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New Nicklaus layout on Florida’s oceanfront

Florida’s first true oceanfront golf course in more than 70 years will make its highly anticipated debut in December, with the designer, Jack Nicklaus, hitting the inaugural drive off the first tee.

Located along Florida’s northeast coastline between St. Augustine and Daytona Beach, Ocean Hammock Golf Club, with six holes edging the Atlantic, promises to be something special.

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The designer of some 200 courses worldwide--including the highly acclaimed Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio--Nicklaus made sure his stamp was all over the par-72, 7,201-yard layout at Ocean Hammock. Strategy and scenery intersect at nearly every turn of the course, with great care taken by the designer to ensure Ocean Hammock’s terrain works in harmony with its surroundings.

“The relationship between a golf course and its environment is one that goes hand in hand,” says Nicklaus, who has been honored by environmental groups for his work on courses nationwide. “Ocean Hammock is very much a part of its coastal setting and the surrounding environment helps determine the overall character of the course.”

Fittingly, Ocean Hammock’s closing holes serve as the lasting impression. Nicklaus has dubbed the courses final four holes as ‘The Bear Claw,’ and the golf legend says they should rank among some of the games more memorable finishing foursomes.

From the 450-yard, par-4 15th (probably the toughest hole on the course) to the breathtaking 466-yard, par-4, final hole (which runs parallel to the beach and surf), ‘The Bear Claw’ will make players feel fortunate to get through without a significant scrape or two (although the views will always be enjoyable).

The classic Nicklaus design trademarks are all in place to make Ocean Hammock a strategic delight: multiple options off the tee; beautiful, but challenging, par 4s to close each nine; a beguiling mix of reachable and virtually unreachable par 5s; and a variety of holes that dogleg left and right, flow uphill and downhill, and play to greens large and small.

Chuck Kandt, the head golf pro, predicts that Ocean Hammock will ascend to the heights of some of the country’s most highly regarded courses. “Ocean Hammock will provide a golfing experience like no other on the east coast,” says Kandt. “We have a goal to draw big-name tournaments here and I’m confident it will happen.” The USGA wasted little time in acknowledging Ocean Hammock, naming the course to host regional qualifying rounds in May for the 2001 U.S. Open.

Greens fees for Palm Coast Golf Resort guests are around $100, while rates for public play vary from $125 to $175.