Washington Golf Monthly....

FLORIDA GOLF:

WISH YOU WERE(N'T) HERE

As you read this (and as I write it), it's 80 degrees fahrenheit here in Florida, the sky is as blue as the Gulf of Mexico, and I have a tee time in an hour. I wish you were(n't) here...or at least not at my local course.

How's the weather there? If I remember correctly, last winter we had about a foot of snow on the ground right about now. That was the winter I took a flight and a nine iron to Florida and didn't come back.

Instead of fleeing to Florida once or twice each winter to play golf, I moved to the Sunshine State last year. My winters and my golf game will never be the same.

I must admit, I still find it funny to drive to my favorite local course in February, after noticing in the paper that's it's going to reach a high of 28 degrees in D.C. The only ice scraping for me now is off a cold bottle of beer after 36 holes in the sun.

But many D.C.-area duffers and other Mid-Atlantic linksters only come to Florida in February and other winter months. After a few days or a week, they head home with sunburns and sit around waiting for spring. By that time, I've already lowered my handicap again.

As much as I loved visiting Florida in the winter, there were (and are) a few problems with midwinter golf. If they confiscated clubs at the state border, it would make my life (and tee times) much better. But Florida is flooded with golfers from the north every winter. That often means crowded courses, inflated green fees, and lodging prices that make D.C. real estate look cheap.

After playing all winter, I've learned a few lessons that even visiting golfers can apply. That doesn't mean, however, that you should all come at once.

Some rules that will make your winter wanderlust worthwhile include: being flexible about when and where you'll play; being patient with crowds and slow foursomes in front of you; wearing sunblock; not driving like a tourist in your rental car or golf cart; and, first and foremost, being nice to locals like me (we're the ones with the leather-like skin).

Another lesson I learned when I moved to Florida was to seek inside information about where to play and stay throughout the state. So when I first flew south for more than the winter I bought a book that made my life on the links lots better. It can do the same for your visit.

Florida's Best Golf Courses (800-642-6480), prepared by The Miami Herald's Ronnie Ramos, is an excellent resource for courses you can play throughout the state. Ramos and a large group of panelists rated and provided detailed reviews of the top 100 courses and also included 65 additional notable courses by region. With more than 1,100 courses in Florida and dozens more on the way, the subjective coverage has been a huge help for my greens getaways around the corner and across the state. It's also exposed me to the incredible variety of golf in Florida, from "the flat, mangrove-lined fairways in Southeast and Southwest Florida, to the steep hills and moss-covered oak trees that define courses in Northeast Florida."

The book is packed with inside information, like this advice about Saddlebrook Resort outside Tampa: "The course is open to the public year-round, but it can be tough to get a tee time in the winter, when resort guests take most of them--and green fees are as high as $135...During the summer, Saddlebrook is under $30 and accepts several of the charity golf cards that allow you to play area courses for discounted rates."

This leads to one final and very valuable lesson I learned this past summer: there are two golf seasons in Florida. The 'high' season generally runs from November to April and the 'low' season generally starts in April or May and lasts through early- to mid-November, when the snowbirds start heading south.

When I lived up north, I always thought that Florida 'summer' golf would be as sweltering as a John Daly drive. But I quickly learned what Floridians had always told me...it's hot and humid, but not anymore so than downtown D.C. in July. I also learned that the 'shoulder' seasons in the spring and fall make for practically ideal conditions. Of course, the lower green fees, non-existent crowds, and dramatically lower lodging prices don't hurt either.

What if you're like me and want to play and stay in Florida year-round? You can't drive out of Orlando or other cities in the state without seeing numerous new and old developments that were specifically built for golfers seeking first and second homes on the links. Florida is experiencing a golf course real estate and building boom. You can and should consider taking advantage of it in one of several ways.

Some of the possibilities include: buying a condominium at an established golf mecca like Innisbrook (I've been tempted for years); buying or building a house at a golf resort community like Lake Nona (I can't afford it, but maybe you can); or buying land at a new course, with plans to build your golf getaway when you wise up and move to Florida (from the Panhandle to Miami, there's lots of acres and lots just waiting for fairways as backyards).

Whenever you come and however long you stay, just remember that it's probably either snowing or sweltering back up north. I wish I had come sooner and I can honestly say I wish you were here too...I just wish there weren't so many of you and that you would stay away from my local course, where I now have a tee time in ten minutes.