The Twin Passions Of Baseball And Florida Golf Are A Hit At Spring Training
Long before Sun Belt cities like Phoenix and Orlando built multi-million-dollar stadiums and turned baseball's warm-up season into a full-fledged tourist attraction, Babe Ruth knew the real secret to a successful spring-training trip.
When the legendary slugger boarded the "Orange Blossom Special" train headed for the New York Yankees' spring camp in St. Petersburg, Fla., he had a baseball bat in one hand and a golf club in the other.
Not a bad way to spend a month.
Baseball fans consider a trek to spring training a pilgrimage, but throw in the great Florida golf in these locales and you've got the perfect double-play combination. (Provided, of course, that baseball has no work stoppage, lockout or whatever the overpaid millionaires on both sides of the controversy are calling their latest labor debacle.)
Not surprisingly, baseball players and fans today follow in the Bambino's spikemarks. Atlanta Braves pitchers Greg Maddux and John Smoltz boast of playing 45 holes on a Florida golf course after a morning workout at their camp in Kissimmee, Fla. "I encourage it," says manager Bobby Cox. "It's a great way of getting their mind off of problems. It would bother me if they didn't play golf."
If only all bosses could be so visionary.
Make no mistake: Despite all the fun, spring training is big business. Each year from mid-February to the end of March, almost three million fans flock to see games in Florida and Arizona, pumping an estimated $700 million into the local economies. Our thumbnail guide, including maps, course information and baseball box-office phone numbers, will take you through a week of quality florida golf and baseball on either side of the country.
FLORIDA: The Grapefruit League
Aside from threats of "contraction"--eliminating two baseball franchises--20 teams practice in the Sunshine State. Three regions--central Florida (Lakeland to Orlando), west coast (Dunedin to Fort Myers) and east coast (Melbourne to Fort Lauderdale)--allow you to put together your preseason sampler. Here's just one example:
Monday: Abacoa Golf Club (Jupiter) and Cardinals baseball (Jupiter). Less than a half mile from the ballpark, Joe Lee-designed Abacoa is vintage Florida golf, with palm trees and water hazards aplenty, along with oversize, undulating greens. The Cardinals' Roger Dean Stadium is new and nice. Afterward, you can check out Town Center's restaurants and shops.
Tuesday: PGA Golf Club and Mets baseball (Port St. Lucie). The golf course is less than two miles from the Mets' complex, which is just off Interstate 95. There are 36 holes designed by Tom Fazio and 18 by Pete Dye (Fazio's South Course is ranked 21st in Florida by Golf Digest), and there's one of the best practice areas you'll ever see. Thomas J. White Stadium is only as cozy as a concrete block can be, but for $3 you can sit on the lawn outside the right-field fence--the perfect location if you want to sneak away for an emergency nine.
Wednesday: Dodgertown Golf Course, Dodger Pines Country Club and Dodgers baseball (Vero Beach). Just outside the left-field stadium wall is the tame nine-hole Dodgertown Golf Club (the opener is a 452-yard par 5). Base-stealing great Maury Wills, now a coach for the Dodgers, learned golf here, because it was the only place black golfers could play in Vero Beach in the 1950s.
Wills plays across the street now at the heftier Dodger Pines--there's a 670-yard par 6--an old-style Florida parkland golf course with parallel fairways and flat greens that former Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley helped design. Dodgertown and Holman Stadium are spring training circa 1955. Even the names of the thoroughfares--Jackie Robinson Boulevard, Duke Snider Street--bring back memories.
GRAPEFRUIT LEAGUE COURSES
1. (NR) Abacoa G.C., Jupiter 561-622-0036
www.abacoagolfclub.com
2. ..1 1/4 2 Dodger Pines C.C., Vero Beach 561-569-4400
3. (NR) Dodgertown G. Cse., Vero Beach 561-569-4800
4. ... Dunedin C.C., Dunedin 727-733-7836
5. .... Eastwood G. Cse., Fort Myers 941-275-4848
6. (NR) Lake Jovita G. & C.C., Dade City 877-481-2652
www.lakejovita.com
7. (NR) Mystic Dunes G.C., Kissimmee 866-311-1234
www.mysticdunesgolf.com
8. Orange County Natl. G. Ctr. 888-727-3672
....11/42 Panther Lake, ....11/42 Crooked Cat
Winter Garden www.ocngolf.com
9. ....11/42 Osprey Ridge G. Cse.,
Lake Buena Vista www.golf.disneyworld.com
407-939-4653
10. PGA G.C., Port St. Lucie 800-800-4653
....11/42 Fazio North, ....11/42 Fazio South
(NR) Pete Dye Course) www.pgavillage.com
11. .... The River C., Bradenton 941-751-4211
12. .... Southern Dunes G. & C.C. 800-632-6400
Haines City www.southerndunes.com
In the five-star Places to Play rankings, one star represents
"basic golf"; five stars indicate "golf at its absolute best."
Thursday: Osprey Ridge Golf Club (Lake Buena Vista), Orange County National Golf Center (Winter Garden) and Braves baseball (Kissimmee). The Tom Fazio-designed Osprey Ridge is far enough from the Magic Kingdom that you won't hear "It's a Small World" on your backswing, and it doubles as a wildlife sanctuary (no, the alligators, ospreys and deer are not animatronic). Orange County National's Crooked Cat or Panther Lake 18s provide a more affordable option (green fees are about $50 cheaper than Osprey Ridge). Both were built on farmland that has more elevation than you might expect. There's also a great practice area and a nine-hole short course called "The Tooth."
Disney spent $100 million on its Wide World of Sports complex, including the 7,500-seat, movie-set stadium.
Friday: Southern Dunes Golf & Country Club (Haines City), Mystic Dunes Golf Club (Kissimmee), Tigers baseball (Lakeland) and Indians baseball (Winter Haven). Southern Dunes was one of Florida's best-kept secrets, but now the Steve Smyers design is just one of Florida's best courses (Scottish links look, expansive waste areas, and 100 feet in elevation change). Mystic Dunes (designed by Gary Koch) is a hybrid of links and Carolina low-country golf with its Alister Mackenzie-inspired (as in four-putt) greens. The Tigers' Joker Marchant will be expanded to 9,000 seats after a $4.5 million renovation project is completed by 2003. Nice touch at the Indians' Chain of Lakes Park: Ballpark Mustard (the only other place that has it is Jacobs Field in Cleveland).
Saturday: Lake Jovita Golf & Country Club (Dade City), Dunedin Country Club, Blue Jays baseball (Dunedin) and Yankees baseball (Tampa). The first course at Lake Jovita looks like backwoods North Carolina, playing around and through tall pines and freshwater lakes. The 75-year-old Dunedin Country Club has Donald Ross' signature bowl-shaped greens, some too small to hit with a smart bomb.
Sunday: The River Club (Bradenton), Eastwood Golf Course (Fort Myers), Pirates baseball (Bradenton) and Red Sox baseball (Fort Myers). The River Club, a Ron Garl design, is a value at $66, not counting all the balls you might lose on the 14 holes where water comes into play.
When the legendary slugger boarded the "Orange Blossom Special" train headed for the New York Yankees' spring camp in St. Petersburg, Fla., he had a baseball bat in one hand and a golf club in the other.
Not a bad way to spend a month.
Baseball fans consider a trek to spring training a pilgrimage, but throw in the great Florida golf in these locales and you've got the perfect double-play combination. (Provided, of course, that baseball has no work stoppage, lockout or whatever the overpaid millionaires on both sides of the controversy are calling their latest labor debacle.)
Not surprisingly, baseball players and fans today follow in the Bambino's spikemarks. Atlanta Braves pitchers Greg Maddux and John Smoltz boast of playing 45 holes on a Florida golf course after a morning workout at their camp in Kissimmee, Fla. "I encourage it," says manager Bobby Cox. "It's a great way of getting their mind off of problems. It would bother me if they didn't play golf."
If only all bosses could be so visionary.
Make no mistake: Despite all the fun, spring training is big business. Each year from mid-February to the end of March, almost three million fans flock to see games in Florida and Arizona, pumping an estimated $700 million into the local economies. Our thumbnail guide, including maps, course information and baseball box-office phone numbers, will take you through a week of quality florida golf and baseball on either side of the country.
FLORIDA: The Grapefruit League
Aside from threats of "contraction"--eliminating two baseball franchises--20 teams practice in the Sunshine State. Three regions--central Florida (Lakeland to Orlando), west coast (Dunedin to Fort Myers) and east coast (Melbourne to Fort Lauderdale)--allow you to put together your preseason sampler. Here's just one example:
Monday: Abacoa Golf Club (Jupiter) and Cardinals baseball (Jupiter). Less than a half mile from the ballpark, Joe Lee-designed Abacoa is vintage Florida golf, with palm trees and water hazards aplenty, along with oversize, undulating greens. The Cardinals' Roger Dean Stadium is new and nice. Afterward, you can check out Town Center's restaurants and shops.
Tuesday: PGA Golf Club and Mets baseball (Port St. Lucie). The golf course is less than two miles from the Mets' complex, which is just off Interstate 95. There are 36 holes designed by Tom Fazio and 18 by Pete Dye (Fazio's South Course is ranked 21st in Florida by Golf Digest), and there's one of the best practice areas you'll ever see. Thomas J. White Stadium is only as cozy as a concrete block can be, but for $3 you can sit on the lawn outside the right-field fence--the perfect location if you want to sneak away for an emergency nine.
Wednesday: Dodgertown Golf Course, Dodger Pines Country Club and Dodgers baseball (Vero Beach). Just outside the left-field stadium wall is the tame nine-hole Dodgertown Golf Club (the opener is a 452-yard par 5). Base-stealing great Maury Wills, now a coach for the Dodgers, learned golf here, because it was the only place black golfers could play in Vero Beach in the 1950s.
Wills plays across the street now at the heftier Dodger Pines--there's a 670-yard par 6--an old-style Florida parkland golf course with parallel fairways and flat greens that former Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley helped design. Dodgertown and Holman Stadium are spring training circa 1955. Even the names of the thoroughfares--Jackie Robinson Boulevard, Duke Snider Street--bring back memories.
GRAPEFRUIT LEAGUE COURSES
1. (NR) Abacoa G.C., Jupiter 561-622-0036
www.abacoagolfclub.com
2. ..1 1/4 2 Dodger Pines C.C., Vero Beach 561-569-4400
3. (NR) Dodgertown G. Cse., Vero Beach 561-569-4800
4. ... Dunedin C.C., Dunedin 727-733-7836
5. .... Eastwood G. Cse., Fort Myers 941-275-4848
6. (NR) Lake Jovita G. & C.C., Dade City 877-481-2652
www.lakejovita.com
7. (NR) Mystic Dunes G.C., Kissimmee 866-311-1234
www.mysticdunesgolf.com
8. Orange County Natl. G. Ctr. 888-727-3672
....11/42 Panther Lake, ....11/42 Crooked Cat
Winter Garden www.ocngolf.com
9. ....11/42 Osprey Ridge G. Cse.,
Lake Buena Vista www.golf.disneyworld.com
407-939-4653
10. PGA G.C., Port St. Lucie 800-800-4653
....11/42 Fazio North, ....11/42 Fazio South
(NR) Pete Dye Course) www.pgavillage.com
11. .... The River C., Bradenton 941-751-4211
12. .... Southern Dunes G. & C.C. 800-632-6400
Haines City www.southerndunes.com
In the five-star Places to Play rankings, one star represents
"basic golf"; five stars indicate "golf at its absolute best."
Thursday: Osprey Ridge Golf Club (Lake Buena Vista), Orange County National Golf Center (Winter Garden) and Braves baseball (Kissimmee). The Tom Fazio-designed Osprey Ridge is far enough from the Magic Kingdom that you won't hear "It's a Small World" on your backswing, and it doubles as a wildlife sanctuary (no, the alligators, ospreys and deer are not animatronic). Orange County National's Crooked Cat or Panther Lake 18s provide a more affordable option (green fees are about $50 cheaper than Osprey Ridge). Both were built on farmland that has more elevation than you might expect. There's also a great practice area and a nine-hole short course called "The Tooth."
Disney spent $100 million on its Wide World of Sports complex, including the 7,500-seat, movie-set stadium.
Friday: Southern Dunes Golf & Country Club (Haines City), Mystic Dunes Golf Club (Kissimmee), Tigers baseball (Lakeland) and Indians baseball (Winter Haven). Southern Dunes was one of Florida's best-kept secrets, but now the Steve Smyers design is just one of Florida's best courses (Scottish links look, expansive waste areas, and 100 feet in elevation change). Mystic Dunes (designed by Gary Koch) is a hybrid of links and Carolina low-country golf with its Alister Mackenzie-inspired (as in four-putt) greens. The Tigers' Joker Marchant will be expanded to 9,000 seats after a $4.5 million renovation project is completed by 2003. Nice touch at the Indians' Chain of Lakes Park: Ballpark Mustard (the only other place that has it is Jacobs Field in Cleveland).
Saturday: Lake Jovita Golf & Country Club (Dade City), Dunedin Country Club, Blue Jays baseball (Dunedin) and Yankees baseball (Tampa). The first course at Lake Jovita looks like backwoods North Carolina, playing around and through tall pines and freshwater lakes. The 75-year-old Dunedin Country Club has Donald Ross' signature bowl-shaped greens, some too small to hit with a smart bomb.
Sunday: The River Club (Bradenton), Eastwood Golf Course (Fort Myers), Pirates baseball (Bradenton) and Red Sox baseball (Fort Myers). The River Club, a Ron Garl design, is a value at $66, not counting all the balls you might lose on the 14 holes where water comes into play.
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