BROOKSVILLE, Fla. – Not every great golf course lasts forever. Even fewer do it well.
World of the Woods was a booming bet when it opened in 1993, in the midst of one of America’s biggest golf booms, when the convergence of real estate development and suburban flying created an environment where a new golf course was opening every day Open throughout the United States. nation.
World Woods, owned by a deep-pocketed Japanese businessman and one of the greatest golf course designers of our time, designed two courses just an hour outside of growing Tampa. World Woods is adjacent to Bandon Dunes. Similar, if not more so than the Oregon Golf Resort, which also opened in the 1990s.
It all worked in the world’s forests—until it didn’t.
World Woods has every reason to be a huge success in the golf industry and become a bucket list trip for generations to come. People waited hours on the phone for a chance to book a trip to Bandon a year in advance. At the end of World Woods, you can walk into the modest clubhouse and enjoy tee times.
Nearly thirty years later, Cabot, one of the largest golf resort companies in North America known for building stunning oceanfront golf courses in exotic locations, took ownership of the property, giving it a complete overhaul Redeveloped and renamed Citrus Farm.
The result is a course that puts a smile on your face, centered around The Karoo. The Karoo is a Kyle Franz designed course where every tee box will dazzle you with its bold nature.
At World Woods, real golf is never an issue. Tom Fazio, one of the preeminent architects of his generation, is widely acclaimed for his designs on Pine Barrens and Rolling Woods. The course, an hour’s drive from Tampa, is more like the low country of South Carolina, with its sandy, tree-lined fairways, than like South Carolina. Water hazard golf courses in Florida. By 1995, Golf Magazine declared Pine Barrens to be the 66th best golf course in the world. Golf Digest ranks it as the ninth best public upscale golf course in the United States.
The Wedge has 11 par-3 holes that are brightly lit and can be played late into the night. (Courtesy of Carolina Pines Golf, Cabot Citrus Farms)
The problem is everything else, starting with the fact that the property is in an undeveloped area of Florida, an hour outside of Tampa.
“We’re in the wilderness,” head golf pro Stan Cooke told the St. Petersburg Times in 1993. “We have to bring in talent from the outside.”
Japanese businessman Lucky Inoue’s plan is to work with golf academies to train the next generation of professional golfers. There will also be a 120-room resort, possibly even single-family homes and more golf courses. The members are mainly from Japan and the rest are from the United States. Sounds good, right? Except none of this happened. nothing.
Japan’s economic slump is often blamed on a lack of development, despite the nationality of its ownership, despite being a factor for locals (the Tampa Bay Lightning, meanwhile, is also owned by another Japanese businessman, who doesn’t always pay his taxes) Bills) played a role in the palace intrigues.
Pine Barrens and Rolling Woods are still a great and a really good golf course respectively, located in the middle of nowhere, with a small handmade sign on the highway the only evidence of their existence. For a long time it didn’t matter, the industry was bustling enough that tee boxes were filled with 60,000 tee shots a year at its peak.
But then the recession of the late 2000s happened, and World Woods was hit as hard as anyone in golf. Streamsong then opened between Tampa and Orlando, offering two (now three) top golf courses and a hotel. Just like that, the world’s forests will be fine. fine. But it’s increasingly easier to get tee times, value rather than destination. “It’s got great bones” suddenly became a way to describe a golf course, a golf course enthusiast’s way of saying a course that really should be better than it is.
Still, the course had its admirers, including Ben Cowan-Dewar, CEO of the emerging golf/real estate empire Cabot, who eventually convinced Inoue to turn the 2,000-plus acres into The land was sold to Cabot as its first estate in North America.
The Woods of the World will not live forever. But it has new opportunities and a new life.
This time it’s different. The rumble of heavy machinery and lots of wood can tell you that. Rows of cabins are under construction, and Cabot said most of the homes in the first phase have already been sold. In-hotel food and beverage services are also under development.
If you squint carefully and have a photographic memory, you can see what it is. But open your eyes and turn your head, and you can see what’s happening now.
There is much more infrastructure to support golf than there used to be, including in the suburbs of the Tampa metro area. But it must still be about golf, and Cabot Citrus Farms is just that.
The Wedge is an 11-hole, par-3 course that is illuminated at night and is suitable for a variety of activities, from early morning walks to late nights with a beer in one hand and a 56-degree wedge in the other . The Squeeze Course is a companion to this experience, with 9 holes ranging in length from 100 to 550 yards. The Wedge and The Squeeze courses were designed by Mike Nuzzo, who also collaborated with Franz on the design of Roost, a second 18-hole course expected to open for play this summer.
The Carew’s par-3 third hole is played over water, a rare hazard at Cabot Citrus Farm. (Courtesy of Paul Severn, Cabot Citrus Farm)
Short courses and alternative experiences to traditional golf may be very popular in the golf world these days, but they’re not worth the trip. You need a full course that requires your undivided attention, and Carew can do that.
Franz and his team occupied much of the land that the Pine Barrens once occupied, first spending months excluding the pine trees. They lost count along the way, but he estimated that about 6,000 trees were cut down. The result is a completely open property. The wind swept across the land. Garbage areas dot the landscape. There is very little water.
At its best, the Carew is a joyous time, a big, bold rock opera on a golf course.
The first two holes get you going, but the real kick-off comes on the 3rd, a par-3 with a dash straight over the water that makes for a 292 from the tip and a more manageable shot from the Orange tee. 224 shots. Cabot considers this the hardest hole on the course for good reason, but first-hand knowledge can confirm that even average players can land on the green and have a good birdie look.
No. 4 is the first hole with two true paths to the green, a deserted area that runs along the spine of the fairway. Franz repeated this strategy several times along the way, culminating on his closing hole, a solid par 4 with a unique triple fairway that stretches 140 yards.
“We started there and it was a very, very tight left dogleg and there were a lot of balls in the forest and you could get lost and the final game was very difficult. We built a really cool adventure that brought a fun twist to the game of golf. ending,” Franz said.
The first and sixth holes share a green so big you’ll forget there’s another set above it, while the 15th is balanced by the long par-3 No. 3 – which A par 4 that plays at 388 from the back tees and 282 from the back tees. Orange, played with the wind, gives you a chance to really work hard.
It’s all unique and losing the ball is a challenge. The latter gave Franz some freedom to really try out the green complex, which will be one of the most undulating greens most golfers have ever seen.
“I’ve always wanted to do something that really celebrates that wild, unpredictable lawlessness of St Andrews, like all the greens rolling and flowing through those great old features, and in some cases it’s a beautiful The soft greens, you can make a lot of putts. The second green is like the craziest thing you’ve ever seen in golf, right?” Franz said.
“So we’re trying to steal some of both. Like there are some greens where it’s very possible to make long putts. And then we also have some really cool, funny stuff.”
Resort golf tends to attract a wide range of players. A very good golfer will see Carew and determine the best landing areas and targets on the green, as well as in relation to pin placement and how Franz challenges them. But the double-digit handicap won’t feel overwhelming because it’s open enough for them to move around and try different shots.
Everyone can come together to enjoy The Wedge, which sits on the highest point of the property, allowing you to take in the surrounding remote views as the sun sets. Turn weaknesses into strengths and transform a flawed golf industry into a potentially great one.
(Illustration: John Bradford/ Competitor; Photo courtesy of Jeff K. Marsh, Cabot Citrus Farms)
