America’s Best Golf Resort: Innisbrook a Salamander Resort near Tampa, FL!

CLICK HERE for Andy’s PLAY-by-PLAY social media of his golf trip to the Innisbrook Resort!

Copperhead+-+Logo+Golf+Ball_1274b7d4-9676-44a4-9a45-acc672a7e02e-prvThere is nothing better than a golf vacation at Innisbrook!

Innisbrook is one of five Salamander Resorts along with Hammock Beach (Palm Coast, FL); The Henderson (Destin, FL); Reunion (Orlando, FL); and Salamander (Middleburg, VA).

Why Innisbrook?

Because it whets your appetite and brings you along wanting more at each turn until you are more than fully satisfied, you are astonished at the good time you experienced with family and friends.

Plus I just experienced a great golfing weekend at Innisbrook!

Whether you are driving in or flying in it all starts with the drive coming up US 19 North from the Clearwater/Tampa area. Florida is flat, right? Not! There is a big dip in US 19 that marks your entry into the beautiful rolling hills of the Innisbrook Resort. Perfect topography for golf courses and for a perfect play-land of nearly 1,000 acres including 70 acres of lakes! The appetizer entry is quick, only 20 miles from Tampa International Airport. On to the main course (actually 4 golf courses) of a resort that has renewed itself in terms of the physical structures yet gone further in terms of its unique spirit, service, and spectacular delight of its guests!

It’s all about the golf, cuisine, and lodging for me. But there is more for non-golfers and families for sure.

No better place for a group golf or spa weekend than at Innisbrook!

No better place for a group golf or spa weekend than at Innisbrook!

The Salamander Spa is all about transformation of mind, body, and soul to our optimal well-being. The art of healing is manifested through various treatment and services. So numerous that I counted them and there are over sixty! For women and men! From the Exotic Frangipani Monoi Salt Glow to the Thai Floor Massage to the mother-to-be Mellow Mama Maternity Massage; the Salamander Spa has them all and they are delivered by the most experienced therapists available in the business!

Besides the four golf courses and eleven har-Tru tennis courts, six heated pools including the Lochness Monster pool, there are numerous seasonal and holiday activities for the kids and families. The Activity Guide I saw was 17 pages long but I did not count the number of activities. I will let you do that as my schedule was full with playing all four golf courses on a Golf Travel Writers Association weekend visit after the PGA Show!

Let’s get onto my favorites—the golf, the cuisine, and the lodging!

Packer 100th Cake 2

Mr. Packer’s 100th birthday cake complete with a replica of his double dogleg par-5 14th hole!

Innisbrook has the perfect and scenic topography for golf courses! Lawrence Packard, the legendary golf course architect who lived to be 101 years old designed all four of the golf courses at Innisbrook— Island, Osprey North, & South (all three in 1970) and Copperhead in 1974. Not only did he do a great job with the overall resort design of the golf courses and lodge clusters, he also invented the double-dogleg par-5. This player loving and challenging golf hole is exemplified by the 14th hole at Innisbrook. Larry’s personal favorite was the par-5 14th at Innisbrook Copperhead. After a somewhat blind tee shot, the golfer plays around the bend with a lake on the right, and then changes direction again to take aim at a green perched up on the hill. Like that drive up US 19 who knows what next to expect while playing this hole? Packard so loved Innisbrook that when he retired in 1986 he moved there to enjoy the atmosphere and his legacy designs!

I will likely be snake bitten next time but for now I am treasuring my back nine 36!

I will likely be snake bitten next time but for now I am treasuring my back nine 36!

My GTWA buddies and I played where the PGA TOUR pros play in the Valspar Championship—the famed Copperhead Course—upon arrival on Saturday! At 7,209 yards from the tips why not start with the hardest course and tee it up from the whites (6,243 yards, Rating 71.1, Slope 137)! Hey 137 slope is no easy walk in the park and I proved that by shooting a 49 on the first nine. The only highlight being a regulation par on the 140-yard par-3 4th hole with a two-putt from thirty feet!

Not sure what happened at the turn but I had my way with the second nine shooting a one-over par 36 with a birdie on the 11th (9-iron to 10-feet) and two bogeys early and then a finish of five straight pars! Snake Pit (Holes 16, 17, & 18)? Not today my Copperhead friend! How many pros improve by twelve strokes in nine holes?

Always an awesome experience to stay right on the golf course!

Always an awesome experience to stay right on the golf course!

After the round it was time to check-in and find my bed for the next two nights. Wow, like the Copperhead Golf Course, nothing but the best here! Our two-bedroom suite in the low-rise lodge had been completely remodeled as will all the guest accommodations at Innisbrook be by the end of the year. All new furniture, furnishings, flooring, stainless-steel appliances, quartz counters, cabinets, lighting, draperies and other decor. With a full kitchen and separate entrance for the master bedroom there is a lot of flexibility with the accommodations at Innisbrook! Another one of those unexpected yet beyond satisfaction turns at Innisbrook!

To say we had a great time is a bit of an understatement!

To say we had a great time is a bit of an understatement!

After getting cleaned up it was off to experience the last leg of my Top Trifecta of Travel Golf—golf course; lodging; and NOW dining cuisine! The Innisbrook team including Managing Director J. Michael Williams, Director of Instruction Dawn Mercer, and PR Specialist Ramona Herald hosted us in the Market Salamander Grille. With great food and live music by the Backstreet Band featuring Kerry Olivia and Peter Vann in the adjacent Osprey Bar, it was an exceptional evening of camaraderie, entertainment, and satiation of hunger!

Other resort dining includes Packard’s Steakhouse where a Signature Packard’s Salad enhances any entrée; the Turnberry Pub for a friendly, casual family meal; plus several other convenient, recreational-based places to eat.

Momma Osprey protecting the nest and her young ones!

Momma Osprey protecting the nest and her young ones!

We played 36 holes on Saturday taking on the Osprey North Course, a.k.a. Baby Copperhead, in the morning and the Osprey South Course in the afternoon. There is a strikingly beautiful picture of an Osprey behind the check-in desk at Osprey Clubhouse. Early in the round we saw an Osprey nest up high in a pine tree behind the second green. The Momma Osprey came out and did a few laps around the green for us! What a way to start the day off! A lackluster 45 on the first nine but then driver—3-wood to 4 feet and an Eagle-3 on the 10th hole. I mean an Osprey-3 as Eagles are Ospreys at Innisbrook! Two doubles and two bogeys to finish but hey I did post an Osprey 39!

Sparring with my buddy Tom! Must have been after we both made birdie! Always a good match with Tom!

Sparring with my buddy Tom! Must have been after we both made birdie! Always a good match with Tom!

The afternoon round on the Osprey South, a links-style design, was just as much fun but without the excitement of another Osprey-3! The South is scheduled to have its greens upgraded to TifEagle Bermuda Grass before the end of the year to match the other three courses at Innisbrook. While Innisbrook is known worldwide for the Copperhead Course, Larry Packard was consistent in the shot-value quality of design so all four courses are challenging, engaging and rewarding. If you play a good shot you will be rewarded!

Come Monday morning I finished up The Innisbrook weekend with a round on the Island Course with my GTWA buddies Tommy & Jamie! What a picturesque, challenging & fun golf course to play. With a couple more birdies on my scorecard I was definitely smitten with Innisbrook—the golf, the accommodations and the dining cuisine! I was taken by the charming nature of Innisbrook. My only regret is that there was not a fifth golf course, or even sixth, and that it is time to go home!