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Pelican Golf Club
About
Pelican Golf Club is one of Florida’s newest and most exclusive private golf clubs. The host of the LPGA Tour’s annual Pelican Women’s Championship, it features a golf course originally laid out in 1925 by Donald Ross (formerly known as Belleview Biltmore Golf Club) and reimagined by Beau Welling in 2018. Owned by the local Doyle family, the course is an homage to Augusta National, with bright-white bunkers, lush green turf and fluffy pine straw framing the holes, with large and undulating greens providing a fun challenge for professional golfers and club members alike.
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5 Stars
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5 Stars
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Conditions5.0
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Value2.0
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Layout4.5
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Friendliness4.0
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Pace4.0
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Amenities5.0
Golfer Photos
Golfer Reviews
A big-time course seeks to realize lofty ambitions
Pelican Golf Club is relatively little-known outside the Tampa area, but that's going to change in a big way. This exclusive private club seeks to become a fixture on golf fans' TVs for years to come, as its owners want to turn their Pelican Women's Championship into women's golf's equivalent of the Masters.
It starts with the course, a Donald Ross original that was reimagined by architect Beau Welling in 2018. It is a major nod to Augusta National, complete with incredible conditioning, lush green turf, bright-white bunkers and a walking-only-with-caddies ethos. Wide fairways make the course very playable, with challenges mounting as the golfer nears the undulating, fast greens.
Highlight holes include the long par-4 8th, with a pronounced front-to-back-sloping green; and the short par-4 17th, which plays slightly uphill past a minefield of scooped-out bunkers to a tilted green. It can be set up to be drivable; when that happens, there should be fireworks.
It will take several years before it's clear whether the club has succeeded in creating a major-caliber event for women's golf, but it's off to a good start. The more people learn about this place, the more coveted a round here will become.
Like a resort course
The course plays like a resort course - set up to allow an enjoyable day without overly punishing players. Not terribly long. Caddies are mandatory and there is something anachronistic about walking the entire course with one. I did struggle to adjust to the pace on the greens, but I suspect that is my issue, rather than the course's.
Food and drinks were excellent. Also like a resort course, it is not a place I would play regularly. But, if offered again, I would return.
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Just finished walking the new course at The Annika last week. Played many times before it went private with my Dad until he passed in 2002. One big change you mention is the 8th and 9th holes. Small point really but the old 9th was a par 5, not a par 4 as you state in your writeup. It played as par 72 back then and the 18th was also played as a par 5. Really nice little known Donald Ross course. Miss being able to play it now that it is private and VERY exclusive.