COURSE REVIEW
Flamingo Island Golf Course's tight fairways put a squeeze on your game in Naples
By Tim McDonald,
National Golf Editor
NAPLES, Fla. (March 22, 2007) - How upscale and exclusive is Naples? Here's one indicator of the city's wealth: Even the public golf courses are beautifully conditioned, well-groomed and fairly hoity-toity.
Green Links Golf Resort, located within the Lely Resort, has three courses, two of them public. The Flamingo Island Golf Course is a Robert Trent Jones Sr. design; the Mustang Golf Club has Lee Trevino's signature.
The Flamingo is the more challenging, mostly by virtue of fairways that squeeze like a tube of toothpaste at the landing areas.
They don't look particularly narrow from the tee boxes, but many are hourglass-shaped. Unless you play short or (really) long, you're going to have trouble keeping the ball on the fairway. This doesn't always sit well with some golfers.
"I didn't really like the front nine that much," said Pat Beljan-Ayres, the reigning Executive Women's Golf Association champion, here to defend her title. "I thought it was definitely too narrow for a public course. I hit the ball like the average guy, and I don't think they give you enough room."
The Flamingo isn't long - 6,527 yards from the back tees, though it can be stretched to 7,171 from the championship tees - but your drive is the key to scoring well here. That and avoiding the many finger bunkers and water hazards.
The course has some of the traits golfers normally associate with Florida golf - namely, it's flat and wet. There are few forced carries off the tee, but the water comes into play often enough on approach shots. You'll need to bring your aerial game if you don't hit to the right spots.
The verdict
The Flamingo doesn't rank with the top tier of Naples courses, but it is still a very good public track, with large, contoured greens in excellent shape and a number of well-routed holes.
The 397-yard, par-4 fourth, with its narrow landing area and undulating is the No. 1 handicapped hole. The fifth is known as the island hole, with a two-tiered green that slopes back to front into water.
The shortish, par-5 eighth is a fun hole where long hitters can clear the hill and bunkers to the left to get the ball rolling in the blind landing area in the bending fairway. You're dealing with a cross bunker on your second shot.
"This is the first 'surprise' hole," Beljan-Ayres said. "The first seven you could pretty much figure out what you had to do."
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No. 9 is another par 5, this one with a bunker-split fairway. Go right and you cut your yardage, but you're also looking at water right and a narrower landing area. The slightly elevated left-hand fairway will leave you with a better angle into the green.
Not unexpectedly, there are quite a few homes around the layout, though most are separated from the course by water or foliage. The interior of the course is very open, susceptible to the winds.
One problem is drainage: After a recent hard night's rain the course still had standing water the next day, even with the August sun beating down, and the fairways were very soggy.
Naples hotels
Green Links is Naples' only resort with luxury condos right on the course, from which you can watch the golfers on the fairways and greens and the alligators in the lakes and ponds. Don't even think about feeding them (the alligators, that is). The condos are big and roomy, with full kitchens and laundry facilities, and there is a pool, Jacuzzi and barbecue area behind the excellent clubhouse.
The grand La Playa Beach and Golf Resort looms high over the Gulf, looking down on waters so clear you can see the snorkelers. There's an excellent restaurant, Balleen's (motto: "Serious food with a whimsical mood"), as well as a spa and a lots of other stuff to make you feel rich and spoiled. La Playa was deservedly ranked in Conde Nast Traveler's top 100 golf resorts for 2006.
Naples Grande Resort and Club is a recently renovated complex with shuttles running the half-mile to the beach when you want to get sandy and wet. It's built on 23 acres and overlooks the mangrove swamps that serve as a buffer for Gulf storms. Continued expansion plans call for a new spa right off the lobby.
The Ritz-Carlton at the Tiburon Golf Course lives up the luxurious brand name. The property recently underwent a $22 million renovation; every room was updated with wood floors in the foyers, flat-screen LCD televisions and sleeper chairs. The pool area has personal cabanas with their own refrigerators and TVs. You're so pampered here you feel guilty.
Naples restaurants
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Green Links' Flamingo Island Grille and Lounge offers appetizers, sandwiches and pizza for lunch and a dinner menu featuring the likes of honey pecan chicken and cedar-plank salmon. Nearby restaurants include Alexander's, Andre's Steakhouse, Watermark Grill and Pippin's.
The Naples Grande has a number of restaurants and will soon add the Strip House, serving the likes of Colorado lamb rack, Maine lobster and sesame-crusted tuna.
The Lemonia at the Ritz is a Tuscan restaurant where you can eat indoors or on the outside patio that overlooks the Tiburon course. Try the salmon, and save room for dessert. The Ritz also houses the Bella Vista Lobby Lounge, a poolside grill and a coffee shop.
Any opinions expressed above are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the management. The information in this story was accurate at the time of publication. All contact information, directions and prices should be confirmed directly with the golf course or resort before making reservations and/or travel plans.
