The Kelly Plantation:
The Kelly Plantation Golf Club is another of those impressive layouts nestled on the shores of the Choctawhatchee Bay in Destin, Florida. It’s hard to believe as you drive along the bustling Miracle Strip that the tiny fishing village has become that less than a stone throw from Highway 98, one of the busiest highways, in Florida, lies one of the state’s most beautiful golf courses.
An Impressive, 18-hole Championship Golf Course :
Once a turpentine plantation located on a pristine piece of land, the acres that today host golfers from around the world have remained virtually undisturbed for centuries. The wild and intrinsic beauty of this hunk of now prime real estate has been fashioned into one of the most visually impressive and environmentally sensitive golf courses in northwest Florida. The meandering fairways incorporate seemingly endless miles of waterfront, blue-black bayous, winding creeks and towering, old-growth trees.
Designed by Golf Course Architect and PGA Tour Player, Fred Couples:
At just over 7,000 yards off the back tees, the Kelly Plantation is as tough as it is aesthetically beautiful. Couples went for large, contoured greens rather than the usual pocket-sized putting surfaces so often favored by the other big names in golf course design. The fairways are meticulously manicured and peppered with an array of hazards – lakes and creeks and literally hundreds of bunkers of every shape and size - that can, should you stray from the short grass, turn an otherwise respectable score into a nightmarish journey of one double bogey after another.
The Fairways Are Wide and Often Forgiving:
The rough that bounds them, however, is a wild and beautiful world, a combination of long, wry grass with an assortment heather-like growth that's reminiscent of links courses in the wilds of Scotland. The bunkers range in size from diminutive pots that, small as they are, seem to gather every wayward ball, to veritable seas of sand.
The Views Around the Course Are Picturesque:
and often stunning, especially those from the fourth fairway and green. The course, when I visited, was in absolutely first-class condition, although the ongoing drought was beginning to take its toll. The Bermuda greens were closely clipped, the fairways watered and green and the bunkers meticulously raked. Considering the traffic the playing surfaces must withstand over the course of a year, the grounds staff are to be complimented on the way they keep this lovely course in shape.
And it Doesn’t End There:
The little extras they throw in, from ice-chilled apples on the first and 10th tees, and the ice-cold towels delivered to you on a sweltering day, along with high-tech GPS on all of the carts that pinpoints your position relative to the pin on each hole to within a few feet, are all designed to keep you coming back – and it works.
The Family is Catered For Too: There are some great restaurants in Destin & Ft. Walton, including these:
The Kelly Plantation Golf Course is Open to the Public :
You may book your tee times 24 hours a day, seven days a week and up to 30 days in advance. Cancellations must be made 72 hours in advance. Call 800-811-6757 or go online. Rates are $128.30 plus tax which include: 18-holes of golf with cart, high tech GPS and complimentary range balls .
There Are More Than 1,000 Golf Courses in Florida:
Here's a list of some you should not miss:
- The TPC Sawgrass PLAYERS STADIUM Course
- Dye's Valley Course at Sawgrass
- The Omni Orlando at ChampionsGate
- The Blue Monster at Doral
- Regatta Bay in Destin
- Indian Bayou in Destin
- The Rookery on Marco Island
