!

The only time you'll hear any noise is when you are playing the two holes near Hwy 27, otherwise you'll play the course in near silence, at least at this time of year. The golf course is fairly well maintained although some folks were a bit remiss in taking care of their ball marks on the greens. I think when we come back to the area in two weeks we'll probably come back to this course to play again rather than look elsewhere, although there are certainly other courses that are also within a ten mile radius of the campground. I just played the course so well I'd like to try to do it again!