The Golf Newspaper of America’s Premier Golf State
Vo. 5 No. 12 December 2000
Raven, Dye best of great new crop
Best new course of 2000?
Florida Golf News has declared it a tie, with the winners being (in alphabetical order):
- The Dye Course at PGA Golf Club, Part St. Lucie.
The Raven Course at Sandestin Resort, Destin
Both are outstanding layouts existing outstanding locations. The Dye course is the third at PFA Golf Club. The Raven is Sandestin’s fourth.
Both were playable long before opening, and were in prime condition at grand opening ceremonies. Both are at resorts, but are open for public green fee play.
The Raven is a classic big, beautiful, and traditional course, with good shot values throughout. Designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr., it is positioned as the logical venue for any serious tournaments Sandestin hosts.
A parallel in quality, but diametrically opposite in design, is the Dye course. It’s Pete Dye at his innovative and most daring best, building a course that is close to home, and is going t bear his name.
The course has dunes, waste areas, beautiful color contrasts, and some Dye-devilish greens. It does not have two of today’s conventional golf course basics: rough and cart paths.
Fairways are wide, but if your ball is beyond them, it’s gone. There is no playable rough. There are no cart paths, but acres of coquina which come up to the edge of tees and facilitate driving a cart most anywhere. The result addresses one of the day’s major issues - faster play.
The tie resulted when a Florida Golf New panel was assigned to pick the best course which was completed before the beginning of this year’s Florida Favorites voting (July 1), but not soon enough to have had a full year’s exposure.
The year 2000 produced a banner crop of new courses, which made selection difficult. May courses were considered including: Diamond Players Club, the Diplomat, Doral Great White, Lake Jovita, Lexington Oaks, Mizener CC, the Majors, Naples Lakes, South Hampton, Stonegate and Trump International.
The Raven Golf Club at Sandestin
9300 Hwy 98 W – Destin, FL 32550
Advanced Tee Times: 850-267-8211
www.ravengolf.com