Today in Michigan it was snowing and the temp is about 29 degrees F.  I could not wait for the winter to be over so I took a quick trip to Destin, FL.  Although I apparently took some cool and wet weather with me, it was still worth the time to get away for a short while. 

There are many quality golf courses in the Destin / Panama City Beach area.  The other golfers I spoke with stated that the weather had been exceptionally good, even in January, but it recently turned wet and cool. 

We looked at several golf courses and had one god day to play golf.  With budget in mind, we chose the SeaScape Golf Course at the SeaScape Resort, near Miramar Beach.  The greens fee before 8:30 AM was $39 plus tax, and $49 after 8:30.  It included a golf cart with accurate GPS that helped us better select our distances.  My Golf Buddy GPS demonstrated the same course layout and distance data.  We were only a couple of hundred yards from the Gulf of Mexico, so the wind played a factor for most shots. 

We found the course to be in relatively good condition, although the wet weather yielded a bit slower green speed than expected.

The SeaScape Golf Course has a challenging layout, with plenty of water and bunkers. It has an adequate driving range, good practice putting greens, and a nice pro-shop.  This Par 70 course has 4 sets of tees, with the blue set at about 6148 yards and the white at about 5717 (per the score card).  Lesser distances are available from the gold/yellow tees (5091) and the most forward red tees (4530).

There are other more plush golf courses in the area.  A few that are highly recommended include the Kelly Plantation Golf Course, The Regatta Golf Course, and the four golf courses at the Sandestin Resort, where the Senior PGA Tour once had and annual event.  Each of these courses, including the SeaScape Resort course, is within only a few miles of each other.

One course that is only about 30 minutes north of Destin, east of Crestview, is the Blackstone Golf course, in Mossy Head, just north of Interstate US-10.  It was highly recommended to me by a fellow golf instructor (although I did not have time to play it myself on this trip).  The greens fees are very reasonable and it appears to have more terrain changes than those that are close to the Gulf.

In early March I will be in Myrtle Beach and will report on a few of the more affordable courses for that popular spring golfing area.

Don't forget about the current Golf Show special pricing on a few of our select golf products.  See the blog article below for details.  The code (FM201331) expires on March 31.  We also provide FREE SHIPPING to the continental US.

Meanwhile, hit 'em straight!

Phil Lawrence