University of South Florida Golf Course - The Claw

If they would put some money into fixing up the course this could be a real gem.

I find this challenging with all raised greens, the fairways were taken care of and the greens were in good shape

The course is in good condition and there are some very interesting holes. The drawback is the pace of play - 5 hour round.

I have played the claw for at least 10 years. Probably in the range of 1 to 2 times per year. The story has always been the same. Unique, challenging layout, but horrible conditions (sand in fairways and greens). I give it a try every once in a while, hoping things have changed. Well, this time it had. The greens were in great shape and the fairways, much improved. The pace of play was even better. Will be going back soon.

The course touts themselves as having "the best greens in the Tama area", and I would agree that they were in pretty good shape, fast and rolled pretty true (actually sank a couple of +25 footers), but all 18 greens are elevated and very firm, so it is extremely difficult to get the ball close (thus the 25+ foot putts). The fairways and rough were extremely wet, and this must have been the result of overwatering, as there has been no significant rain for several weeks. This made a fairly long track play even longer. It was just OK, not great, because the wet conditions meant longer clubs into hard elevated greens, so if scoring is your thing, it makes for a long frustrating day. Everyone was quite pleasant, though.

This is a "target" golf course, requiring distance control and hitting the ball where you want to hit it. I love this style of golf.
If you spray the ball you will have a long day, or if you follow players that spray the ball it will also be a long day

The course was in good shape, staff was super friendly and helpful, and the nature preserve area added a sense of quiet beauty. There are many well-placed trees making for challenging fairway play, and the greens were wonderfully kept.
I would definitely play here again. I am in the "senior" category, but felt welcomed by the college students working and playing the course.

The course had just been overseeded for the winter so it took a bit longer than normal to play the round. As a result we did get a bit more exercise than we had planned! The course was not crowded so we could play at our own pace. Overall, the golf was a pleasant experience!

Played The Claw on the Monday observed for Veteran's Day. Lots of twosomes stacked between slow moving foursomes. The foursomes were moving extremely slow on the front but picked up the pace on the back. I was in no real hurry as I was off for the day and enjoyed my time on the course. The majority of the greens were in good shape and right now the fairways were being seeded. The tee boxes are being worked on as well. Staff and greenskeepers who were working the course were extremely nice and engaging.

One of my biggest issues is hole 18 where you are alongside the driving range and have to watch for incoming balls. The net in between the range and the hole has been weathered and the golfer has no protection. Please fix. It has been that way for a number of years only now it is really bad.

The Claw is a well maintained course with greens in good shape. Playing from the forward tees allows for a less challenging course, but from the tips, it definitely increases the difficulty due to the narrow nature of the majority of the holes. The pace of play on a weekend morning was good with it running roughly four hours and twenty minutes. Definitely worth the cost.

I live in Maryland but travel to Tampa frequently, this was my first time playing the Claw, I would highly recommend it to anyone traveling to Tampa. I can't wait to play it again now that I know and can appreciate the layout. The Claw is well maintained, the staff were young, energenic friendly kids that were cool. A must play in the Tampa area.

the thing about the claw is that it has such great potential. It is a challenging course with narrow fairways and hazards everywhere. The conditions of the course however leave a lot to be desired. The tee boxes were overgrown and had weeds everywhere and the greens seemed to have more bare sposts than grass. The shelters that are scattered accross the course are dilapidated and falling apart and the nets for the driving range that parralell holes 1 & 18 are nearly nonexistant, such that teeing off on 18 you need to be concerned about a stray drive from the range heading straight towards you.
As i said, great potential, wildlife is everywhere from gators to sandhill cranes to wild turkeys, but I would never even think about paying the $25-30 full price greens fees. The course is more worth $10-15.

Course conditions were horrendous and only had maybe 6 holes playable but didnt make you aware of that until you already paid your money and were in the cart....plus the greens were arrated....terrible experience

Tee boxes need attention and the thing that I really loved about this course it use to have really fast and smooth greens. They can't say that there was fear of burning out the green we had the second rainiest year on record in the last 50 years.

Played in early September after a week of no rain--we thought it would be fairly dry. Not! The course is usually in good condition and, absent the standing water and mud, it was this time. The greens were good as were the tee boxes. Many of the fairways, however were soaked. They should either shut the par 5 3rd down or par 3 it until the water subsides--the traffic is tearing up the fairway. Despite all this, the Claw is somwhat challenging, usually in good condition and a round can be played in 4 to 4 1/2 hours.