Esplanade Golf & Country Club at Lakewood Ranch

The golf course was in excellent shape. We played in four hours. The greens are rolling well. A must play for any golfer.

new course but all the grass is there. greens are firm but putt true. not hard for driving but large undulating greens make second shots hard.

Great potential but it is new. Once complete and the greens are rolling, will be a great course but I cannot recommend in 2014. I'll try again 2015.

What a great addition to the Bradenton area. First time player...What a treat - had friends all the way from Wesley Chapel drive down to meet us there. Range balls included with the cost was nice. Practice facility was top notch. Great customer service all the way around. The course was impeccable and spacious. Beautiful layout and the greens were fast, fast, fast but true. Sand traps well maintained. Look forward to playing it all summer.

The reason for the strange ratings is the fact this course is so new. Very nice, very playable layout. Generous greens, no tricks. For now you have to forgive the typical new course issues: a couple of bad tee boxes, dead spots, lack of rough, hard fairways, etc. I really hope they take care of the golf course right, because in a year this thing could become a local gem. By right I mean, plugging, aerating, sanding, seeding a rough and watering the heck out of it.

I like most of the practice facility, but I'm not a fan of water driving ranges- sorry.

Excellent course, but watch your putting as the greens are tricky and fast with some undulation. Try your best to stay below the hole. A great layout for sure.

Second time played, first was shortly after opening. Greens large and undulating, very firm (new course), speed slower than last round. Wide fairways, hard, with good bunkering and water.

No houses yet, and large tract of land, so course seems vast. Vegetation not mature, resulting in holes not well delineated. At times had a hard time finding the pins with a laser. GPS would be helpful.

Played from the tips, 6600+? yards, as slope from the next forward tee was low 120's. Need an intermediate tee that would run 6300 yds.

No clubhouse to speak of, which closed at 5:30 for drinks (not helpful when teeing off at 2) and no beverage cart seen.

Overall enjoyable experience. You don't want to pay $79, but specials are to be had. With time, will be very nice. On par with Sarasota National in Venice.

This course has only been open a few weeks and is very nice. I will be playing again. The fairways are generous, but there is lots of sand and water and the greens are good. It is not tough if you keep it in play but there is plenty of trouble. It is in very good shape for a new course.

This course is brand new and conditions were great when we played. Both fairways and roughs were overseeded with rye and were green and full. Fairways were generous and there were lots of tees to pick from. The greens putted very well and were huge, but they were hard and not holding very well yet... need some more maturing . They have many flower plantings that make it pleasing to the eye even though it is pretty wide open for the planned development (no homes yet) . If the greens were more mature and receptive I would have rated condition 5 stars.

Lack of restroom facilities on the course will probably be remedied soon, but port a potties were absolutely filthy and unemptied for God knows how long. Gross.

Overall a nice course, greens are so firm it's near impossible to stop the ball on approach shots.

Ranger asked us to pick up the pace when turning at 9, stating we were 7 minutes behind schedule. No one even close to waiting on us, yet ranger thought 7 minutes over his schedule was unacceptable. Rather annoyed our group and thus the back nine wasn't as enjoyable. Felt pushed even though there was no one in sight behind us.