Sandestin Golf and
Beach Resort continues
to grow and amaze
Raymond Floyd should be complimented for the bravery of designing Raptor Bay. He could have cooked up another water and wetlands style of design that's been done ad nauseam in South Florida. Instead, Floyd routed the course gingerly through the omnipresent hammocks, palmettos, and wetland preserves, taking care to coddle everything growing and breathing. Located 25 minutes north of downtown Naples, Raptor Bay is a breath of fresh air.
The Inn at Wildwood is clean and comfortable, with a fitness center, pool and tennis courts, and of course the golf course, Wildwood Country Club, but the real attraction here is the surrounding nature areas.
Why, given its status as one of the most popular entertainment destinations in the U.S., its 300-plus sunny days a year, its thousands of hotel rooms, and a tourism industry that rivals any in the world, has Orlando had such a hard time establishing itself as a golf destination?
"Our greatest asset may also be our biggest hindrance to being a true golf destination," says Todd Howard, Director of Golf at the International Golf Club. "Most people come to see Disney World and Sea World, and they will golf while they are here. Hey, we can't complain about that, but golf does exist in the shadow of Mickey."
To an outsider looking in, the Tampa Bay area has it all. The enormous, sugar-white beaches of St. Petersburg/Clearwater are some of the best in the world. The peaceful, warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico and Tampa Bay are a veritable maritime playground.
The region's once moribund NFL franchise, the Buccaneers, have become the darlings of the town and captured the 2003 Super Bowl. Even the Devil Rays, the Bay's sympathy-inducing Major League Baseball expansion squad, lured highly touted manager Lou Pinella away from the playoff-contending Seattle Mariners.
Anyone who's been there will tell you that Jacksonville is one of the best-kept secrets on the eastern seaboard. A vibrant, midsize city with an enviable waterfront setting and an NFL franchise, "J-ville" as locals call it, often plays second fiddle to Atlanta, Charlotte, and even instate rivals Tampa and Miami in the southern city popularity contest.
For golfers seeking to soak up the seemingly endless array of daily fee golf offerings, this anonymity is part of the allure.
Beginning at State Highway 210 at the north end of St. Johns County (approximately three miles south of Jacksonville and Duval County) and stretching south to State Highway 207, there are seven golf courses within two miles of the interstate, most built within the last four years. Another 20 miles in each direction brings in nearly two dozen more.
Forget for a moment why you came here -- the coastal, world-class golf, the beaches, the 80-degree December days.
You are atop Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse, the tallest (on its original foundation) guardian of the coast in Florida , and the Space Shuttle Endeavour just blasted off from Cape Canaveral.
It's an awesome sight. The twilight reflects a brilliant fiery glow at lift off. Then the vapor trail is illuminated by the setting sun and suddenly booster separation appears as two twinkles of light falling toward the sea.
Western Florida has been dubbed the Emerald Coast because of a unique phenomenon. At certain times of the day, the Gulf of Mexico waters just off the Panhandle shimmer with a pure, mesmerizing green hue.
The contrast between the calm, jeweled Gulf water and the pure white "sugar" sand beaches can be startling and is the reason why this is one of the truly beautiful and appreciated havens to those who know it. Thousands of families visit this stretch of Florida between Panama City Beach and Pensacola each spring and summer to indulge in the powdery sand and consistently ideal weather.
It's only fitting that the infamous "Alligator Alley" is one exit south.
The route from Interstate 75 to the Lely Resort could earn the nickname "Golf Course Alley" or "Hacker's Row." From the time you leave I-75 on exit 101 (a.k.a. Collier Boulevard) - the final exit before this well-traveled asphalt ribbon turns into a desolate road through the Everglades National Park - all you see are semi-private golf communities.
The Inn at Wildwood is clean and comfortable, with a fitness center, pool and tennis courts, and of course the golf course, Wildwood Country Club, but the real attraction here is the surrounding nature areas.
If you're a golf course it's easy to get lost in a town like Naples.
Between Marco Island and Bonita Beach to the north, the greater Naples area supports more than 100 golf courses. The sheer number of playing options is roughly as overwhelming as the range of architectural variety is under-whelming -- South Florida is notoriously flat, breezy, and overrun with wet vegetation, and so are most of its golf courses.
Raptor Bay is a 
Orlando/Central Golf
Tampa Bay/Gulf Coast Golf 
Jacksonville/St. Augustine Golf 
Daytona Beach Golf
Western Florida Golf
South Florida Golf