Esplanade Golf & Country Club at Lakewood Ranch

Slope from white tees is only 121. The fairways are generous for wayward shots. All of mine stayed in play. Greens are in good shape. Too bad they are aerifying them on July 9th from what I was told. There are challenges out there, but one should be able to play at or below handicap.

Even with the rain the course drained well and was quite playable

Full disclaimer, I shot a 71, (-1), the first time I’ve ever been under par and this may impact my review..

Pro shot ok but not overly welcoming, but starter was very good and gave out yardage book and took time to explain where to aim and where to avoid on various holes, this proved very useful. You’ll gather by the yardage book that there is no gps on the buggies, for a premium course at a premium price I expected gps to be on the cart.

Course ranger came round a few times, I was behind 2 four balls but was round in 3.5 hours, saw the drinks cart twice, sufficient water stops also.

Course in very good condition, wide fairways and undulating greens which ran pretty true, water in several places and a. Couple of carries over water from the tee, depending which set you play. Not overly long at 6700 from the tips, but very playable. Par 5s just about reachable for reasonably big hitters.

Tiki bar after has reasonable food and drink, with sports on tv.

One of the more expensive courses in the area, but you can see why when you play.. recommended

Teed off at 2pm on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. No cart restrictions. Finished 5 hours later at 7pm. It was awful. Playing partners have had this problem constantly.

Greens and bunkers were being worked on so they were not what you would normally expect

I have played this course many times.It is one of the most expensive but lovely courses in the area.

The cost including tax was 79 dollars and change.

The greens were so heavily sanded that putting was a lottery.

I know that regular maintenance is necessary for a good course but it is financially greedy not to mention it when booking or not to offer discounted rates for the period the greens are so heavily sanded

Course is relatively easy and I like that you don’t have to hit driver off every tee. You can, but you can make smart plays to avoid danger. Pace was good for us and we tend to play very fast. It’s on our list while vacationing. Lots of roll, greens were decent,back nine has interesting layout.

Esplanade is a favorite course of mine. The course was in great shape except for the greens which had recently been aerated. I'm sure they will come back soon.

This course was challenging and fun , top conditions for chipping around the greens.

Also best greens out of eleven courses we have played this month.

I love Esplanade. There is a but to this however. The cart attendants are very very poor and always have been. They don’t let you drive the cart anywhere near the drop off, but they don’t help you either so it is a no win situation with them. They are surly at times and lazy at other times. Not a good combination. I am sorry to say it has always been this way and is a shame for such a great course.

Played this with the wife early spring. Really have nothing negative. Big, wide, lush fairways feed into smooth, fast, receptive greens. Lots of water to add beauty but they keep it mostly aesthetic and don’t kill you with water in play every hole like most of Florida.

The whole area is very upscale and they are building the whole community up. Really nice. This is the type of place I could see myself moving to in a decade or so when I retire!

Don’t pass up the opportunity to play this one, it’s really a great day of golf. Everything you are looking for is right here.

Very Challenging course .. I play there regularly and course conditions are always spectacular...