Roll Call: Tampa Golfers

i belonged there for about 10 months before dropping my membership in november. couple comments as to why i dropped for what its worth:

  1. its decently far from downtown. every bit of 30 mins (15 miles) and on weekdays trying to get out there after work… forget about it
  2. every hole is lined with houses which i really don’t like. welcome to florida, i know… but seeing tired old houses on every shot takes away from the round in my opinion. also, with houses comes OB
  3. i’m 28 and joined because of a suggestion i had from my caddie at streamsong. it’s a pretty old membership, i would play in the sat and sun morning games and struggle to get paired with anyone under 55. also- i would never call someone out for sandbagging and i’m of the opinion that everyone is their own referee… but there were guys in that game playing off 6 index that were shooting 68 gross. you do the math

having said all that though, the price is definitely right. no initiation and the monthly dues/minimum are crazy low. every time i went out, i could pretty much get on the course without a tee time and for the most part, they keep it in decent shape. not sure i would agree with it being on a rung below old mo or avila but for the price, you get more than what you pay for. the owner is a great guy and very approachable. i introduced myself to him once in the bar and a week later, we has making calls on my behalf to get me out on muirfield village up in columbus (and was successful- unaccompanied rate but still. went totally out of his way for some little shit he met the day before)

happy to answer any more questions you might have about the place

Hey y’all. I’m an Ohioan, sorry to intrude. I’ll be in the Tampa area this weekend though, and I’m looking for good places to play on Saturday or Sunday. I’m a college player and an architecture nerd, so looking for a good challenge and something that will interest my eye. If there’s any chance of getting on Old Memorial or Innisbrook I’d be stoked. Please help!

So, I would check out the action at the RACDG thread for a spirited debate of what happens when you get on Old Memorial. That one is a no-go unless you have a host.

It’s prime season at Innisbrook right now, so they will likely require you to be a resort guest to get on. That’s always been my experience. I know you can get on with a call from a pro, but don’t know if they have blackout dates.

I’m like a broken record on these types of threads, but I can’t reccomend Streamsong enough. It’s about 75 minutes from downtown Tampa. I greatly prefer any of the Streamsong courses to OM or Innisbrook but YMMV.

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Hey people - I’m coming down to Tampa from Seattle for business next week and was looking to see if anyone wanted to play Monday 2/18. I may have 2 others but still sorting out details.

I know it’s pretty short notice but I’m flexible on anywhere within a short distance.

DM me if you’d be down to play.

Spent quite a while at Rogers Park yesterday practicing. The range tee is in adequate shape. One thing I’d never done is use their 3-hole short course as a practice area. It seems that as long as there aren’t First Tee kids playing they’re perfectly ok with you posting up at one of the holes and chipping and pitching as much as you want. Will definitely use it again. Better than their actual chipping range which has a tiny, elevated green.

Southern Hills in Brooksville is currently running a promotion through May 31st where if you do a home tour you get a round of golf for two and lunch in the clubhouse. Took advantage this weekend and they were very laid back regarding the home tour. “You guys are just here for the golf right? Don’t worry about the home tour. Here’s the voucher.”

It’s a solid hour from Tampa but well worth the drive to play one of the best public tracks in the region for free. The course was in good shape for May and played firm and fast with the greens following that trend. It’s on an incredible piece of property with all kinds of elevation changes.

My Tampa region course rankings based on the ones I’ve played:

  1. Streamsong
  2. Southern Hills - Only knock is that it’s a housing development but the houses are set well back from the course.
  3. World Woods - Great terrain and layout but just isn’t quite as memorable as Southern Hills. Can’t really remember which 18 is which.
  4. Old Memorial
  5. Innisbrook Copperhead - Just too many hints of bad golf course architecture.
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A little late to the thread, but I moved down here to the Tampa area this past fall. Slowly making my rounds to area courses. I have played Streamsong Red, Pine Barrens, Eaglebrooke, Cypress Creek, Renaissance Club, Summerfield crossing and heritage isle. Where else is a decent track that’s not lined with houses 15 feet off the edge of the fairway?

Hi all,
I will be moving to Tampa/St. Pete in the next 12-18 months. I was wondering where you would recommend moving to in that area. I’ll be 30, girlfriend (hopefully fiancee soon) will be 26 and we will likely have kids in the next 5 years.
I don’t really know anything about Tampa other than I like the climate, I’ve enjoyed the nightlife, love the airport and it’s close to the water.
Ideally someday we can get on the inter-coastal with a boat but it looks like that’s a minimum of $600k. Our budget would be around $400k and if there is a nice area that can be had for $300k or less even better.

We are flying down in February to visit friends and look at neighborhoods so any advice on the area of town to focus on that would be great. I travel for work so can’t be more than 45 minutes from the airport.
Thanks for reading this and thanks in advance for the advice.

cc @2down & @Twirls4TheGirls .

Can you help Tyler out?

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Just realized I never completed the below post:

MacDill (South, never played North) - it has a decent amount of trouble, but no houses. Have to call 4 business days ahead of time to get base access. Great views.

Rogers Park and Rocky Point - a lot of side-by-side, but no houses

None of these are that great of courses, but the absence of houses makes them so much more enjoyable.

Historically the most desirable areas for single-family homes in Tampa have been in South Tampa and defined by being South of Kennedy Blvd and North of Gandy Blvd. Mr. Ridley and Gary Koch live within this area.

That’s gradually changing as there’s just too much demand. The desirable area is creeping north of Kennedy and South of Gandy block by block. For single-family homes in the 300’s you’ll probably be looking on the fringes of that area. The housing stock in this area is kind of shitty so the fixer-upper’s don’t really have good bones. Is what it is. $400k in this area is probably more likely to be a townhouse.

Seminole Heights - A few miles North of downtown with a ton of good restaurants and breweries. More bungalow-type homes that make better fixer-uppers. Houses aren’t that much cheaper than South Tampa, but there are some options.

Tampa Heights - Just north of downtown and close to the recently completed Armature Works development on the riverfront. I’d probably pick this area. Closer to downtown than Seminole Heights with most of the same components. Riverwalk and Armature Works are awesome. There are some rough houses in this neighborhood, but it’s transitioning really quickly. Get an alarm system and a Ring for your front door and you’ll be fine. Decent fixer-uppers/recent renovations in this area as well.

Waterfront can be tricky in Tampa. Floodzones come wayyyyy inland in some areas and the maps are being revised to make it where the minimum build height on new construction homes are now 8-12 feet above ground-level.

P.S. - this is just for Tampa proper. I’m ignoring the suburbs and St. Pete. Depending on where you’re working St. Pete could be way better. Most of the first-ring of golf course developments absolutely suck and the second-ring aren’t much better.

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You can be my dad’s next door neighbor… it’s a little out of your budget, but it’s on a canal that leads to the bay, and my dad is a great, generous dude/would be a great neighbor. Plus we could golf when I visit twice a year.

Check out this home at Realtor.com
$475,000
3 beds · 2 baths
101 78th Ave N, Saint Petersburg
https://b1iw.app.link/Ewd7ZrMnP1

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South Tampa or near downtown St Pete.

St Pete is such a cool spot and has good access to golf, great nightlife and the beach, but it was too much of a commute into Downtown Tampa. If we weren’t tied to Tampa for work we would be in St Pete.

I’m 31 and married and live in South Tampa and I think it is the best spot for us. You should be able to buy a nice fixed up older home for 400k, but I wouldn’t count on being able to get a new build if that matters. My biggest issue with South Tampa is the lack of golf. Rocky Point (muni) near the airport is an absolute dump and ran terribly so I drive into St Pete (15-20 min) and play Mangrove Bay which is a great public course with good money games and leagues.

Because of the affordability many people will suggest the “gentrifying” Seminole Heights area (it is the hood) OR they will suggest Westchase (nice area but terrible traffic and too far from anything).

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Greetings future neighbor -

@NoLayovers and @LegolasFan69 (welcome!) have provided a ton of good intel.

I live in a northern suburb, Tampa Palms. I’m about 30 min from the airport, door-to-door. I’m married with no kids, but the schools in this area are pretty highly ranked. Note - this is a VERY different vibe from south Tampa/Seminole Heights/Tampa Heights. You won’t be close to water, but can get very nice homes less than $400K.

I would avoid Westchase and Carrollwood because of traffic (as mentioned above). If you really want to be on the water, consider Palm Harbor or Safety Harbor. You would be on the Bay side of St. Pete, but it’s much more affordable than the Tampa side.

Feel free to DM me with any questions.

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I would absolutely buy that house if it was available next fall, that’s pretty much exactly what I’m looking for. Obviously I’d want to change a lot on the inside but it looks completely livable for the time being which is what I would want in a fixer upper so I wouldn’t feel rushed in renovating. Tell them to take it off the market for me lol.

Thank you @NoLayovers @LegolasFan69 @Brick @2down for the advice!
I’m so excited to get down there as soon as possible. My job is completely remote so that gives us flexibility on where to live which will be nice. It is nice to have names of neighborhoods now that I can give to a realtor to focus on when that time comes.
Speaking of which, any real estate agent recommendations? My agent in KC is my old grade school principal and a family friend so I knew I could trust her and obviously won’t have those kind of connections in tampa/st pete.

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I live in Dunedin and I would suggest looking in the Dunedin/Palm Harbor area. Downtown Dunedin is a mini D-town St. Pete with breweries and great restaurants. Very kid friendly and not as busy as St. Pete/Tampa.

It is not a bad drive to the airport if you are going at the correct time. It is just across the Courtney Campbell. Dunedin CC is a great public track to play.

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My buddy who plays pro ball and is in Tampa a lot said Dunedin is a super cool place.

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Just booked a tee time at Streamsong Red as a solo. 12/28, 11:00am, reservation is under Shreffler.

I only have time for the one round, but would love for some Refugees to join if anyone is around!

cc: @2down

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I’m definitely interested at the moment. It just depends on when my family leaves for the holidays. It’s about a 3 hour drive for me.

I’m IN! I’ll call and add myself to the reservation.

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