Saddlebrook Resort - Cypress/Pine

Played with two of my Sunday group. The other 7 backed out due to recent rains and possible new showers. MEOW.... We had sunshine and a light breeze all day, The course was damp in some low spots and 3 bunkers had standing water. The rest of the course was great. Greens rolled true. Sand in bunkers was fluffy. It was great. The staff were terrific in every way. The Ranger and Cart Girl were the stars of the show. Lift clean and place and cart path only were the rule of the day. Our round, On a Sunday, was 3.5 hours. Started at 0900, ended at 1230. Amazing speed for weekend golf around here. Will play this again ,soon. My buddies missed a great round due to the Meow factor.

This was a lot of fun playing hard but fun .The staff went all out for everyone that played ,

You pay for 18 but can only play 15. First hole the green isn't usable. They just cut a hole and stuck a flag in the middle of the fairway. Come to find out there are multiple holes like this. Greens have giant spots missing grass. Felt like I was putting on carpet because the greens haven't been mowed in quite some time. Back 9 was in a little better shape than front.

On course bathrooms are not cleaned and attended to enough. Dirty and no toilet paper.

Run short course.

Needs better grass mowing and trimming.

Overview: Green fee cost was good. The valet staff and the guys in the clubhouse were friendly. The course was in decent shape--75% of the holes were in really good shape. But it's critical that you keep an eye on your belongings.

Pros: Great rate for a decent, albeit dated resort course (look at all of the facilities and you'll suddenly feel like your back in the late 1970s).

Cons: The drink cart that they said would be on the course never once came by us.... Getting a ride from a valet to the clubhouse is a delay (and a tip expense) you should plan for... Getting a hold of anyone at this resort through their phone system is really a pain and they don't return phone messages.

Really Big Con: My laser rangefinder was magnetically attached to the golf cart. It was there when we finished our round (we used it on the last hole). I ran inside the clubhouse as we finished our round and when I came out someone else had taken my clubs off of the cart and loaded them onto the valet cart for the ride to our car. Unfortunately, they didn't grab my rangefinder and I didn't notice. When I noticed it was missing the next day, it took forever to get through to someone who made an attempt to go look for my rangefinder. He didn't find it and transferred me to security so I could file a lost and found report. What bothers me is there's no way anyone but an employee of Saddlebrook could've "found" the rangefinder. The cart was in their hands from the moment we got back to the clubhouse until we left and there weren't any other people around. So I'm out an additional $250 thanks to no one being able to "find" it. I'm sure I'll see it on EBay if I keep an eye out there, though...

Some of the fairways were just dirt. Some of the greens not very good. 4 were temporary. Should have lowered the cost $20.

The course has the look and feel of an Arnie golf course. Playable, fair and a lot of fun.

3 temporary greens an average of 50 yards prior to the greens under repair. I would not have played it had that been the case. The temporary greens were cut out of fairway and about 10 yards wide. That said, staff are friendly and the course design is solid under normal conditions.

Some debris from a storm earlier in the week in some of the fairways but nothing really effecting play. Good time.

I actually booked the Saddlebrook course because I had not played it yet but the pro shop advised me to play the palmer course again because there were 3 temp greens on the Saddlebrook. Nice of them to advise me and I will go back TO PLAY THE SADDLEBROOK in the future. Everybody is always nice at this beautiful resort and conditions are always perfect. Play it while the prices are low. It is the same course in the winter !!!.

Incredible value for a Saturday morning at just $35. However, this was due to 3 temporary greens which is understandable. Course conditions were great but not quite impeccable. Only real downside was trying to get food and beverages at the turn. It was a slow week at the resort but it was difficult the flag down an employee for bar service. Overall a good experience at a great price.

Recently played Saddlebrook, the Saddle side and was unusually disappointed. I remember pre covid playing at it- was a luxury (no outside beverages, valet, plush greens and landscaping, truly a nice course considering) played yesterday 8-13 and will probably not be back for some time. The overall scenery just wasn’t what I remembered. Apparently there is a new owner…and in my opinion, there needs to be another new owner. Greens were not great, grass was half dead, landscaping looked like it hadn’t been touched in months. 3 holes that I can remember there was a flag posted in the middle of the fairway with grass trimmed way down to mimic a green with a hole in the middle, I was SHOCKED. If a green is under repair that’s one thing, this looked like it was the new norm for some previous months and you had to somehow maintain your score while putting on fairway grass. Bunkers were weeded, tee boxes had seen better days. In my best overall conclusion it looked as if it was headed for a course that you rough up and learn to play on, not one you go to when your game is top notch like it used to be. I wouldn’t pay over $30 to go there again.

There were 3 temporary greens that we had to play- which essentially made the short game on those holes useless. Rest of course was in great shape- looking forward to coming back soon!

Living in this area I don’t know how I never played this course but I will be back to make up for it