Cabot Citrus Farms - Karoo Course

A lot of folks said it’s not ready for prime time yet but I think any non-snob golfer will love every inch of the property. Visually distracting off the tee but very fair once you get the ball in play. If you can keep it in the fairway, you can have a lot of fun!

Played the Pine Barrens and Rolling Oaks Courses many times dating back to the 1990's. It was always a treat to play, however, conditions varied, and play was typically slow! Playing Karoo was a letdown. Weeds were prevalent especially in waste areas. Knocking down hundreds of trees or more from previous layout, did not make this course worthwhile.

For those of us who played the original World Woods courses decades ago, seeing Karoo is a shock to the system. The themes of modern architecture - wild greens, intimidating sandscapes, miles-wide fairways - are quite the contrast from Fazio's original Pine Barrens course. The good luck, and bad bounces, from so many slopes on and around the greens probably net out to zero by the end of the round. Just enjoy the ride.

Cabot Citrus’ first full-on golf course in America sits on the former Pine Barrens layout from the defunct but cult-followed World Woods Golf Club, but it might as well be a new build for how completely it has been reimagined by architect Kyle Franz. Inspired by the likes of George Thomas and the wild links of the British Isles, Franz’s intense, gregarious style is on full display here.

Expansive multi-path fairways wind towards huge greens with some of the most pronounced contours this side of St. Andrews. The bunkering threatens to overwhelm at times in both aesthetic and ever-presence. It’s golf turned up to 11. For all its bombast, though, as a low-handicap player I found the course to be relatively easy due to the sheer size of the grass areas. However, my double-digit-handicap playing partners, encountered their share of frustrations with the bunkering, off-play areas and three-putt-city greens. I look forward to returning, both to see Karoo mature and to determine how The Roost, CCF’s next big course, differs.

Don’t be fooled by the TrackMan driving range. Or the wood-fire pizza oven at the posh post-round Porch. The three courses at Cabot Citrus Farms are rugged. This is hardscrabble land in the middle of Florida scrub pines.

Blowout bunkers and vast waste areas scar the swaths of green that can confuse your matriculation toward the targets. The mammoth greens resemble oversized lily pads. Reaching them in regulation is not necessarily a reward.

The reason is because Cabot has unlocked and revealed here in rural Brooksville what makes its’ other properties around the globe so fun to play. Only a select few places on United States soil can mimic what is offered in Great Britain and Ireland. American golf predominantly consists of players talking to their ball while it is still in the air. Due to the sand-capped terrain at Cabot Citrus Farms, you don’t start talking to your ball until it is on the ground. That’s when it gets interesting.

Locals and national property owners will undoubtedly build a mental database of the cheat codes. A caddie, however, is probably worth the hire if you are coming in from out of town and want to tackle the course prudently and efficiently. The subtle and nearly imperceptible breaks in the greens are confounding.

Though landing areas appear claustrophobic from the tee, I found the driving corridors to be generous and forgiving. There are multiple avenues to most greens, including split fairways on several holes. You will be hard-pressed to lose a ball here on the Karoo, Wedge or Squeeze courses. I played all 39 holes without doing so.

It’s an exhausting task trying to fit all three into the same day, but starting out on the 11-hole par-3 course is a perfect way to acclimate to the property and is more fun than beating balls on the range. The 10-hole executive Squeeze course puts driver in hand and is a terrific match play track. The day builds to the crescendo of the Karoo course, which plays over the old footprint of the World Woods’ Pine Barrens course.

The second championship course, the Roost, will open later this year, and two more full-length courses are in the 10-year master plan if the necessary adjoining land can be purchased.

Walked the Karoo course and throughly enjoyed the trek and track. This is NOT your normal florida course with no houses on or overlooking the course. Spectacular views, a plethora of natural waste areas, no cart paths (like streamsong they use naturally cut sand/waste areas which enhances the natural feel of the course.

Since this is currently in development expect to see alot of construction but what they are building will be a destination resort.

The course requires good tee shots on many of the holes but on other holes the fairways are extremely wide. Par threes are from 225 yards to as short as 110 yards from the tangerine tees. Greens are huge and undulating with great challenge in terrific and consistent shape, The carts our other twosome used were new and had all the whistles and bells (I think it was $35 more for the cart)

There is NO water to navigate on the course but a number of waste areas and carries make up for the lack of lakes. i did not play the other two courss, the wedge and squeeze but they looked in good shape already.

Course amenities are a "comfort station" and house you pass 4 times when playing Karoo. Good offering of drinks and food. Warmup area and driving range has trackman at each station.

This is currently a great value, but a work in progress. Hard to get a tee time with their current system. MY understanding is rates will change (go up) on October 1st and sometime in the next few months you will be able to book the 30-40 on site buddy houses/cabins for trips.

You could eventually stay here a few days and play all the courses...but no clubhouse yet and just a couple of areas to eat out of some very nice "food trucks"... and a pizza brick over food truck.

Play this place.. it will thrill you and challenge you and its fun and great value now.