Saddlebrook Resort - Pine/Oak

The course is in great shape , it rates as good as any of the best courses in the Tampa area!

Course was in really good shape and can’t beat the price for twilight round. The only negative was no drinking water or cart on course during twilight. With this course not wrapping back around to the club house after 9 it was a brutal end to the round.

I have to preface this review by saying that I'm 62 & have played golf since I was 4. My father was a golf pro, I was an assistant many years ago. I state this just so you have some idea that I know what I'm talking about & am not just picking on a course for whatever reason. I moved to the area in 2004 & have played Saddlebrook several times a year since & it's never disappointed or been in less than pristine condition until recently. I played here last month & it was barely tolerable but I wasn't too upset because it hadn't rained in the area for many weeks so I gave them the benefit of the doubt. I have to say, the course has actually gotten worse in the last month-much worse. The greens are still in good shape but the tees aren't just suffering from lack of water, they have various issues going on from obvious lack of care-disease insect infestation, etc (heck, the first tee box was overrun with armor plated brown grasshoppers). Many tee boxes were so hard I had to poke around looking for a spot to tee off & my driver didn't get green grass on it all day, just dirt & brown, burnt grass. The fairways were a mix of green & brown, maybe 50-50 but that shouldn't be on a course like this. The rough, forget it--burned to a crisp & not a hint of green color in sight.

Arnold Palmer would NOT be happy. I've played on some GREAT golf courses during my almost 60 years of playing the game & really can't recall playing on a course in such disrepair. New owners bought the resort, promising drastic improvements but it's obvious what their plan is--let the course fail & develop the entire property. They already plan on taking 9 holes from 1 of the 2 course & build homes & apartments in its place. I live 10 minutes from Saddlebrook & will not be back. Sad, there have already been 2 courses in our area that were allowed to sell to developers & build homes & apartments & another nearby course might be headed in the same direction as the owner who bought that course a few years ago has turned it from a premier course into trash & it's right next to my community.

Anyway, for the amount of money they want to play here, there are many other nearby courses more deserving of your golfing dollar.

Great layout, challenging but not impossible. Greens in good shape, roll well. Pace of play was excellent. Staff in the Proshop and starter were helpful and efficient. One negative is the parking. Confusion at Valet, always was included now they seem to want to charge an additional $12 plus tip. Self parking is not doable, half mile walk. It is not easy to navigate from Valet to proshop, too far to carry your clubs and you pass thru the resort swimming pool area. If it is your first time, you'll need help. Budget an extra 15 minutes.

The course is in great shape and we could not have asked for better weather. I try to play Saddlebrook every 3 or 4 months, and this is the nicest it has been in years.

Staff at drop off area only helped when I asked where to go as it was my first time there, valets were there for the first day so unexperienced. Second green a ball bounced off our cart as we were walking to it. I also thought there would be better grassed fairways. After that all went great!

We couldn’t play because we must go to Alabama for business. I wrote two mails to the golfclub to asking if we could get our money back. No answer. So we paid 120 $ for nothing.

I passed this course often but had never played. I was able to get a good deal on GolfNow and decided to give it a go. The course gets progressively more challenging as you move through the holes. All in all, I had a great time playing this course.

The Palmer course is in very good shape

It’s a strategic course good for any level of player

Greens are very good and slick going down hill stay below

the hole

Can’t wait to play it again

We played at 3pm each day for 3 days. Great pace until we caught up to thr earlier afternoon groups. Finhshed each round in 3.30h. Great value. Course good....greens were sanded. Most Tbox chewed up and burned. Faiiways good.

Great weather, great conditions, staff was helpful and friendly, pace of play was good and everything fell together (except the greens were still recovering from being punched but were top-dressed well and still rolled pretty true). All in all it was a capital experience!

Some areas in fairway were in poor condition. Course is very nice. Halfway house was closed.