Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort, Destin
With seven-and-a-half miles of beach and bayfront on the
Gulf, four highly-awarded golf courses inside the resort, and free drinks every
night, Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort is tailor-made for buddy trips. The
2,400-acre resort located between ?>Pensacola and Panama City has so much more than golf to
offer: 15 tennis courts, a 98-slip marina, sailing, zip lines, just to name
some. But with a $99 per person, per night golf special being offered from
December 1 to February 1, golf may be all you’ll have on your mind.
Sandestin might be one of the undiscovered gems of the golfing world, but
with everything it has to offer it should be on every golfer’s list. The only
place you can find Rees and Robert Trent Jones Jr. courses side-by-side (along
with two Tom Jackson layouts), the golf is all on-site. In fact, with
complimentary tram service anywhere in the resort, you won’t use your car at all
while vacationing here. The 24-acre pedestrian Village of Baytowne Wharf has 14
bars and 24 restaurants. Golfing groups get to enjoy free draft beer and well
drinks from 8 until 9:30 p.m. every night during their stay at the Village Door
in Baytowne
Wharf.
TPC Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra Beach
It’s the most photographed—and perhaps most feared—golf hole
in the world. The 17th island green at THE PLAYERS Stadium Course has been home
to both heroics and heartbreak on the PGA Tour, but what golfer worth his or her
salt wouldn’t like to take a shot at placing one close to the pin? Now through
February 2009 you can have that opportunity at TPC Sawgrass, home of THE PLAYERS
Championship in Ponte Vedra
Beach.
The package, dubbed Dye’s Duo, features two nights at the nearby Sawgrass
Golf Resort & Spa, recently voted among America’s top-10 golf resorts by
Travel + Leisure Golf, and rounds at both the Stadium Course and Dye’s Valley
Course, along with a personal forecaddie and a one-hour lesson at the TOUR
Academy. Packages start at $663 per person.
While Dye’s THE PLAYERS Stadium course is well known because of the
annual broadcast of THE PLAYERS Championship, Dye’s Valley Course offers just as
compelling a challenge, albeit a shorter one at just over 6,000 yards. In
addition to the challenge of these two courses, golfers can look forward to
tournament conditions. Even extreme weather won’t thwart play thanks to the
sub-air units that irrigate the course.
If you have ever enjoyed a caddy who entertained you with the local lore
along with his knowledge of the course, you can look forward to the storyteller
forecaddies at both TPC Sawgrass courses. They bring the history of the place
alive with their tales while helping you navigate Dye’s layouts.
While at the courses you can also enjoy the new 77,000-square-foot
clubhouse that serves as an elegant backdrop to THE PLAYERS Championship. You’ll
stay nearby at the Sawgrass Golf Resort and Spa, just a shuttle ride away. This
Marriott Resort, with 508 guest rooms, suites and villas, sits along the
Atlantic Coast between Jacksonville and St. Augustine. Among its many amenities are the
25,000- square-foot Spa at Sawgrass, four swimming pools and access to miles of
beach.
