Plantation on Crystal River, Crystal River, FL

The Crystal River area in Florida has been a vacation lover’s paradise for many years, and for a variety of reasons. Water lovers have their pick: scalloping, scuba diving, fishing kayaking, or taking a refreshing swim with the oh-so-adorable manatees. Outdoor enthusiasts can choose from activities such as hiking, biking, birding, and horseback riding. If you prefer to stay indoors, there are several art galleries, museums, as well as the performing Arts Center of Citrus County. So much to do.

A popular outdoor sport that seems to be underrated in this part of the state is golf. That’s very surprising because the area offers several private, semi-private, and daily fee facilities with distances ranging from executive length to PGA TOUR length. There is something here for all levels of golfer.

Plantation Golf Resort is the perfect family vacation spot, especially if everyone in the family has different activities in mind. Here you can do everything the Crystal River area has to offer. Plantation offers a nine-hole executive course that is usually busy along with an 18-hole championship course that has hosted the likes of PGA professional Tommy Bolt, who was a frequent visitor back in the ’60s. You don’t have to be a great golfer to have a good time out here, in fact, if you take it too seriously, you might miss out on the beauty that surrounds the course including over 50 species of birds, fish, and an occasional manatee sighting. The 11th hole is a memorable one. It’s a 546-yard par 5 that doglegs to the right around a pond and then slightly back left at the end. The pond isn’t reachable off the tee but you’ll need to contend with it and a large palm tree in the middle of the fairway just short of the pond. The layup shot is critical and you’ll have a choice to play between the palm and oak tree on the right or risk hitting it too far on the left and ending up in the pine trees. The green is slightly elevated with a pot bunker in the front middle and more sand behind and right of the green. A good drive followed by a good layup shot is still going to leave about a 100-yard pitch shot into the green. Par is a good score here.

When you’re not on the course, there are a lot of things to do and the Plantation on Crystal River can hook you up with all of them. The Plantation Adventure Center can set you up with boating, paddleboarding, scuba diving, scalloping, and fishing. Each year they host the Plantation Classic Redfish Classic. Marketing Manage Rosemary White is one of the top competitive anglers in the area and can provide you with some valuable local fishing knowledge!

While you can certainly get a good meal at any one of these courses, Crystal River has a restaurant that can’t be missed, especially if you’re a seafood lover. The Seafood Seller is owned by Jimmie Stoltz and his wife, Sue Gerzel. Jimmy hails from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and has brought a little bit of that Cajun flair to the area. Sue is from Baltimore, MD, so she knows a little something about seafood too! You can order all types of seafood, everything from Louisiana crawfish to oysters, littleneck clams, and a variety of fresh fish. I went with the steamed king crab legs with Cajun seasoning, just the right amount of spice. If it swims in the water and you can eat it, the Seafood Seller has it. They also have a full liquor bar with several local and imported beers on tap.

This is just a small snippet of some of the golf available in the Crystal River area. For a more comprehensive list of the golf courses in the area, visit their website

Course was pretty dry and greens were quite bare