to Florida.
“There’s a natural sand ridge that runs
along the property,” he explains. “On No. 10
you tee off over water and hit into a steep
incline going up to the green. You can barely
see the flagstick from the fairway.”
The final two courses, Osprey North and
Osprey South, are significantly shorter than
the first two, measuring 6,325 yards and
6,620 yards, respectively.
“I always tell new golfers, don’t let the
[North] scorecard fool you. It’s not as
forgiving,” Htet says.
The South Course is the one Htet
traditionally steers golfers to for their first
round at Innisbrook.
“It has the most variety,” he says. “It
starts in the woods, has a linksy flavor in the
middle and then goes back into the trees.”
St. peterSbUrG
Some 20 miles south of Innisbrook, on
the western shores of Tampa Bay, is one
of the grand old hotels of Florida, the
THE RESORT AT LONGBOAT KEY CLUB
Vinoy Renaissance St. Petersburg Resort
& Golf Club (vinoyrenaissance.com; 727-
894-1000). The hotel, which is on the
National Register of Historic Places, has
an amazing and intriguing history. It has
gone from a Jazz Age pleasure palace to
a transients’ hotel in the 1970s and then
back again,to the magnificent AAA Four
Diamond resort it is today.
It all began with a crazy golf bet:
Could famed golfer Walter Hagen drive
a golf ball off of the face of a crystal
watch owned by wealthy businessman
Aymer Vinoy Laughner? Despite taking
four mighty whacks, Hagen couldn’t. One
ball ricocheted across the road and into
a residential lot. The onlookers urged
Laughner to buy the property and turn it
into a luxury resort. The Vinoy opened on
New Year’s Eve in 1925, and in its first few
decades welcomed the likes of Babe Ruth,
Jimmy Stewart, Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn
Monroe, who came to luxuriate beneath its
grand chandeliers and ornate ceilings.
Following decades of neglect, the hotel
closed completely in 1974. But restoration
began in 1990 and was completed in 1992.
Today the glittering Vinoy boasts 347
rooms and 14 suites, a spa, a 74-slip private
marina and 12 tennis courts.
There is also golf, an 18-hole track laid
out by Florida-based golf course designer
Ron Garl at the same time the hotel was
w w w. v s g a . o r g
Master_VSGA_Sept13_MASTER2.indd 27
getting renovated. Stretching 6,581 yards
and playing to a par of 71, it has six sets
of tees, making it a great test for golfers
of all levels.
“We have members ranging from singledigit to 36-handicaps, and everybody has a
blast,” says Randy Mosley, the club’s PGA
director of golf.
That said, he warns: “Nos. 16, 17 and 18
will bring you to your knees.”
All three holes require tee shots over
water, with the 545-yard par 5 finishing
hole not to be forgotten. The approach
shot requires a carry over a lake to a green
guarded by a bulkhead and a bunker.
“It’s a great finishing hole,” Mosley says.
SArASOtA
Farther south, near the southern tip of
Longboat Key, is The Resort at Longboat
Key Club (longboatkeyclub.com; 941-3838821). The luxurious destination is fronted
by a white sand beach that features six
restaurants, a heated Gulf-front pool and
a 291-slip marina that can accommodate
boats up to 150 feet. There are 20 Har-Tru
tennis courts and a United States Tennis
Association-certified stadium, which serves
as the home of the Sarasota Open.
The club has two golf courses. The
18-hole Islandside layout is right on the
property, which may explain why it seems to
be favored by resort guests.
“The ability to walk from your room to
the first tee is pretty nice,” says T
erry O’Hara,
the PGA director of golf at the resort.
Known with good reason as the “watery
challenge,” Islandsides’ greens are small and
often elevated.
The 27-hole Harbourside course is three
miles north of the resort.
“It has a lot of big sand waste areas,”
O’Hara says. “On Islandside, if you miss the
fairway, you’re in the rough. On Harbourside,
you’re in the sand.”
He designates No. 5 on Islandside’s Blue
Heron nine as perhaps the toughest hole on
either course. The horseshoe-shaped hole
spans nearly 600 trouble-packed yards to
what is basically an island green. Members
play it as a par 6.
“If you make six or better, you’ve really
accomplished something,” O’Hara says. “I
Located just off the coast of Sarasota,
The Resort at Longboat Key Club allows
golfers an ideal escape destination.
September/OctOber 2013 | Virginia golfer
27
8/30/13 8:37 AM