Esplanade Golf & Country Club at Lakewood Ranch

This is a well planned golfing community that opened last year. The course is in great shape tee to green and the greens are settling in nicely. Originally they were very firm and hard to hold but now they are more receptive to approach shots. This course's best defense is wind since it is mostly wide open, so when it is blowing it can be difficult, if not, it is a much easier.

The course was in excellent shape for just over 1 year old. Fairways are wide and depending on the tee chosen it could play plenty long. The greens were in great shape.

Well, for a really new course this track is in spectacular shape. Well, manicured with greens, although a little firm, that rolled perfectly and held well on approach shots. Very picturesque...a few holes had housing construction going on but wasn't much of an issue. Generous fairways and most holes were really in front of you without hidden agendas. The only negative at all was a lack frequency of toilet facilities (portajohns) but I am sure that is a function of the stage of construction. Can't wait to play this again! Don't miss it.

I had heard Esplanade CC was is great shape prior to playing there. The course was outstanding. The greens were smooth with very excellent speed. Fairways and rough were wonderfully manicured. This course is pristine. The staff was very friendly and helpful. The day we played pace of play was excellent. Putting, chipping, and range areas were also above average. This was the 15th course I played this winter on my normal stay in Sarasota. Esplanade was the best of them all. It gets 5 stars.

Just a nice course but new so few trees and /or scenary. Wide open. Not worth more than $55.00 They think its Pebble Beach.

Course is in excellent shape. Greens are hard and new and should be better with a little time but you can tell they really worked hard to make them playable.
Not a lot of hazards but we found we were not sure where to aim our shots as too new for GPS and so no yardages to or good pictures of layouts. Will definitely come back, next time we'll have a better idea. Would be nice if carts had the trackers in the as the flags do.

Great course and conditions. Wide open fairways. Greens are undulated and difficult but fair.

Well worth the $$$ very nicely laid out large green all protected by bunkers
Don't be fooled by the size of the green they are difficult to read
Great value for a top notch course

Course not rated but likely about 115 slope. No significant challenges. Very flat with much construction. Better value for money at University Park.

great shape, cute cart girl, greens are fast and hard. need a ranger on the course to keep place of play going.

Golfer friendly coarse with wide fairways. Well laid out and a pleasure to play. Definitely would return.

For a 2 year old course it's in great shape, that day the greens where a little bit slow and hard. But in general in great shape.

Not enough markers for distance. My Garmin GPS unable to be used

This course is a real beauty. Tees, fairways, and bunkers are in great shape. Practice areas are unrivaled anywhere in Sarasota/Bradenton and is included in your cost.

However, the greens are ridiculous. They are like hitting into a parking lot. Absolutely no way to get the ball to stop. I was throwing up 60 and 64 degree lob wedges from inside 100 yards to many of the greens only to have the ball hit and roll off the green. I've never played on such rock hard greens. Honestly, there was no way to stop an approach shot. You had to aim about 10-15 yards short of the green and hope you judged the distance of your roll correctly.

The greens did not reward a good approach shot. Also, the knucklehead who cut the holes thought it would be cute to cut them on the side of hills. If you had a downhill putt, you couldn't hit it soft enough to avoid rolling past the hole 15-20 feet. Very frustrating.

Wonderful course. It's pretty new because my Garmin GPS nor my Golfshot app didn't recognize where I was so I had to rely on the laser. Surely that will be fixed shortly. That problem aside, this is a great layout, enough challenge but wide landing areas, well contoured greens. This will be a premium course in a few years. For now, it's very reasonably priced for February in Florida

The course was excellent condition, however being a new course the greens are very firm. They are smooth and roll very well but approaches are some what difficult to judge.

Course is in great condition and love the layout. As mentioned in another review if your a single or a twosome you will get stuff between foursomes. I have played twice and but times a single. The first time was my fault and played through waiting on every tee from the second hole on. Today I didn't want to deal with that so when I booked tee time yesterday I inquired about getting paired with a twosome or threesome so I could play with someone and not be standing around each hole. I arrived, paid and went to hit at their water range (don't care for floating balls and something about hitting balls into water before you play). As I pull up to range I was told I can go right now, straight to tee a joined a threesome. Didn't want to do that since it was cold and didn't want to throw my back out or pull anything. That's when I was told that I was playing by myself even though yesterday when I booked I was told I was paired with someone. I saw the tee sheet and the starter even stated that there was a single three groups ahead, a threesome and foursome and then me as a single and he didn't know why they would do that and waste a good tee time of a potential foursome. I decided to play as a single and after three holes I called it quits, drove back to bag drop and left. I was held up, then told to play through (don't like that becuase then I feel rushed). Waste of $75 and not sure I will be visiting again and giving them any business. Ashame cause it's a nice course.

Went out as a single, but met up with a threesome who were members, so got a lot of guidance in where and where not to hit the ball. It was a rough day as the wind was blowing near 20-25 mph. It was virtually a three club wind on shots hit into it. As a result, hitting greens was not that easy. But, that's not the course's fault.

The course was in pretty nice shape overall. Greens were fairly fast. Fairways were pretty well covered with grass and not blotchy at all. Rough was very playable. Fairway landing areas were pretty wide. Nice practice area with chipping greens, bunkers, and a large practice green which was pretty close to the actual greens in stimp speed. The range was an aqua range, which is not my favorite type, however the hitting area closely mimicked the fairway turf, so it was very helpful in preparing for the round.

Being a single in the middle of a tee sheet full of foursomes, they had no choice but to send me out alone. The foursome behind me was waiting for their fourth who never showed up, so when I saw them out with only three, I had them join me. (Actually I asked to join them.)

I played the Silver tees due to the strong wind, but the Gold tees would have been fine for me had there been little wind. And I only hit the ball about 215-235 off the tee. In the wind today, I had trouble reaching many greens even with very good ball strikes/swings.

There is a lot of building going on, but nothing really distracted from play except for the fact that without all the houses built, the wind was probably more of an issue than it would be once everything is built. However, once it is all built and occupied, it is going to be a private country club. So if you get the chance to play it now, you should go for it. I played in the afternoon to save a few bucks. Cost me $69 plus tax.

This course has nice wide fairways and decent ground cover. Rough is manageable and easy to hit out of and greens are fast. This course requires accurate approach shots as greens are well bunkered and fairways have bunkers and many ponds.
Surprising that the course bathrooms are Portipotties! while beautifully landscaped, the former life of this land was most likely a cow pasture so there are no trees other than recently planted palms so no shady spots to sit and wait in.

The course is very playable, with generous driving areas on the front 9 and generous greens. The back 9 is a little tighter, but still very playable. The greens were fast and true, and the overall course condition was excellent. The pace of play was very slow. It was a little pricey compared to other courses in the area, but I would definitely come back . . . maybe later in the afternoon when it's cheaper and not as crowded. The course only plays to about 6700 yards (from the tips), and the men's tees are only around 6200.