Destination Golf Global (Winter 2019) * | Page 18

Fragmentary Blue bar at Streamsong’s lodge © Streamsong Resort
Bill Coore says the Streamsong Red course he co-
designed has “some of the most unusual, interesting
and dramatic landforms we have ever encountered”.
Largely encircling the Blue, at 7,148 yards off the
back tees it is marginally shorter than its sibling, with
which it shares the same modernist clubhouse that
offers 12 more guest rooms and a restaurant, and also
has the rolling terrain, lakes and dunes characteristics
of Blue while incorporating expanses of savannah.
Streamsong Black is another links-like layout, its big,
brassy design featuring sand ridges and expansive
waste areas that take a cue from the Melbourne
Sandbelt courses in Australia. Aussie golfers should
feel right at home on the par-4 9th, where an
Outback-style windmill behind the punchbowl green
serves as the target for the blind approach shot.
The par-73, 7,331-yard Black course is set away from
the other two layouts and has its own clubhouse,
complete with the Bone Valley Tavern that offers
panoramic vistas. In addition, it features a two-acre
putting course, The Gauntlet, and a free-flowing
practice area with several green complexes and
practice holes, called The Roundabout.
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Destination Golf .TRAVEL
Streamsong Resort clay pigeon shooting © Streamsong Resort
Other than its trio of golf courses, Streamsong offers
six restaurants, a grotto-inspired spa, a lakeside
infinity pool, hiking trails, clay pigeon shooting,
archery and trophy bass fishing.
OTHER GOLF COURSES
Central Florida’s rich golf heritage stretches back
almost a century. Five of its courses form part of
Florida’s Historic Golf Trail, a collection of 53 public
access courses across the state dating prior to the
1930s. Two feature the handiwork of legendary
designer Donald Ross: Bartow Golf Course, opened
in 1919 with nine holes and extended to 18 holes by
Ross in 1926; and Lake Wales Country Club, in the city
of Lake Wales, which saw Ross complete the second
nine following the death of the original architect
shortly after its opening in 1925.
Lekarica Hills Golf Course, near Lake Wales, and
Lakeland’s Cleveland Heights Golf Course and
Wedgewood Golf Club are Polk County’s other
historic trail venues.