Travel &Leisure Golf....

FLORIDA LUXURY ON THE LINKS

If you’ve ever dreamed of living on the links, the Sunshine State is definitely the place to start your search. With 365 days of sunshine and weather that rarely dips below sweater weather, it’s easy to find a luxurious life right on the links. Whether it’s for a primary residence or a secondary house in the sun, golf course real estate is a Florida specialty.

Florida boasts more golf courses (1,250 and counting) than any other state in the U.S. In fact, there are more golf holes per capita in Collier County and more golf courses in Palm Beach County than in any other counties in the U.S. Many of these courses offer real estate and that makes for a wide array of choices. It's no surprise that golf greats like Tiger Woods, Mark O'Meara, Greg Norman and many others call the Sunshine State home.

To start your search, call Visit Florida at 888/7FLA USA or visit their website at www.flausa.com. In addition, golfers can also call 877/PLAY FLA to receive a free ‘Florida Golf Vacation Planning Guide,’ which is also ideal for potential residents.

TOURISTS WELCOME

Golf and golf course real estate are big business in Florida, thanks to the thriving tourist industry. Tourism is the state's number one industry, with approximately 50 million tourists visiting the state each year. Many of them come to play golf and proceed to fall in love with the lifestyle on and off the links. The next logical step is to buy a house or condominium at one of many golf course developments in the state.

From as far back as the late-1800s, Florida has always been at the forefront of tourism and business travel. When Henry Flagler's famed Florida East Coast Railway reached Palm Beach in 1894 and Fort Lauderdale and Miami in 1896, few could have predicted the visitor boom for Florida. For decades, the trains brought tourists and businesspeople south to the Sunshine State for sun, fun...and golf.

Golfers have had it made in the shade (and sun) in Florida for an entire century. Elegant resorts located near each railhead made the state popular back in the late-1800s, from Palm Beach's Royal Poinciana to Miami's Royal Palm (with a six-hole circular golf course). Many of these pioneer visiting golfers became residents.

Later in the century, additional legendary resorts like The Breakers, the Boca Raton Resort & Club, Pier 66, The Biltmore, the Fontainbleau, and Doral drew even more visitors south. The advent of airline travel to play golf simply fueled the fire for Florida tourism and golf course real estate.

Today, service by virtually all airlines and many modern airports have made all of Florida even easier to reach. Modern hotels and resorts, ever-expanding golf course developments, and a host of attractions have made the state one of the world's top choices for living on the links.

Florida actually has many regions and each of them has a distinct feel for residents. The eight general areas include: Northwest; North Central; Northeast; Central West; Central; Central East; Southwest; and Southeast. Each of the areas offers a unique life on the links.

NORTHWEST

Northwest Florida stretches from the historic city of Pensacola, on the state’s western border, east to the shores of the famed Suwannee River. Known for its unique blend of sandy beaches and seaside villages, with rolling hills and antebellum mansions, this region of Florida is a little bit of the Caribbean and the Old South rolled into one. With miles of undeveloped natural beaches, quiet fishing villages and quaint historic districts, visitors (and potential residents) will feel like they are among the first to discover the ‘Other Florida.’

The beaches of Northwest Florida, from Pensacola Beach to the eastern stretches of the Beaches of South Walton, offer miles of unspoiled natural beauty and endless options for family fun. Kids and kids at heart will enjoy beachcombing along sugary sand so fine it squeaks beneath the toes. As a break from the sun or golf, shake the sand from the shoes and head inland to explore Northwest Florida’s numerous museums and historic sites, just minutes from the beach.

This area is just beginning to see the golf boom taking place in the rest of the state. Some top options for exploring the area on and off the links include: Sandestin (850/267-8000); Bluewater Bay (800/874-2128); Lost Key Golf Club (850/492-1300); and The Moors (800/727-1010).

NORTH CENTRAL

This part of north Florida features the state capital of Tallahassee, as well as college towns like Gainesville and quiet Gulf of Mexico waterfront locations. I-75 and I-10 make it easy to reach anywhere in the region (Tallahassee is closer to Atlanta than it is to Miami). In fact, at the I-10 and I-75 crossroads, residents and visitors enjoy visiting Lake City’s Florida Sports Hall of Fame.

This section of Florida is also just starting to see additional golf course development. Currently, one of the top choices is Lake City’s Quail Heights Country Club (904/752-3339), along with pretty nine hole options at Gator Landing Golf Club (352/481-5547) and Suwannee River Valley Golf & Country Club (904/752-3339.

NORTHEAST

Northeast Florida, known as “Florida’s First Coast,” combines America’s oldest European settlement with one of the nation’s leading modern seaports, with a collection of small up-and-coming towns adding to the local color and natural beauty. Encompassing Atlantic beaches as far south as Flagler County and inland rural communities west to Columbia County, the region offers travelers timeless adventures through mysterious 17th-century forts, vast prairie lands, and wide beaches lined with sand dunes.

Northeast Florida’s favorite place to live on the links is Amelia Island (800/2AMELIA). Some of the world’s best architects have borrowed Amelia Island’s natural beauty to sculpt 99 holes of great golf. From bluffs overlooking the Atlantic Ocean to sleepy Intracoastal marshes, Amelia Island’s varied terrain plays host to many of the area’s most spectacular golf courses (and homes). Amelia Island Plantation offers 54 holes of golf and a wide array of golf course living. The rest of the island, including historic Fernandina Beach, features many additional possibilities.

Amelia Island, nearby Jacksonville, Ponte Vedra, and historic St. Augustine are all very popular places to live and play, but many visitors and residents are also heading to Northeast Florida’s most recent addition, World Golf Village (800/WGV-4746). With a grand opening last May, World Golf Village features the World Golf Hall of Fame, an IMAX Theater, the new headquarters for PGA Tour Productions, the 300-room World Golf Village Resort Hotel, the 80,000 square-foot Saint Johns County Convention Center, a Mayo Clinic family care facility breaking ground this year, one championship golf course and two more coming, The Shops at World Golf Village (including PGA TOUR SHOP), and much more. It will be a true golf mecca.

Along with World Golf Village’s Slammer & Squire course (904/940-6100), other area options include: TPC at Sawgrass (904/273-3255); Ponte Vedra Inn & Club (904/273-7711); and Amelia Island Plantation (904/261-6161).

CENTRAL WEST

Encompassing the southern portion of Florida’s Nature Coast, as well as the popular vacation destinations of Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, and Sarasota, the Central West region of Florida offers a vast array of cultural, historical, natural and recreational riches along great golf, gem-colored, waters and sun-drenched beaches.

Golf course real estate is big business in this region, with lots of waterfront and inland development taking place on and off the links. Whether you want a home on the Gulf with fairway views or a quiet inland hideaway on the links, the area has lots of choices.

Top playing possibilities for visitors and residents include: Saddlebrook Resort Tampa (800/729-8383); Westin Innisbrook Resort (800/456-2000); the Resort at Longboat Key Club (941/383-8821); Plantation Inn & Golf Resort (352/792-4211) up in Crystal River; and the historic Belleview Biltmore Resort & Spa (727/581-5498) in Clearwater.

CENTRAL

Central Florida reaches from the oak-lined horse farms of Marion County, across one the top tourist destinations in the world--Orlando--to the fragrant orange groves of Polk County. Home to perhaps the most famous mouse on the planet, as well as the largest sand pine forest in the world, Central Florida is a thrilling combination of modern man-made attractions and centuries-old natural beauty. The golf courses and real estate developments here combine the best of both.

Central Florida is home to some of the state’s finest courses, including: Walt Disney World (407/WDW-GOLF); the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress (407/239-1234); the Marriott Orlando World Center (407/239-4200); Mission Inn Golf & Tennis Resort (352/324-3101); Orange Country National Golf Center (407/656-2626); and many more.

If you’d like to celebrate the game of golf at these courses and many more, the perfect base just may be Celebration (407/566-4164). Celebration is an innovative, real town that successfully combines architecture, education, health, and technology in ways that promote a strong sense of community. It is being developed near Orlando and Walt Disney World in northwest Osceola County. When complete, it will have several thousand residences, in addition to education, health, commercial, retail, and recreational facilities.

A broad mix of residential offerings are for sale and lease, including apartments, townhouses, and garden, cottage, village, and estate homes. The architecture blends traditional southeastern exteriors with floor plans and interiors that reflect today’s lifestyles.

Celebration Golf Club is a public course that is designed to have the feel of a city park. Designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. and Robert Trent Jones Jr., this open space is used as a buffer for the town. By using different tees, it is designed to accommodate golfers of all skill levels (par three lengths are available on each hole). A three-hole junior course is located near the 18-hole course. Of course, all of the golf offerings at Walt Disney World and other nearby courses also make Celebration a great golf base.

CENTRAL EAST

Central East Florida makes a roaring start at the ‘Birthplace of Speed’ in Daytona Beach, blasts through the Space Coast and quietly ends amid the buried gold and famous oranges of the Treasure Coast. From horseless carriages to speedy racers, and from sunken Spanish galleons to rocketing space ships, the Central East region blends the glory of Florida’s yesteryear with the triumphs of her tomorrow. There’s also a booming business in golf course real estate.

Daytona Beach and Vero Beach are the two top locations for golf courses and real estate. Top contacts include: Golf Daytona Beach (800/881-7065); LPGA International (904/274-LPGA); Grand Harbor (see below); The Moorings Club (561/231-5990); Orchid Island (561/388-9393);

Vero Beach’s Grand Harbor (561/562-9000) is indicative of the options. Located just to the north of town, Grand Harbor is perhaps the perfect microcosm of the varied Central East Florida links lifestyle possibilities. Situated on 900 acres along the Indian River and Intracoastal Waterway, Grand Harbor seemingly has it all. The list of resident amenities includes championship golf and tennis, the active Clubhouse, an oceanfront Beach Club, and a full-service 144-slip marina, reminiscent of a European seaside village.

Of course, Grand Harbor golf is a big draw. Pete Dye’s Harbor Course, harking back to great old Scottish courses, is trademarked with undulating fairways, deep pot bunkers, blind holes, and deep roughs of blended exotic grasses. Joe Lee’s River Course, weaving through salt marsh and along the Indian River, illustrates Lee’s special genius for uniting golf with natural wonders.

Reflecting a strong sense of Mediterranean architectural style, Grand Harbor residences are clustered in villages on individual islands. All homes are graced with magnificent vistas of golf courses, marshlands, river, harbor, and scenic waterways. The choices include two-, three-, and four-bedroom villas all on one floor, villas with a separate guest house and private interior courtyard, and three-bedroom villas with a fabulous loft or media room on the second floor.

If you’re looking for an affordable country club lifestyle, PGA Village (800/682-5551) is perfect. PGA Village, located in Port St. Lucie, Florida, offers golf lovers an unprecedented golfing experience, a luxury gated environment, and the opportunity to enjoy it all on a non-equity basis. That means that PGA Village residents don’t have of the fees, dues, or assessments associated with almost all other comparable private country club communities.

PGA Village is the only community in the country with three championship courses owned and operated by the PGA of America--two of which were designed by Tom Fazio and the third currently being built by Pete Dye and scheduled to open in January. Adding to the distinction of Fazio’s courses is Audubon International’s “Signature” status--an honor reserved exclusively for golf venues noted for exceptional environmental planning, wildlife management, and habitat enhancement.

Buyers can choose from a wide variety of golf villas, townhomes, and single-family residences, with starting prices between the $140s and $500s. Additionally, there are homesites throughout the community earmarked for custom estate residences from the $600s to more than $1 million.

SOUTHWEST

With unspoiled alabaster beaches, exotic wildlife and lush subtropical foliage, Southwest Florida, comprised of Charlotte, Lee and Collier counties, combine the sophistication of a pampered island resort with the relaxed style of old Florida. From the Ten Thousand Islands that lie in tranquil azure waters off its coast, to the vast wilderness preserves that claim its southern reaches, Southwest Florida luxuriously rolls out the welcome mat, beckoning visitors to enjoy idyllic beach getaways and captivating backcountry adventures.

Drive down I-75 or US 41 to Naples and you'll see proof that Naples has become the golf course real estate capital of the world. Colorful signs and landscaped entrances beckon duffers to dozens of new and established golf course communities. In fact, the greater Naples area has one golf hole for every 195 or so residents and is the nation's leader in private golf holes--more than 675 and growing. If you're counting, that's more than three dozen courses where you can live on the links.

With so many choices, it's not really whether you want to live in Naples, it's where you want to live. Each luxury community has a distinct personality on and off the links. Along with courses designed by the likes of Nicklaus, Fazio, Hills, Norman, Trent Jones Jr. and Sr., Trevino, and Player, you'll find luxurious condominiums, townhomes, and huge single-family homes overlooking the greens and fairways. You'll also find a wide range of upscale amenities provided to residents. Who would expect less in Naples.

Any short summary of Naples golf course living has to start with Watermark Communities Inc. (WCI, 800/WCI-2290). Founded more than 50 years ago and headquartered in Bonita Springs, CEO Alfred Hoffman, Jr. has led the way in Naples (and Florida) golf course real estate. More than 150,000 residents now live in WCI homes. It all started in Naples with the sprawling Pelican Bay development, encompassing more than 2,100 acres and featuring villas, garden apartments, tower residences, and grand estate homes. Along with resales, two elegant new towers, The Marbella and The Montenero, are seeing serious interest. It doesn't hurt to offer 27 holes of Arthur Hills golf, the Philharmonic Center for the Arts, the Waterside Shops, and secluded Gulf beaches.

Heading north, Bay Colony features more WCI possibilities, with oversized homesites, custom estate homes along the beach, Mediterranean-style villas and condominiums overlooking lakes and wetlands, and towers overlooking the Gulf and Naples Bay. Along with great golf across the street at Bay Colony Golf Club, sporting amenities in this community include a European-styled Beach and Tennis Club and and membership opportunities at the Pelican Isle Yacht Club.

The Estates at Bay Colony Golf Club provide another WCI luxury choice. Just 80 homesites will be located on 280 acres of tranquil lakes and waterways, wooded nature preserve, and gently rolling Carolina-style fairways designed by Robert von Hagge. On adjacent land, Pelican Marsh is a 2,075-acre planned WCI community, with another 18 holes by Robert von Hagge, other country club amenities, and a wide range of single-family and multi-family luxury residences. More than 25 unique models await visitors.

WCI's Pelican Landing is another Naples area planned coastal community, with 2,400 acres of golf, watersports, beachfront, luxury estate homes, single-family homes, coach homes, villas, and garden condominiums. Along with 27 holes of Tom Fazio-designed golf, Pelican Landing also boasts one of southwest Florida's most comprehensive model home centers.

The Colony Golf & Bay Club is a premier 688-acre neighborhood with estate homes and villas overlooking the fairways. The first luxury tower, Sorrento, with its golf, bay, and Gulf views, has also generated plenty of interest. The Colony’s 18-hole course, designed by U.S. Open winner Jerry Pate, makes its debut this December. It will also offer a country club witha spa and tennis facilities, with private waterfront dining.

In addition, WCI has many other options in Florida. The company has a total of 24 communities spread throughout southern Florida. Besides the Naples area, WCI has a wide array of possibilities in: Estero; Ft. Myers; Punta Gorda; Sarasota; Bradenton; Sun City Center (between Tampa and Sarasota); and Plant City. Over on the southeast coastline, WCI features options in: Miami; Coral Springs; Coral Gables; North Palm Beach; Palm Beach Gardens; Jupiter; and Jensen Beach.

Back in the Naples area, WCI isn't the only premier player in the golf course real estate game. Other excellent developers and golf course designers give Naples many appealing choices. Just look at Vineyards.

Encompassing 1,375 acres of prime real estate, Vineyards (941/353-1920) will eventually be home to nearly 3,000 residents. The community is a pleasing collection of 12 neighborhoods, each with its own unique character. Prices range from the mid-$100s to more than $1 million.

From coach homes to villas, condominiums, and estate homes, Vineyards offers an unending list of lifestyle choices to owners. It’s as varied as any golf course real estate development in Florida. The neighborhoods are woven into a landscape of two 18-hole championship golf courses (designed by Mark McCumber and Bill Amick), lakes, and acres of cypress trees.

Other amenities include a luxurious clubhouse, several dining options, a fitness center, swimming pool, the Tennis Center, and much more. There’s also shopping center, a 32-acre park, six miles of walking and biking paths, Vineyards Elementary School, an assisted living facility, and the new Cleveland Clinic Florida. The Vineyards is a shining example of life on the links in Southwest Florida.

SOUTHEAST

The chic elegance of Palm Beach and the pulsating rhythms of Miami’s South Beach are more than enough to keep most visitors and residents deliriously and delightfully entertained. Add in the grassy vastness of the Everglades, the coral majesty of the Florida Keys, historically strong golf, and the result is a miracle of diversity and a vacation treasure unlike any other--this is Southeast Florida.

This area has a long history of great golf, including Boca Raton Resort & Club (561/447-3000); Doral Golf & Resort Spa (305/592-2000); Indian River Plantation (561/225-3700); PGA National Resort & Spa (561/627-2000); Turnberry Isle Resort & Club (305/932-6200); the Biltmore (305/460-5364); the Fontainbleau (305/221-5181); the TPCs at Eagle Trace (954/753-7600) and at Heron Bay (954/796-2000); The Breakers (800/833-3141); and many more.

The Southeast also has a history of great real estate locations, including many living on the links options. Ibis Golf & Country Club (800/741-4500), is one of the preeiminent residential communities in the region. Netled in a pristine setting of nearly 2,000 acres bordering the 12,800-acre Loxahatcheee Preserve Nature Center in suburban West Palm Beach, Ibis is Southeast Florida links living at its finest.

It all starts with some superior Nicklaus family golf. Incredibly, two Nicklaus signature courses are built and a third is under construction. Jack Nicklaus built The Legend, Jack II (Jackie) designed The Heritage, and Steve designed The Tradition. The Legend has water fronting many greens and the bunkers tend to be large with deep faces. The Heritage features even more water and sand, while The Tradition will have few more bunkers and more undulating greens that the other two courses.

Ibis features more than 50 designer models, available throughout 21 different neighborhoods. Homes range from golf villas from the $160s to country clubs homes to $2 million. Most homes offer lake, golf, or nature preserve views. Other amenities include a 50,000-square-foot clubhouse, a Bath & Tennis Club, and The Shoppes at Ibis.

Also in the Southeast part of the state, Jonathan’s Landing (800/310-1248) provides another perfect example. Not far from Palm Beach, where the Intracoastal Waterway winds its way through a handful of islands called Jonathan’s Landing, there’s a perfect haven for those who love both golf and the water.

Jonathan’s Landing offers 26 distinctive neighborhoods, with an imaginative blend of townhomes, villas, condominiums, and single-family homes, including three islands where you can build your own custom dream home. With more than 600 acres of island property, Jonathan’s Landing is blessed with more than ten miles of water frontage. Almost 200 acres are dedicated to parks, recreational facilities, and marinas, while 120 acres are made up of lakes, waterways, and lagoons. Of course, residents also fall in love with the original championship course designed by Tom Fazio and the two additional courses of Jonathan’s Landing Golf Club at Old Trail.

Thus, from the quiet Northwest to the bustling Southeast, the Sunshine State has plenty of options for living on the links. That’s why so many Florida golf vacationers turn into golf course residents.