 World Woods Golf Club - Rolling Oaks - >> click here for more info Rolling Oaks which draws comparisons to Augusta is a traditional course with rolling hills and aesthetic beauty rarely seen in Florida. Fairways lined with live oaks, dogwoods and magnolias complement the large greens, which feature multiple tiers and cavernous bunkers. Rated #73 in the US Top 100 by Golf Digest and in the top 10 Florida courses by Golfweek 1997.
World Woods Golf Club's Pine Barrens course has been chosen as Florida golfers' favorite. But no honor can reflect all the distinctive characteristics of this 36-hole complex in rural Hernando County, 42 miles north of Tampa. It is uniqueness, as well as quality, that makes up the mystique. For instance: Stand on any tee on Pine Barrens and in front of you will be one-third to one-half sand, with the rest being rich green fairway. But all that sand is designated waste area. You can ground your club anywhere! Adjacent to Pine Barrens, with parallel first fairways, its exact opposite -- Rolling Oaks, a classic parkland course with wall-to-wall greenery. It was ranked 18th in the state, and was given a higher place than Pine Barrens on many ballots. Both are hilly; everything else is different. They may be the two most distinctly different style great courses ever built side by side? World Woods was built and has operated without big-course promotion, almost in secret. Its votes were not the result of television. They came from people who had been there. Both Pine Barrens and Rolling Oaks are playable. Their stature comes from quality, not forbidding toughness. There's a safe route to every hole for every type player. Tom Fazio was the architect for both. Many outstanding courses bear Fazio's name, but putting these two side by side could be his greatest achievement. Finally, nothing is more ususual about World Woods than the ownership. It's Japanese owned, but far different from the many Florida courses with foreign investors who lack golf experience, and think profits come automatically. World Woods' builder and owner is Yuki Hisa Inoue, a knowledgeable and experienced golf course operator, who is in for the long term. He is owner of three courses in Japan, and now three facilities in Florida. He bought Sugarmill Woods, then built World Woods and Southern Dunes, a nearby development course. He knew that the places he chose were not, at the time, in a high traffic location. He built World Woods with a vision of the future. The World Woods courses were built in 1993 and opened in April 1994. They have been maintained in pristine condition ever since, with the understanding of both ownership and staff that the best days were still years away. "It's a little like "Field of Dreams," said head pro Scott Wycoff. "Build it and they will come." Wycoff, from New London, Ohio, has been at World Woods since 1995, coming there to join his former New London friend, and Ohio State University golf teammate, Stan Cooke. Cooke is vice-president and golf director for Southern Woods and Sugarmill Woods as well as World Woods. He was at Sugarmill Woods when Inoue bought it seven years ago, and is familiar with the owner's vision and long-term plans. World Woods has 525 acres, with space -- and plans -- for a third course and a major destination hotel. The timetable, according to Cooke, is based on Veterans Highway, a toll road from Tampa Airport which now ends in northern Hillsborough County, with an extension under construction. By the fall of 2001, it is scheduled to reach World Woods, with an exit on U.S. 98, a half-mile from the front entrance. "It will reduce the driving time between here and Tampa Airport from an hour and a half to approximately 40 minutes," said Cooke. "It opens up this area. That's what we're basing our plans around. "When Mr. Inoue envisioned World Woods, he wanted to be in a position to afford property with no homes on it, so that everything would be natural, and still have access to an international airport with minimal drive. That's why he choose the location, and why he started when he did. "He says the Japanese mentality is to look at things in a lot longer term than the American mentality. We might be looking a year in advance; the norm for the Japanese might be 10 and 20 years in advance. "My question to him was why so big so soon, and that was his reply. "To determine the architect, he looked for golf courses that he liked and enjoyed and those he didn't, and he came up with Tom Fazio. He told Tom he wanted the two finest golf courses possible, but each in a different style, and the finest practice facility in the world. "We'll have destination golf, meaning come to the location, turn over your car keys, and you're here for three days or a week of golf. And I want to emphasize golf rather than spa, horseback riding and other things. "Plans are for one additional golf course to complement the two that we already have. Time will be based on supply and demand. Tentative name for the third course is "the Lakes" so you can deduct from that the theme of the course. Following the name, the third course will be a creative job much like the other two. The only existing body of water on the property is a tiny one by the front entrance. An appropriate clubhouse, overlooking the first tee of the Pine Barrens will come at the same time as the hotel and third course. The development at Southern Woods, a couple miles to the north, is promoted at World Woods. Southern Woods has 250 homesites, all on the golf course, which was designed by Hale Irwin, and opened in 1992. It has an inventory of approximately 200 lots available. "We're early into it," says Cooke, wearing his Southern Woods GM hat. Like World Woods, the course came first, the promotion much later. As for World Woods marketing, Cooke ways "We're now getting people from Jacksonville, Gainesville, Tampa, Orlando, and St. Petersburg. Those are our bread and butter market. They're two-and-a-half hours or less away, and people from there come frequently. One thing that helps: drainage is good. The courses have been closed only one day by rain since they opened. Some other notes: Some courses with large waste areas route carts through them; World Woods does not. "Waste areas are the highest maintenance area," explains Cooke. It takes a lot of work to keep the jagged edge look." . . .World Woods has 50 people on the maintenance staff. Restrooms, good ones, every three or four holes. . . .The clubhouse is small, but has a good restaurnat/snack bar, a full pro shop, and a wall of plaques for various honors received by the course. What doesn't World Woods have? It doesn't have a GPS yardage system, It doesn't have hole routing signs on tees. And it doesn't have a set of tees short enough for women to reach greens in regulation. The first two may be in deference to nature. But another tee is needed; 5300-plus on courses of these types are too much for most women. Plenty of good places are available to locate a set of tees totaling somewhere between 4700 and 4900 yards. These courses are so good, it's a shame for anybody to have a reason not to play them. COURSESPine Barrens: Par 36-35--71. Four tee positions, yardage. 6902-6458-6032-5301 OTHER FACILITIES |
