Saddlebrook Resort - Cypress/Pine

A really nice course, but a nightmare to access during construction.

We had to valet our vehicle, then wait for a cart to take us to the clubhouse.

After our round we waited for about 20 minutes for a ride back.

We delt with multiple people who all have their hand out for a tip. The round was ruined for us before we even teed up the first hole.

Everything is kept in top shape. It was very nice.

The Palmer course is closed. You have to play the Saddlebrook back 9 twice. The maintenance on 9 holes she be immaculate. It is not.

I love this course. They only are playing the back nine right now as they are working on the front nine. I'll be happy when I can play the whole course.

I've played Saddlebrook many times over the 20 years I've lived in the area but the last few years I tried to avoid the Saddlebrook course & played the Palmer course exclusively because of generally poor conditions on tee boxes & some entire holes. Currently only 9 holes are open as the course is undergoing a massive redevelopment & that 9 holes used to be the Saddlebrook back 9. I only decided to play because of the price & my boys wanted to get out for a quick round locally & then on arriving to the course we were told that they had just punched & top-dressed the greens 2 days ago. We just played another local course last week that had done the same thing with their greens 10 days prior & they were awful--bumpy & slow. That wasn't the case at Saddlebrook. As with most premier courses, when they punch their greens they of course are very sandy but it's been my experience that the greens are usually pretty quick & roll pretty true without bouncing. That was the case at Saddlebrook & my boys found that out on the first green. All the greens were quick & when they grow back in a few days will be absolutely beautiful. As for the tees & fairways, they were in great shape--much better than expected. There were 1 or 2 tee boxes that had been beaten up a bit but moving the tee a couple of feet would yield a magnificent area to tee off. Don't get me wrong, there were still plenty of flat areas with enough grass to tee from unlike some courses around that have several tees so chewed up the only place to hit from is someone else's divot. Which brings me to a pet peeve with my fellow golfers--if you're taking a divot with your driver, you probably don't belong hitting from the blue tees.

This was a great first time experience, with friendly staff.

The course even with how hot it is was in great condition.

As of the rest of the resort they are doing a full remodel so a lot of fences but I can’t wait for about a year from now when the 92 mil renovation will be done.

Everyone at the resort was genuine and friendly. They had the carts prepped, cooler with ice and a gps built into the cart. Steven, the starter was amazing, courteous, professional and even offered some advice on the first hole. We will be back.

Sucks they only have the back 9 of the saddlebrook course open (cypress) but they are pretty well maintained & challenging greens and well placed bunkers make it fun. Great practice facility with free balls too