Innisbrook, A Salamander Golf and Spa Resort

Enjoyed the course. Nice typical flat Florida layout with a little topo to it and some challenging water holes. Staff was exceptional, and food and drink amenities were nice, albeit simple, and fairly priced.

The front 9 has more water on it and kicks you in the teeth for the first bit. Greens were in great shape and were slick. Subtle breaks make for a challenge.

Back 9 is easier. Apples in cooler on 10 to up your carb intake. 18 hole is tricky. Pin was in the front right. Had to be below the hole to get out. 3 footers that went past rolled off the green.

Picture perfect day and golfing conditions. Quickly turning into water and sand all around me. Stay on the fairways! Easier said than done. Surviving the front nine was a victory in itself.

Making the turn where the glory is short lived due the snails pace and 4 group wait on the next hole. "this isn't the Villages and you're not driving your own custom carts"!

With that being said, the staff was friendly and entertaining. Thoroughly enjoyed the super friendly "MeerGooseSquirrel" creature.

In my opinion the course is a bit overpriced, by more than 50%. But otherwise a great experience and Challenging course.

Would love to play it again. Someone invite me, please! lol

Had a great afternoon playing Copperhead, home of the Valspar. I have attended the tournament a couple of times and it is always fun to "play where the pros play", as they say.

I played from the gold tees, about 5,700 yds with a 131 slope rating. That is a little higher than I am used to, more the slope than the yards, and I was worried about a 100+round (I'm a 25), as that usually happens at TPC Sawgrass regardless of the teebox.

I was surprised that the course was not that hard for me, I shot 87 playing the best irons I have in a long time. So hit it straight and there is no problem!

We were paired with a twosome from Minnesota and one of the guys was pretty bad, so the round taking 4:20 was partly our fault. We did catch the group ahead of us on 15, and they finished just a bit in front of us timewise.

Fairways were a little patchy in places, but otherwise the course was pretty immaculate.

The greens were very fast and a little hard to read, but generally I'd say they were true and a pleasure to putt. I had a couple three putts from 40+ feet, and one that was totally my fault from about 20 ft.

Overall, I really don't feel the course is all that special but it is very nice, and of course you've seen these holes on TV (there are only a couple I remembered from the past - so I don't find it that memorable.

Worth the price once, unless you are wealthy!

One more thing - I had booked 2 months ago and was told the price was $269, but only $159 on the Osprey North course. So I booked a 1:18 tee time on that course. Then last week my wife got our hotel for the 2 nights before at Seminole HR comped, so I decided to pay up for Copperhead.

It was then that I found out that Copperhead rates went down at 1:30, and was surprised to be able to book 1:40 at $155+tx. Snapped it up but was a little miffed that this wasn't offered to me at the time of my original booking.

Pretty disappointing experience at the North Course. I’ve playing regularly at Innisbrook this summer and it’s generally been a positive experience. In this case a 7;30 booked time becomes 7:55 then I arrive and they have us starting on the back 9 behind 4 groups that can’t seem to understand what a starting time is so the 7:55 starting time becomes 8:25 and then we proceed to play 9 in 2:40 minutes. Throw in spotty fairways and bar tee boxes and you have to ask yourself what did I pay $130 for? I quit after 9, wasn’t worth it.

The course was excellent and lived up to its billing

After having played the resort's other three courses a couple years ago, I was pleasantly surprised by the South when I played it after they debuted their redone greens. The courses is in two pieces, starting and ending in flattish, tree-lined fashion with a large interlude of open, hilly holes in the middle of the round. There are strong holes in both of these areas of the course, which makes its dual nature less jarring. In general the course is quite playable, which helps give it the edge over the Island for second-billing behind the mighty Copperhead.

11. That's how many balls went in the water. Am I upset? Absolutely. Why? Because I want redemption. The Island Course, as the legend goes, was supposed to be the Professional course, not Copperhead. But when the TV networks showed up they realized something. There is nowhere to put anything. Towers or stands. The course is tight, has lots of water hazard and tree/shrub area. After you go in the trees on hole #4, you start praying for water. The roots stick out of the ground like knobs. Almost impossible to get a good swing on a ball if you go in these kinds of areas on the course.

As with all the Innisbrook courses, stay on site because that is how you get the best rate to play. In addition, the resort is beautiful and children friendly.

This is the first time I have played this course. I have never played any of the Innisbrook courses.

The first four holes seem like typical Florida golf, holes, but starting with the fifth hole until the 17th, the course has kind of a links feel with fun and challenging bunkering, mounds and a wide-open look and surprisingly quite a bit of elevation changes. Hole #8 is a great and challenging par 5 and has some beautiful homes near the green.

The greens were very small and well protected, with lots of slopes and undulations which make them challenging. The greens rolled great and were well taken care of. The bunkers were all well manicured, raked and great to play out of.

The course was in very good condition, but I was expecting a lot more for paying $200 to play the course. I was amazed at the bare and dead spots of grass near the greens and other areas for $200. It is more of a $100 course rather than $200 course.

The Copperhead Course may be the PGA Tour host, but it might just be the case that the Island Course is the resort's toughest layout. Narrow fairways, plenty of length and a healthy amount of water all conspire against the golfer, with the uphill, par-4 10th being the resort's toughest single hole not just for its sheer length, but an incredibly scary pitched back-to-front green. If you can play to your handicap here, you can do it anywhere.

I always find it a treat to play courses that host big-time golf tournaments, and for putting oneself in the shoes of the best golfers in the world, there are few more fitting venues than the Copperhead. It is the consummate "ball-striker's paradise," where a significant mix of power and accuracy are essential for survival. If you can hit fairways and greens here, you can score a little bit, but with the narrow landing areas and tough rough, any looks at birdie will have been hard earned. It's a great diagnostic for any golfer's game.

About once a generation, it becomes necessary for a golf facility to embark on some nips and tucks to its courses. Innisbrook is in the midst of this process, with the North Course representing the third of the resort's four courses to get some TLC in the form of new greens and some other adjustments. The large, undulating surfaces here are fun to putt, but can be fearsome if you find yourself above the hole. The course is not long, but it is a challenge, with many tee shots needing to be fitted through narrow corridors through the mature trees.

Our group of 8 guys play the Copperhead Course each fall as part of a week of golf. Copperhead remains on our list of "must play" courses.

The day before we played Copperhead, we played the Island Course at Innisbrook. People say the two courses are comparable.

They are alike in difficulty. Neither course is easy. The Island Course is the more difficult of the two.

Conditions between the two courses varies greatly. Copperhead is in exceptional condition. From tees to the greens, we were not disappointed. The bunkers were raked, the greens were fast, and the fairways were wonderful. The ball sat up nicely in the fairways.

Conditions at the Island Course were much different. The greens were just as nice as Copperhead's. After that, the changes were quite appearant. The grass on the tees was more sparse. The fairways were brown and had barren areas. The bunkers were not raked.

If you're going to spend big dollars to play Innisbrook, play Copperhead.

I'm part of a group of 8 guys who come to Tampa to play a week of golf each fall. We've always included the Copperhead course in our list. This year, at the urging of others, we added the Island Course.

We had been told by many people that the Island Course is every bit as nice and challenging as the Copperhead course. The starter talked the course up big time. Challenging it is!

The course itself is not easy. It's playable and fair. One or two holes are a bit tricked up, but overall, the course had good flow. The routing was nice. That's where the comparison to Copperhead ends.

Innisbrook charges a premium to play the Island Course. Quite a bit more than area courses. To a man, we were disappointed in the condition of the Island Course. The tees were average, the bunkers were not raked at all and the sand was rock hard, the fairways were brown. The greens had good grass coverage and good speed. Needless to say, we were disappointed that such an expensive course was in his condition.

We played Copperhead the next day. Copperhead was great in every way. The conditions were perfect.

If you're going to play one premium course, make it Copperhead. It may not be as difficult as the Island Course but the conditions are much better.

Wow...pretty much sums up my experience on island. had played copperhead the day before and kinda knew what to expect after watching the valspar all these years on tv. went into island a lil blind...but boy what an amazing track. good elevation changes, good variety of holes..i actually thought island was more difficult than copperhead. def must play if you are staying at innisbrook. Greens were superb..less grain and more speed than copperhead the day we played

really simple folks...if its good enough for the guys on tour its definitely good enough for the rest of us! lol

of course innisbrook cant keep tournament conditions on this course for the entire year...but it was in really good shape. layout extremely challenging yet fair..good shots are rewarded..wayward shots are penalized..plain and simple. you couple the layout of this course with the amenities of innisbrook and its a no brainer. PLAY IT!! but play the proper tees

Darrell in the pro shop and Fred the starter were extremely accommodating. They provided excellent customer service. I really had a great experience and look forward to returning in the future. Keep up the good work.

First of all let me say right up front, we had a great time and the service was over the top. Our room was perfect, quiet, and overlooked the Island Course.

However the conditions of the Copperhead Course was far less than I expected. The greens were hard, and the green surrounds were bare in areas and overgrown on others. The rough was deep in com areas and others not as much. Many weeds and the bunkers were very bad, maybe not as bad as the Island Course, but bad. I thought the course conditions would be pristine, but not so, just the average course. Certainly nothing special.

This golf course was in absolutely horrible condition. The greens had a mixture of two grasses, were bumpy and difficult to putt. The fairways were thin and so were the tee boxes. Innisbrook should be embarrassed to charge $108 for this sub-standard golf course that wasn't worth $15. Had we known it was in such bad shape we never would have played it and the staff did not give us any indication of the poor condition.