Course if officially closed! We played on Monday at Noon with one of the last public tee times for Spanish Bay before it closed for the remodel. We ... » More

Course if officially closed! We played on Monday at Noon with one of the last public tee times for Spanish Bay before it closed for the remodel. We were treated to another superior day weather wise. Sunny and hot (by Monterey standards) with very little wind.

The course was finally showing signs of the impending shut down with several of the fairways being brown and hard pan. The course actually played more like a true links course. But even with the “deteriorating” conditions the track still was a joy to play.

The rerouting won’t look too different from the current layout. The main difference will be the greens. They will all be softened up to a much more manageable and “resort” level basic green complex. Front nine layout won’t see any significant layout changes. Some waste land areas, aka Poppy Hills style are allegedly being added to conserve water. The back nine will see one significant change. The iconic and diabolical short par 3 hole 13 is being completely removed. Not sure why as that is such a great hole. Hole 14 is being changed from a par 5 into a long Par 4 and a new Par 3 will be added utilizing a new tee box from the left side down onto the existing hole 14 green. Course will be a par 71 layout with only three Par 5’s.

As someone who has played Spanish Bay as much or more than anyone else, I will miss the current layout. I have had so many great memories and GK Cup battles here. So many birdies over the years, yet never made a birdie on #4. Had a chance yesterday but it was not to be. My least favorite hole was #7. Only a couple of pars on that hole total but managed to roll in the long putt of the day from over 50’ out to save par and have one last great memory on an otherwise forgettable hole.

No birdies on the day from anyone in our group, but plenty of smiles all around. The sun has set on one of my favorite “go to” courses for now, but I will surely resume my quest to conquer this scenic course when it re-opens in 2027.
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A good tittle for this course is you get what you pay for! It was inexpensive and course conditions showed. The track sits inside a gated community... » More

A good tittle for this course is you get what you pay for! It was inexpensive and course conditions showed. The track sits inside a gated community and the layout is a typical Florida course. Flat with numerous water hazards. As far as the layout goes, no complaints. A good mix of hole variety with plenty of water hazards throughout. Some forced carries over the water and some lateral so kudos to the designer.

Conditions were pretty bad. Fairways were non existent. Just some grab grass, clover and dirt. I will say the last few fairways were a tad better but still in the “poor” rating category. Tee boxes were even worse. Mainly sand from maintenance recently filling in all the divots. Hopefully that’s a good sign of things to come. The nice thing was there were a couple of artificial mats. Those presented the best hitting surface of the day.

Believe it or not. The sand traps were actually decent. As for the greens. Well they started off ok then got a little worse. But with a couple of birdies on the day, I can’t complain too much about the greens.

Misc. golf carts are gas powered and have GPS. Course was quiet and I finished in around 3 hours or less. Restaurant was closed. Overall fun layout with poor conditions.
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I finally got my clubs out here so I wanted to play a “nice” course. I’ve been cycling around Key Biscayne a bit and have passed by Crandon Golf cour... » More

I finally got my clubs out here so I wanted to play a “nice” course. I’ve been cycling around Key Biscayne a bit and have passed by Crandon Golf course, so I chose this as my first stop here in the Miami area. I played on Tuesday with a 10AM tee time. Chandon Golf sits in the middle of Key Biscayne island so I was expecting great things as this is a nice area just over the bridge from downtown Miami. The price point also suggested that I was in for a treat. Whereas the course layout was very nice with numerous water hazards and forced carries throughout the entire course, the conditions were a let down.

The greens themselves were large with moderate undulations. Basically what you would expect on a resort course. They didn’t look very pretty, but actually rolled ok. Fairly smooth at a medium pace was not desirable but acceptable. Fairways were the big letdown. Brown and bare spots throughout the entire course. What wasn’t bare was generally patchy. Fairways were generously wide and offered good roll out. If you don’t mind a little foot nudge to give yourself a good lie then all is well. If you play the ball down then it’s a frustrating day for sure.

Tee boxes were ok. Definitely level and most were divot free or at least had plenty of area you could find good footing and area to tee it up. Bunkers were really nice. They matched the price point. The sand traps were consistent throughout the entire course and between the four of us, we were in probably a total 30 bunkers so we had a good sampling of the bunkers. It was one of those days!

Carts had GPS to the flag and cart service came around a couple of times. Overall customer service was ok. Nothing to brag about, but nothing to complain about either.

The course had easily 15+ water hazards plus a few views of the Miami skyline. A big plus on that. I do think give the location of this course right on the edge of the water, they could have done a better job with views of the bay but overall, not bad. Given the location and course layout, I’m sure I’ll play here again at some point but not sure it’ll be anytime soon given the current conditions. I would just like it to be a little better for the cost.
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5 weeks left before the course shuts down for the remodel. DeepSea14 and I teed it up with my buddy Bob at our usual 9AM (9:10) tee time. I have p... » More

5 weeks left before the course shuts down for the remodel. DeepSea14 and I teed it up with my buddy Bob at our usual 9AM (9:10) tee time. I have played Spanish Bay many many times and this may have been the best weather ever. Perfectly sunny without a breath of wind all day long. Temperature was around 80 degrees and just glorious. Course conditions remain steady as always. Greens were excellent. They rolled smooth at a medium fast pace. Greens are still tricky, as indicated by my fiver or six 3 putts. It will be interesting to see how tame they make the greens during the redo.

Fairways were super for the most part. Only #11 had some issues and had a portion being re-seeded. The rest were lush and offered good roll out. Rough was the only sign of the course starting to slip. Rough had some patchy areas that probably aren’t being attended to, due to the course being shut down in a little over a month.

Tee boxes and bunkers were fine.

Spanish Bay is one of my favorite go to courses and I’m curious what the redesign will look like, but I’m certainly going to miss playing here for 2 years while they do the makeover.
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I’m still waiting for my clubs to arrive (and my car and bikes) so I decided to just rent some clubs and get out and finally get my first Florida roun... » More

I’m still waiting for my clubs to arrive (and my car and bikes) so I decided to just rent some clubs and get out and finally get my first Florida round under my belt. I went with the local muni course, Palmetto GC since it was close by. This is your average muni course with about average conditions all round. Maybe slightly under “average”. Course is completely flat (aren’t they all in Florida?) with plenty of water hazards. Greens were fairly docile in that they were single tier and mainly flat with just some slight back to front slope. Greens were on the slow side for sure but rolled fairly smooth.

Fairways were a very weird grass but had decent coverage. Fairways were pretty wide open. Rough was more crab grass than anything. bunkers looked to be a bit hardpan but I wasn’t in any so hard to say. Tee boxes were flat but chewed up for the most part, but not horrible.

Overall, it was a nice walk on what was an overcast day. Palmetto is a typical Municipal course with average to slightly less than average conditions but very playable. Not a bucket list course by any means but worth the entry fee. I’m sure I’ll end up playing here again in the next few months.
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