Esplanade at Azario Lakewood Ranch

Course is in reasonably good condition for this time of year, although greens are fairly slow right now.

Note there's no 19th hole / clubhouse bar, which is probably the only let down about this course.

Grabbed an afternoon tee time, always a risk in June with rain. Was able to get it in, course as always is in amazing shape, I will hate to see this one go private soon.

Cart path only on a 95 degrees day due to " lack of rain." I wish I was made aware of this prior to getting there. Way too much walking on such a hot day. Additionally, you needed to take several clubs with you. This course has wide fairways which is normally a good thing but not on cart path only on hot days. Booked through golf now and this would not meet their refund guidelines.

First, a little background.

I’ve played with a group for the last 12 years.. A few of us from Tampa and others from Ft Myers. We have met at a halfway point on Tuesdays for years. The Lakewood Ranch / Sarasota / Venice area has been ideal for us. Over the years, through GolfNow, we have played Lakewood National, Sarasota National, Esplanade, University Park, Rosedale, Calusa, Plantation……you get the idea, pretty good tracks.

We are member of private clubs in our respective areas and play a decent quality, and amount, of golf.

Our experience at Azario this past Tuesday warrants a review. We are not complainers.

Upon arriving at the bag drop, we were met with a sandwich board sign alerting us of cart path only conditions. Keep in mind it hasn’t rained in weeks. The guys who took our bags told us there was a discoloration in the fairways. The pro shop said it was the superintendents call to keep cart traffic off the fairways because of the hot conditions. We were met with very little empathy when we inquired about the situation and were not offered any discount or reduction in price. Customer service was not a strong point.

The putting green was in good shape, recovering from being punched. The range was off the mats, which are extremely unforgiving being so so firm.

Then, we had to start our round on number 10. No explanation given.

It was HOT !!!

We found the course to be quite playable and in good shape. There are some browned dry spots on the higher sides of the fairways. Greens rolled well given that they had been aerated probably 10-12 days prior to us playing.

The kicker came on #18, our 9th hole of the round. A drive that split the middle of the fairway got a 2 foot roll out because it hit a puddle of WATER !! In the middle of the fairway that we were not allowed to drive our carts on !!

The back 9 didn’t get much better and the morning became a lot like work instead of an enjoyable round of golf. We play because we enjoy it, but this became something completely different. It became work. Trudging from cart path to ball and back, lugging 3-4 clubs, towels, range finders, and sand refill bottles.

After the round, I popped into the pro shop to, hopefully respectfully, voice my concerns. Met with the same apathetic response as the morning encounter. Got a sorry, but no attempt made to make anything any better for what we had just experienced.

We know the course is bound for full membership at some point and could care less what our experience as out of towners was, but that attitude misses the point entirely.

Given the opportunity to play in the area again, there are many many other courses that will receive our business.

Be better Azario….BE BETTER !!!

Love the course, but wouldn’t have booked the tee time had someone told us the whole course was cart path only. Not fun in 90 degree heat.

Nothing bad to say except the greens must have been punched like 7 to 10 days prior so not perfectly true rolls that day.

Just 8 days after aeration so the greens were still healing but playable. Rest of the course in very good condition.

What a beautiful course and layout. Outstanding tees and greens. The only reason I'm giving this course 4 stars is due to the condition (temporary, I'm sure) of the greens. They had just been aerated and spread over with sand. If it rains several times in the next 2 weeks, the greens will be superb by 7/1/26. Staff and amenities, a bit high for folks that can't afford to live in the course community, were also outstanding. I would enthusiastically recommend Azario at Esplanade to family and friends. I'll be back in 2 weeks!

Snack area was closed on a Sunday. Weather was very bad around 2pm. Had a round just after 3. got there early in case I were able to warm up (they have a nice range and practice area). Cart staff was visibly annoyed I was willing to wait out the weather despite the pro shop gladly taking my money. Weather cleared up and ended up being an awesome day on the course. At the end of my round the cart staff stared me down the entire time I was gathering my belongings and when I said “thanks have a great day,” I got a “yup,” as a response. Not sure why the anger!