Siesta Key
I need to give a special shout-out to Siesta Key, possibly the finest beach in all of North America! It’s located just across the inland waterway so reachable in 10 minutes from downtown Sarasota.
I spent three winters in Sarasota and was actually thinking of moving there. My buddy, Roberto Borgatti, golf teacher and opera singer extraordinaire was based here for the winter and now lives full-time.
Friends went off to explore the Galapagos and all points of South America and they left me their apartment on Siesta Key, one of the best beaches in the USA. At the same time, a girlfriend decided to go to India on a prolonged meditation retreat and left me her VW Golf! I was all set!
SUGAR SANDS
I stepped onto the sugar-white sands of Siesta Key and seriously, I’d arrived. Surely this was all I could have wished for.
Siesta Key was our first base, an enchanting islet just a couple of miles from the city of Sarasota and about an hour from Tampa Airport. It offers everything you need for a recuperative retreat, a fantastic beach, fun atmosphere, bohemian bars and a pot-full of inviting restaurants. There isn’t a golf course on-island but in the Sunshine State you’re never more than a few minutes away from one.
Fast Fact
Sarasota was home to Florida's first golf course and one of America's earliest. Sir John Hamilton Gillespie, a Scottish colonist, built a nine-hole course here in 1905.
The Sarasota/Bradenton area offers around 30 public courses, 17 private and 7 semi-private. From downtown University Park is one of the handiest. Bunkers and bungalows go hand-in-hand on many Florida courses and University Park is no exception though the swanky residences here are fairly low profile. Course-wise there are three loops of 9, each a series of challenging, well thought out holes to keep up the concentration.
Northwest of Sarasota, the Legacy Golf Course is undoubtedly one of the best in the area. This semi-private, daily-fee course designed by Arnold Palmer was voted the best in Southwest Florida and in the high season (Jan-Apr) you can expect to pay $119.00 for a round - but it goes much lower in the warmer months. From the old ranch style clubhouse to the forested wetlands that come into play, this is a natural, enigmatic beauty. The 11th and 12th are outstanding holes incorporating wide carries over the lakes.
Waterlefe
Waterlefe Golf & River Club near Bradenton is equally exciting. The course incorporates the Manatee River and is very challenging, especially if wide water-carries rattle you. There are a string of superb holes especially down by the river; the 17th looks over the bay peninsula providing a stunning setting and a sterling challenge.
