Ocean Course at Hammock Beach , on the Palm Coast . Photo : Salamander Hotels & Resorts
opening in 1994 three years before its sibling , it is a links-style layout with lots of mounding and large sand areas besides marshes , lakes and rollercoaster undulating greens . Of the two it is the most popular with tour pros and low handicappers .
Unsurprisingly with a facility of this pedigree , there are extensive practice facilities including six putting greens , several with bunkers , a range with 10 target greens , a bunker for fairway bunker shot practice and a three-hole practice academy with a par 3 , a par 4 and a par 5 .
HAMMOCK BEACH
Our second golf foray is on the Palm Coast , about 45 minutes north of downtown Daytona Beach . Hammock Beach is a resort with two golf courses , by golf legends Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson , both of which I played on my previous visit .
Sadly , the acclaimed Nicklaus-designed Ocean Course was a victim of Hurricane Matthew in October 2016 , leaving the course completely submerged by seawater for seven days and killing the grass . As part of a huge post-hurricane renovation project at the resort , the Ocean Course have been restored to its former glory with all tee boxes , bunkers , fairways , greens and rough revamped and every blade of grass replaced by salt-tolerant Paspalum Platinum – just that costing $ 3 million alone .
Open for play in November , just over a year after Matthew ’ s visit , we are given a tour of the course . It is already looking in great shape with some weeks to go , particularly the holes alongside the resort ’ s two miles of beachfront after which the course is named . After winding through wetlands and around lakes , it includes six holes directly on the Atlantic and culminates in a glorious stretch of four finishing holes named the Bear Claw by Nicklaus himself .
I vividly recall being mauled by those holes from my earlier visit and I look forward to returning and playing the restored course and taming them . Having been named one of Florida ’ s top courses before the hurricane , it is bound to gain even higher praise now .
We do get to play Watson ’ s signature Conservatory Course at Hammock Beach . It may not attract the attention that its sister layout gets , but this is still a beauty of a course that is well worth playing in its own right and demands the utmost respect . From the championship tees it also has an eye-watering slope rating of 150 .
Once again it is a real test that sorts the men from the boys and features 140 sand and coquina shell bunkers , waterfalls , streams and three sodfaced bunkers in homage to Watson ’ s five Open Championship titles . On the few holes where lakes don ’ t come into play , Watson has added huge waste bunkers that resemble swirling rivers of sand , notably on the dogleg , par-4 13th hole , where coquina waste areas run both sides of
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