COURSE REVIEWS

Ponte Vedra Inn and Club:
Still Setting the Standard

By Derek Duncan,
Senior Writer

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FL -- It’s well known that Ponte Vedra Beach is one of the premier golf destinations in the land. It seems like it always has been. But that doesn’t explain how it happened.

The truth is there’s no real reason that it should be this way. 75 years ago the area was anything but a paradise of resorts waiting to happen.

• Reader Forums • Review: Ponte Vedra Inn's Ocean Course • Review: Ponte Vedra Inn's Lagoon Course • Florida Course Guide

There was sand and surf on the coast, sure, but the heat could be stifling in the days before air conditioning and the inland territory was nearly impenetrable swampland filled with alligators, snakes, and mosquitoes.

If there’s a reason Ponte Vedra Beach has become the glamorous leisure retreat that it is, it’s probably due to the Ponte Vedra Inn & Club, founded in 1928. By the time everything else in golfdom started happening here in the early 1970’s, the Ponte Vedra Inn had been one of the country’s finest winter home and vacation spots for almost 50 years.

"It has all the potential."

Located a convenient 25 minutes southeast of Jacksonville, the Ponte Vedra Inn is no longer the only game in town, but it still sets the standard for service and amenities. It’s list of awards and industry accolades reads like a novel, and though the once solitary beach resort is now sandwiched into a panoply of colorful homes and structures along this affluent stretch of Ponte Vedra Boulevard, no amount of crowding can subtract from her undeniably luxurious presence.

The Inn features 221 rooms spread over 300 acres, 36 holes of golf at The Ocean and The Lagoon courses, a tennis facility that is ranked among the top three nationally by Tennis Magazine, a full-service spa and fitness center, and numerous other activities.

In the last five years owner Gate Petroleum Company of Jacksonville has invested enormously in an expansion and renovation project that has greatly improved accommodations and solidified the Ponte Vedra Inn’s placement in the highest category of destination resorts.

Ponte Verde Inn & Club
200 Ponte Vedra Blvd.
Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 32082
Phone: (904)285-1111
800-234-7842
www.pvresorts.com

Rates

Room rates range from $235 to $580 per night depending on season and size. Various themed packages range from $140 to $370 per night. Golf rates are $185 for the Ocean Course and $110 for the Lagoon Course (available only to guests of the Ponte Vedra Inn).

Location

The Ponte Vedra Inn & Club is located at the north end of Ponte Vedra Boulevard, 25 minutes southeast of Jacksonville. From I-95 exit Butler Blvd. east. Go 13 miles to Highway A1A and turn left. Go ½ mile to Ponte Vedra Blvd and turn right—resort is 1½ miles on the right.

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