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St. Petersburg/Clearwater Playgrounds
Grab your sticks and join me at four amazing layouts – all in the same golf-friendly area of Florida's Gulf Coast.

by Doug Kelly
It's 157 yards to the pin, wind left to right. Should be no problem hitting a smooth 8-iron at the left edge and letting it drift toward the pin at center right.

Nice takeaway, but on the downswing my right foot slips slightly. The club head digs into the turf like a backhoe. With dirt blowing back onto me, I witness the ball sailing hopelessly into the water right of the green.

I'm really better than that ... well, sometimes.

Come ride in my cart for a tour of four classy layouts, and see how the experts play the top holes versus my effort.

Belleview Biltmore Golf Club
Actually, that 157-yard shot constituted my approach to the spectacular 18th hole at this historic layout. Built in 1925 by renowned course architect Donald Ross, legendary pros such as Bobby Jones played the same holes as I – albeit in far fewer strokes.

"Just keep your drive on the left edge of the fairway," says Bill Shriver, Biltmore's Head Golf Professional. "If you do so and hit it decently, that will leave about 150 to 170 yards to get home – but avoid the water at right."

That advice obviously eluded me. Dropping a ball next to the water, I chilly-dipped a chip shot that barely reached the putting surface, and two more strokes produced a not-so-cool

double bogey. Sorry Bill.

The 5th is a great par 4 with a tee box giving the illusion it's a dogleg right, and the 10th is a straightaway with traps everywhere – I should know, I was in most of them.

Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club
"Our signature hole on the famed Copperhead course is the 14th," says Doug Schmidt, Director of Golf Promotions.

Indeed, this par 5 curves left off the tee and then right for the next shot. I hit an okay drive but my second shot caromed off several trees like a ping-pong ball. I chopped a low 4-iron under branches back into play, bunted a 5-wood in front of the green and came away with a 6. It could have been worse.

"The pros can reach this green in two with a big drive," Doug adds, "but we've added five trees to this hole and now it's difficult even for them. Other holes also received new trees that add more emphasis to drive placement."

Tour veteran Paul Azinger puts it succinctly: "This is the best course we play on the PGA Tour." I can see why.

Renaissance Vinoy Resort & Golf Club
I should have brought a mask and snorkel. The par 5, 568-yard 16th hole features approach shots with water left and right, culminating in an island green. Whoever dives for golf balls

will be enriched by my visit here.

"Stay to the left side of the fairway off the tee – if you push it right, you're wet," remarks Randy Mosley, Director of Golf. "It's shaped like a double dogleg and you can see all the way to green – and that just scares people. It's the most stressful 20 minutes you'll spend on the course."

The 7th and 8th holes aren't exactly pushovers either, especially the par 3 8th with its elevated tee, a double-tiered green and even a pine tree in one of the traps. I made a 4 here and wasn't a bit embarrassed.

Bardmoor Golf & Tennis Club
With seagulls and blackbirds soaring above, bass cruising the edge of the water right of the fairway and turtles peering above the surface, I felt like James Audubon in an exotic wetland rather than a hacker on the 10th hole.

Never mind that I didn't reach the green on this par 4 until my fourth shot – the water attracting my defenseless shots like a shameless magnet – I sank a snaking 30-foot putt for a bogey. Meanwhile, a playing companion rainbowed a drive 275 yards down the middle and feathered a wedge to three feet. I don't like this man.

The 14th tee had my knees shaking as my eyes gazed at water left and right on this slight dogleg left. An irate heron screeched at the top of my back swing, and Audubon would not have liked what I said when my tee shot found the drink.

To take a swing at great golf in the St. Petersburg/Clearwater area, visit FloridasBeach.com or call the St. Petersburg/Clearwater Area Convention & Visitors Bureau at 877-352-3224.