Astor Creek is an intelligent design that uses width and deception to challenge golfers. The random transition areas are a unique hazard and give the course a quasi desert feel. In a state where sand and water are the overwhelming hazards of choice, it’s refreshing to see a different approach.
Astor Creek was designed by Arthur Hills’ protégé Chris Wilczynski in 2023. Sustainability is the crux of his design philosophy. If one can mix fun with beauty and strategy, then the urge to golf will increase. Chris achieved this by making the course super wide. How enjoyable is it to always be able to find your ball?! (Isn’t this what everyone raves about at The Park) The sight lines and green axis’ are the key to getting the proper angle. With nearly half the greens tilting from front to back, being on the correct side of the fairway is key to working the ball to specific hole locations.
(The very first green introduces one to the front to back motif Wilczynski incorporated into the design. Note how its two tiered with the lower level in the rear.)
(The 566/520 yard par five eighth doglegs slightly right with a transition area poking in from the right for the second shot. The green is a hodgepodge of several pinning areas. The flag in picture is all the way in the back with the terrain sloping away past the putting surface.)
(The beautiful 414/365 yard par four tenth has an elevated approach area where just the front is viewed from the fairway. Look at all that green grass! This is a course unlike most Florida tracks.)
Several times during our round my playing partners and I would scratch our heads because the flag would be blue but it looked like it should’ve been red. This is a result of the wonderful green complexes. Feeder slopes and hidden ground all make local knowledge a huge advantage. It was no surprise that the low round and winner of all the money was the member who arranged our tee times.
(The random transition areas create just enough tension to give the wide fairways some extra strategy. Here my second shot has plenty of room to get around or over the palm trees but what trajectory or shape do I want to play? There’s plenty of options and intrigue at Astor Creek.)
(The 385/360 yard par four eighteenth has water on the left but has a wide fairway with only this bunker interrupting a continuous sight to the green. It was amazing how many guys in our group hit it in here, including myself. It’s a good birdie opportunity to finish the round.)
Everyone enjoyed Astor Creek even though we were playing in 35mph wind. If your definition of a good course is one that you want another go around soon after finishing then this place meets that criteria. The course is in excellent condition and the guest rate at $85 is very reasonable. A few guys in our Ryder Cup group are members here so I anticipate playing it again in the near future. I give Astor Creek a 5 (good)(worth driving an hour to play).
(This was one of the windiest days I’ve golfed in. On three of par fives we had a hurting wind with the 518 sixteenth dead into it. Dr-3wd-3wd-3hy just to reach the front edge! On the flip side, the 137 fifteenth was straight down wind and not a single person could keep it from going long. All in all my 86 was pretty good. We played the blue/grey combo at 6,015.)
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