About an hour and a quarter's drive south of
Amelia Island
just off I-95 at Exit 95A in
St. Augustine
is the World Golf Village. The village
comprises golf's Hall of Fame, the PGA Tour Academy and a humongous commercial
and real estate enterprise all covering some 7,000 acres.
The village's two golf courses are the
Slammer & Squire,
opened in 1999 and designed by Bobby Weed with Sam Snead as consultant, and the
King & Bear,
the first Nicklaus-Palmer collaboration opened in early 2001. Both courses are laid out on essentially
flat land marked by typical Florida foliage,
marshland and scrub pines and live oaks. The
clubhouse to the Slammer & Squire is inside the main entrance of the village. Both courses are
maintained to impeccable standards. Green fees for the Slammer are about $50 less than the King
& Bear whose fee is almost $200.
The King & Bear features five sets of tee markers stretching from 5,119 - 7,279 yards.
The par 72 layout has a 71.6 rating from the blues (6,506 yards) and a slope of 135. From the
blacks (6,855): 73.7/139; from the stones: 75.2/141. From the blacks, the course was not
particularly difficult, but I played on a windless day.
The front side was laid out on open meadow. The dredging of lakes on five of the holes allowed
the designers to create mounds and slight elevations on several holes. The greens are immense,
reflective of the Palmer contribution. The two par 5s curve around lakes and are both reachable
with two precise second shots that manage to avoid deftly located fairway bunkers. The two best
holes on the front are arguably the 437-yard 8th, a slight dogleg right with a pronounced fairway
tilt to the left, and the 430-yard 9th, with a fairway bordered left by a high bank and right by yet another lake.
The back side is tighter and features canopies of 200-year-old live oaks and loblolly pines. Less
artificial, it is the better of the two nines. The signature hole is the 349-yard 12th that curves right
around water to a large green on a tiny peninsula. The green is reinforced by a coquina rock wall.
Water comes into play on 16 of the holes on the King & Bear, a course that I grade a B+.
The land offered no special features and Nicklaus and Palmer are to be commended for designing a
good course given its limitations. After a year on the Slammer & Squire, the King & Bear
hosts the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf, which has changed from a team format to a standard individual
4-day medal play tournament. The tournament is held in April.
For tee times at the King & Bear, call 904-940-6088. 
Amelia Island Golf
