COURSE REVIEW
TPC at Heron Bay:
Let the wind blow
and let her rip
By Tim McDonald,
National Golf Editor
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (Aug. 5, 2005) - Funny how wind is the golf course designer's best friend and the golfer's worst enemy. Or is it? No, I guess it isn't.
But, it's interesting the role wind plays in architecture. One of the criticisms of golf design in general is that it's man's attempt to control nature. You can crank up the bulldozers, fill in lakes, create lakes, mound up fairways and elevate greens and tee boxes in order to make a piece of nature's work conform to a game invented by man.
But, you can't do anything about the wind except made an educated guess.
So when you play the TPC at Heron Bay here on the willowy edge of the Everglades, be ready to bring your red pencil for going below par or your black one for going way above it - depending on nature's whim, not the architect's.
"This course was designed to be played in wind," said TPC Heron Bay Head Professional Shawn McCauley. "If the wind isn't blowing, it's an easy course."
And when it does blow, it can be … well, a female dog. The scale and openness of the course, combined with the flat terrain on the edge of the great, mostly tree-less swamp, gives the wind room to built up speed, similar to what hurricanes do over the warm Gulf of Mexico.
It isn't that the course is completely defenseless without wind. In fact, despite what McCauley said, it can still be very difficult if you don't hit it where you aim it, and who the hell can, all the time?
Architect Mark McCumber, a Florida native, must have been steamed he had to build this course so far from the beach, so he brought it out here with him. These bunkers are huge. They are many. They are legion.
"Ninety-eight of them on the course," McCauley said, just a tad too boastful. "Actually, we used to have 103, but we combined some of them."
This isn't Robert Trent Jones' spare, artful bunkering - these Heron Bay babies are everywhere: left, right, middle, short and long. I think I stepped in one getting out of the car. If you make it through a round here without hitting in the sand at least once, your portrait should be hanging with Snead, Hogan and Bobby Jones in some hallowed hall somewhere.
No. 4, for example. It isn't enough that it's a 620-yard par 5, but it's beset with bunkers - both sides of the fairway, in the fairway and guarding the greens. No. 7 is another hole with bunker mania, as is No. 12, a 470-yard par 4 that would be hard without all the sand.
The verdict
The TPC is a good play, wind or no wind. You can whale away: It has very wide fairways and generous landing areas, if you can avoid the bunkers.
The greens are also big, for the most part, and fairly flat with only subtle undulation. But, though they are flat, you have to play the angles, find a spot that allows the best entry - otherwise you may be hitting over a lot of sand with little to work with.
"I really don't think that course is that hard," said Eddie Burroughs, a mid-handicapper who said he has played most of the greater Fort Lauderdale courses. "But then, I like to play in the mornings, when the wind doesn't really have a chance to get started."
The course is on the edge of the Everglades, as advertised, but you'd never know it. Heron Bay is ringed with homes - this being a TPC course, all of them being similar in their earth-tone colors - but they are nicely set back, most of them over creeks and canals. Still, they block what may be views of the great swamp.
Green fees are reasonable, varying from $27-$99, including twilight rates and depending on the season. This being a PGA Tour production, they also have all sorts of things like privileged guest rates and that sort of thing.
Stay and play
The Westin Diplomat Resort and Spa is Greater Fort Lauderdale's biggest resort and it sits right on the beach, looming 39 stories above the Atlantic, with views of sunrises, cruising yachts and tug boats carrying cargo across the choppy waters.
It's a big, bold, 1,000-room south Florida hotel with marble floors, sweeping views and art deco curves and lines. There is a 60-foot, glass atrium with views of the sea, 24-hour room service and high-speed Internet.
Shuttles can take you to the grand Diplomat Country Club, with its 60-room hotel with tennis, an 18-hole golf course and spa. The tennis facility has 10 clay courts, six of them lighted.
The 30,000-square-foot spa offers "Everglades" facial and body treatments, steam rooms, whirlpools, private patios and a personal attendant. The spa is a garden courtyard and includes a fitness center and yoga classes.
The resort sits on that small, ritzy spit of land between the ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway, where the rich come to frolic, and has views of both. There also seems to be less traffic here than inland, where regular people work and play.
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Dining out
The Westin Diplomat has nine restaurants and lounges, from nightclub dancing to poolside grills.
Hollywood Prime is a steak house and the Café serves breakfast and lunch, then switches to Italian dining at night. Nikki Lounge serves seafood/sushi and cocktails and the Links Grill has all-day dining.
There is also a coffee bar, the Tack room, which serves cocktails, and Satine, the night club.
Fast fact
Mark McCumber, along with Jack Nicklaus, is one of the few PGA Tour players who was into golf design before he joined the tour.
Any opinions expressed above are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the management. The information in this story was accurate at the time of publication. All contact information, directions and prices should be confirmed directly with the golf course or resort before making reservations and/or travel plans.
