Grand Haven
The Palm Coast Resort is a 700-acre resort located in the town of
Palm Coast
some 40 minutes drive north of Daytona Beach. The resort consists of a charming 154-room
Harborside Inn on the Intracoastal Waterway, an adjacent marina, a tennis complex and five
public-access golf courses all within a few minutes drive of one another.
The courses include
Cypress Knoll,
a Gary Player signature course of about 6,600 yards that features very narrow fairways and
Pine Lakes,
a 7,074-yard (from the tips) Palmer/Seay design that is fairly wide open and features some excellent
risk/reward par 5's. There are also
Palm Harbor,
a pleasant William Amick design, and
Matanzas Woods,
another Palmer/Seay creation that has a fine wooded back nine. Unfortunately for the course and the area,
the forest fires of June 1998 wiped out the wooded ambience of the front 9, depriving it of the character
and challenge which had made it one of the best courses in the area. Nevertheless, the course is
superior and one that should be included on your "B" list.
The best of the resort's courses is
Grand Haven.
Opened in the fall of 1998, this signature Nicklaus design runs along the waterway through magnificent
stands of pines, cypress and palms. Featuring higher elevations than a typical
Florida course,
Grand Haven is the most attractive and enjoyable Nicklaus course I have played. With its generous
landing areas and large, moderately sloping greens that feature open fronts, Grand Haven does not
require the brutal accuracy of many of his other designs. As he noted at the grand opening,
"Grand Haven wanted a good course, not a back-breaking course." This is not to say Grand Haven
is a cinch. There are plenty of pines, bunkers, water and natural areas planted with pampas and
other tall grasses to snare recalcitrant shots.
Grand Haven
On an outstanding front 9, No. 3 stands out as a masterful par 4. From the back on this sharp right-hand
dogleg of 436 yards, you drive over a marsh to a wide fairway from where you have a medium to long
iron to an elevated green. If your tee shot is too far left, you must negotiate another marsh to get home.
A medium-length par 4 of 375 yards, No. 7 is another beauty that starts with a tee shot from thick
woods over a marsh to a wide, uphill fairway flanked by large bunkers. The green is well bunkered on
this hole that is beautifully framed by woods on both sides. The down-hill 155-yard 8th is arguably the
weakest link in this otherwise strong chain, if for no other reason than it is Nicklaus' concession to
the pressures of gimmickry. Since island greens sell these days, the Golden Bear put one in on
this hole. It is perhaps a minor flaw in an otherwise, thoughtful layout whose back 9 features a wooded par
3 with a waterway view, two long, back-to-back par 4's and a delightful finishing hole, a slight dogleg
left reachable par 5 requiring a high second shot to clear three oaks on the left side of the fairway 50 yards out.
Expertly superintended and serviced with a smile, Grand Haven is a semi-private club that will one
day go completely private. In the meantime, resort guests and the general public will continue to
have access to one of the best courses in the area. That is, until Ocean Hammock is completed
some time in 2000.
Ocean Hammock is
another Nicklaus signature design that is located just north of the private club of Hammock Dunes (A Fazio).
Featuring six ocean front holes, it is being laid out on a site that Nicklaus has called one of the best he
has ever worked with. 
Daytona Golf
