Esplanade at Azario Lakewood Ranch Golf Course

Great golf course, great amenities, homes are very nice, the restaurant is very good and the Bahama bar is an excellent place to hang out grab a drink and food after golf or just enjoying food by the pool. Only complaint is there are over 900 seeded households for this one golf course. 8 minutes apart on tee times and 4 hour plus rounds. Harder to get to he tee times you want.

(10 HC) Played the Barstool Classic 2023 tournament here. The good: Very nice aqua range and practice putting areas. The overall course condition was great. The speed of the greens was fast but not ridiculous, rough was not thick but well maintained. It’s basically a new course and the membership isn’t established as they are still building out the homes around the entire course. Lots of water but it’s not always in play. Tons of native birds and a few gators out there. The bad: Course layout was mediocre at best not a lot of memorable shots or holes out there. No elevated tees, just continuation of the fairways with tee blocks laid down. The greens here (as others have said) are just ridiculous and not that much fun IMO. I like having the chance to roll in a few 10 footers and maybe a 20-30 footer in round, not happening here. No straight putts outside of 2-3 feet. Huge undulations and pin locations you can’t keep a ball near even with the perfect approach. Some people may like this but personally it wasn’t a place I will play again.

While the greens had been punched, they were coming back to their pristine and challenging selves. The rest of the course was fantastic. Enjoyed lunch around the pool afterward.