Southeast
Southeast
Streamsong Resort, Florida
Three of the best modern courses in America, built on a reclaimed phosphate mine an hour from anywhere, with nothing to do but play golf.
Overview
Streamsong sits in the middle of Central Florida's old phosphate country, roughly an hour southeast of Tampa on roads that pass more cattle than gas stations. The mining left behind sand ridges, deep pits, and rolling spoil piles that nobody knew what to do with until three of the best architects working today were turned loose on them. The result is the least Florida-feeling golf in Florida: firm, sandy, wind-exposed, and almost entirely treeless. There is no beach, no theme park, and no town. Groups who want a golf trip and nothing else have made this a pilgrimage; groups who need distractions should look elsewhere.
The golf is the whole argument. Streamsong Red, by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, runs through natural dunes and ridgelines and is the one most guests fall for. Streamsong Blue, Tom Doak's contribution, shares the same property and in places the same skyline, but plays on strategic angles and enormous greens that reward players who think a hole backward from the pin. Streamsong Black, by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner, is the muscular one at 7,528 yards with bunkering that looks like weather damage and greens that run away from you. The Chain, a nine-hole short course routed collaboratively by all three design teams, is the best forty dollars on the property and the smartest warm-up or nightcap you'll find.
Practically, this is a buddy-trip destination and a walking one. Caddies are available and genuinely recommended given the width, the blind angles, and the distance between greens and tees. The resort's 228 rooms are the only place to stay, which simplifies logistics enormously: you park the car on arrival, walk to the clubhouse, walk to dinner, and don't drive again until you leave. Evenings are cocktails at Restaurant Fifty-Nine or a loud table at Bone Valley Tavern, and then bed, because there is a 7:40 tee time. Come with people who genuinely want that.
Courses · 4
Streamsong Red
Resort · Championship
$200-$350
Best for: The one round to play if you only play one. Coore and Crenshaw's routing is generous off the tee and interesting for every handicap, which makes it the friendliest of the three for a mixed-skill group.
Insider tip: Walk it and take a caddie. The Red rewards knowing where the ground will feed a ball, and there is no way to learn that in one round on your own. Play the shorter tees than your ego suggests, because the interest here is in angles and short-game recovery, not in length.
Streamsong Blue
Resort · Championship
$200-$350
Best for: Players who like to think. Doak's angles reward the golfer who picks a side of the fairway on purpose, and punish the one who just aims at the middle.
Insider tip: Pay attention to the pin position before you hit your tee shot, not after. On several holes the correct side of the fairway flips entirely depending on where the flag is, and the greens are big enough that being on the wrong tier is barely better than missing. Lag putting practice before the round pays for itself.
Streamsong Black
Resort · Championship
$200-$350
Best for: Strong players who want the sternest test of the three. At 7,528 yards on wide open ground it can overwhelm higher handicaps if they play too far back.
Insider tip: Move up a full set of tees from wherever you think you belong. The Black is the longest and most exposed of the three, and a headwind on this ground turns a 200-yard shot into a 240-yard problem. The greens are enormous but severely contoured, so the two-putt is never guaranteed and the bogey often is.
The Chain
Resort · Approachable
$40-$60
Best for: Warm-ups, cool-downs, and the round where you play a match for beers with wedges only. Genuinely fun for every skill level, including a non-golfing spouse who wants to try.
Insider tip: Play it the evening you arrive to shake off the flight and get your eye on this style of ground game before it costs you strokes on the Red. Play it again on the last afternoon with whatever clubs you feel like carrying. It's walking-only and takes about 90 minutes.
Lodging
Premium
Streamsong Resort
$275-$600The only lodging on property and the only lodging worth considering, since there is nothing meaningful within a half hour. 228 rooms across the main lodge and the clubhouse building, plus a full spa and every restaurant on the resort. Rooms are modern and understated rather than plush, and the value is in the location: you walk to the first tee, walk to dinner, and never touch the car. Rates swing hard by season, with winter at the top of the range and summer at the bottom.
Dining
Restaurant Fifty-Nine
$$$$American / Fine Dining
The resort's upscale room and the obvious choice for the one nice dinner of the trip. Seasonal menu, serious cocktail program, and the kind of quiet that a group appreciates on the second night. Reserve when you book your stay, especially in peak season, since the room is not large.
Bone Valley Tavern
$$Gastropub
Named for the phosphate fossil beds under the property, and the natural gathering spot after a round. Casual, loud in a good way, and where most nights actually end up. No reservations, so grab a table early if you're eight deep.
SottoTerra
$$$Italian
An underground wine bar and Italian kitchen tucked below the main lodge, and the most atmospheric room on property. Pasta, a deep wine list, and a change of pace from steaks and burgers. Book ahead, since it seats fewer people than the demand on a busy weekend.
Pro Tips
- 1
Book at least three nights and play all three 18s. Streamsong only makes sense as an immersion, and a single-night stop means a long drive for one round and no sense of how the three courses talk to each other.
- 2
Walk, and take a caddie. These courses were designed to be walked, the ground game matters enormously, and a caddie at roughly $55 plus tip is the cheapest stroke-saver on the property. First-timers who ride and guess at the angles leave frustrated.
- 3
Florida residents should ask about resident rates when booking. The discount is meaningful and it is not always volunteered, so raise it yourself.
- 4
Add The Chain to every day you can. At $40 to $60 for nine holes routed by all three architecture teams, it is the best value on property and the ideal way to warm up before a big round or unwind after one.
- 5
Embrace the isolation instead of fighting it. There is nothing within half an hour, so bring what you want in the room, plan to eat all your meals on property, and tell anyone in the group who needs a night out that this is not that trip.
- 6
Play summer if the budget matters more than the comfort. June through August rates drop dramatically, and if you tee off at first light you'll be done before the heat and the storms arrive.
Sample Itineraries
weekend getaway
3 daysDay 1: Fly into Tampa mid-morning, drive out and check in by early afternoon, then loop The Chain to get your eye on the ground game; casual dinner at Bone Valley Tavern. Day 2: Morning round on Streamsong Red with caddies, lunch at the Red and Blue clubhouse, afternoon on Streamsong Blue if the legs hold or the spa if they don't; dinner at Restaurant Fifty-Nine. Day 3: Early round on Streamsong Black, quick lunch, and drive back to Tampa. Three days is the minimum that makes the trip worth the flights.
full trip
5 daysDay 1: Arrive from Tampa, settle in, play The Chain in the late afternoon, dinner at Bone Valley Tavern. Day 2: Streamsong Red with caddies in the morning, spa or bass fishing in the afternoon, dinner at SottoTerra. Day 3: Streamsong Blue in the morning, clay shooting or the rooftop pool afterward, dinner at Restaurant Fifty-Nine. Day 4: Streamsong Black, the toughest day, followed by an easy nine on The Chain for the group match; back to Bone Valley Tavern. Day 5: Replay whichever of the three the group argued about most, usually the Red, then drive back for an evening flight. Five days lets you play all three properly, repeat a favorite, and still have time to do nothing.
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