Esplanade Golf & Country Club at Lakewood Ranch

Driving to the course reminded me of Scottsdale. Lots of green with lots of dirt. Course is very new and nicely maintained. Greens rolled true and were not slow. Fairways are generous on most holes but the architect makes good use of the 6700 yards by strategically placing bunkers around 250-270 yards from the tips. There are very few obstructions so the wind can is a factor on most shots. Only down side players do not fix divots on the greens. Would definitely play again.

I played the course on a Monday morning after a lot of rain over the weekend and some on my way to the course plus a little limting. FAirways were wide and allowed room for errors. greens were soft and rolled true. Achitect misssed the boat with the cart paths. Since the rain it was cart path only (not unusual for FL0, the majority were down the left side of the fairway. Which for normall right handed paly (i.e. slice) can make for a slow pace of play. However, sicne I was first off on the course I was able to complete my 18 in 2:45. I wil give it another try next year. Staff was geat to deal with and very helpfull. Ill be curious to see how it matures.

Really enjoyed playing there. Greens were in great shape.. Overall Fairways were in very good condition. Landscaping awesome. obviously young course. will be fun watching it develop. First hole the green is a tiered interesting green.

Clubhouse was being built.. But they did have a place for us to have drinks and order food.

The course is in nice condition as far as the quality for greens, boxes and fairways are concerned. On most holes a driver is a good choice, if you can shape shots on command. A few holes have a nice bottle neck view from the tee box and water comes into play also a few times.
The current home construction and the landscaping crew running all over the course with giant leaf blowers during play, made the noise level at times uncomfortable and distracting. The range was stacked with balls, nice set up, feels very "private" although it is not yet. I do not like water ranges, as the provide little feedback and the distances are not given on the range, so you can warm up, but it is a lot guesswork.
Other than that nice course for the money. Paid $ 42 a player on Golf Now and that's appropriate for now, as the home sites are not completed, and construction noise does not make for quite round all the way. Official rate is $ 90+

first time playing as this is a new course with very generous fairways and nicely rolling greens, we just happened to play on a windy day, overall nice course and will play it again

Nicely maintained. Fairly wide fairways until the last few holes. Long way from green to next tee which slows pace of play. Large greens.

This is a course for your "rusty" guests from "up north". I've been playing golf for 55 years and I've never played a course that had more generous fairways--they must be nearly 100 yards wide. Par 3's are reasonable in length, even from the tips. Not a whole lot of water or bunkers for Florida course, either. If you get the chance before playing, buy a yardage book, or bring your GPS. Course conditions were superb. Greens are large, very large, with reasonable speed and undulation--held shots well, too.

Course is flat, wide open. Absence of mature trees makes the wind a real factor. Fairways a bit thin still, but greens are very good, large, fast, true. Some very interesting holes. All in all, a good layout, not very difficult. Our group of 3 single-digit handicap, fast players, took 4 1/2+ hrs to complete the round. Thus the 2 star rating for pace.

Very nice course layout. Good use of water and shaping of holes to make the course challenging but still very playable!

Loved the course to bad all the housing being developed will ruin the atmosphere. It is a refreshing change of pace but will soon look like every other course in Florida when fully developed

Course is in EXCELLENT shape from Tee to Green! As a new course, there is still home construction going on along with lots of landscape work however, still a beautiful scene all way around. This course will be among the best in the State of Florida over time as it ages and matures.

Brand new course... Less than one year old. Nice layout... With some challenges on the back nine. Pace was reasonable, but found out later it coud be very slow. I would recommend this course to others.

Esplanade is a new course, less than 2 years old. Home construction is ongoing around the course.
Fairways are not mature yet, so a bit thin. Greens are large and roll true. They are a bit hard and don't hold the ball that well. Overall layout has plenty of room with generous fairways. Less water in play than many Florida courses. 5 tees make it easy to play for all handicaps. I would play there again and recommend it to friends.

Played it now a couple of times, and it will be a very good course when it matures in a few more years!
Fairways are generous, sand traps very good for a new course, and the greens are amazingly fast and true! We played in windy conditions, which made it somewhat more difficult, but all in all a course I wouldn't get tired of playing! Staff were very helpful and friendly! I would consider it a very fair course to play rather than a beat your brains out style, as many new courses tend to be!

Very nice facility.Friendly staff. Good value. Challenging yet very playable.

You had the wrong price to play . cart path only! You should have told me B4 signing up

This is one of the best public corses in the area of Sarasota-Bradenton. Nature of the course is like Sarasota National in Venice. Pace to play could have been faster. Temporary facilities.

very nice course we enjoyed for the first time
some interesting layouts but mostly very well maintained

Because this is a new course you need to make some allowances. The fairways are hard as the grass has not fully established and as they are preparing to build homes on the course just about all the wild life you might expect to see on a Florida course is missing. That said, it is a good test of golf with pleasant staff and greens in very good shape. Got this on a hot deal which made it very good value but not sure that I would pay $50 to play now prices are rising and there are good alternatives in the area.

Esplanade was a good new course in decent shape, considering it's only been open 9 months. Greens ran true. My only criticism is that the yardage difference between the back tees (6750) and the gold tees (6150) is too great. They could do with a set of tees between 6400yds and 6500yds)