Slammer & Squire Golf Course — Attraction in Florida

Millions of golfers each year flock to the Sunshine State to play golf. From Destin in the Panhandle to Key West, the year-round warm weather makes Florida a golfer’s paradise. While there are great courses to be found all over the state, the Orlando area seems to be the most popular among golf travelers. In addition to some fantastic golf courses, there’s a lot to do off of the golf course.

One of the areas that seem to be overlooked is St. Augustine, which in my opinion has the most to offer golfers: World Golf Village. World Golf Village is to golfers what peanut butter is to jelly. They just naturally go together. Within World Golf Village is The PGA TOUR Golf Academy at World Golf Village, the World Golf Hall of Fame, the Renaissance World Golf Village Hotel, several eateries, and two championship golf courses: The King & Bear and The Slammer & Squire.

Whether you’re new to golf or just fine-tune your game, the PGA TOUR Golf Academy at World Golf Village can set you on the right path. They specialize in providing clinics, group exercises, as well as one-on-one teaching for all levels of golfers. The academy also offers group activities such as team-building exercises, night golf, and challenges. They can help with every facet of your game, from the driver to the putter using the latest technology: TrackMan and the SAM PuttLab.

If you’re a golf junkie like me, you can easily spend a couple of days at the World Golf Hall of Fame. Next year (2022), four new members will be inducted into the Hall of Fame including Tiger Woods, Tim Finchem, Marion Hollins, and Susie Maxwell Bering. Exhibits include the Member’s Locker Room, containing personal items from each member, Tales From the Collection, Tributes to Nancy Lopez and African American Golfers, THE PLAYERS Experience, built around the PGA tournament in nearby Ponte Vedra, and The Challenge Hole – a 132-yard island green reminiscent of the 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass.

All this leads us to the golf courses, The Slammer & Squire and The King & Bear. The Slammer & Squire course was designed by Hall of Fame members Sam "The Slammer" Snead and Gene "The Squire" Sarazen with the help of well-known golf course architect Bobby Weed. The three of them shared a desire to design and build a golf course that rewards good shot making while maintaining the natural beauty of the Florida property. They have created a layout that showcases the naturally wooded areas and wetlands. This resort course is wide open, with only a few water hazards and some well-undulated greens. Just like the two legends that helped create the course, the layout places a premium on the short game, which requires several finesse shots. The Hall of Fame is visible from just about anywhere on the course.

After your round at the Slammer & Squire, head over to The Legends Restaurant and Grille located inside the clubhouse. Floor-to-ceiling windows provide stunning views of the golf course and the surrounding area. The restaurant is all Florida with warm colors and unusual ceiling fans. Enjoy your favorite post-round libations and try some unique golf club food including Smokey Shrimp Tacos, Cauliflower and Field Pea Paninis, and a variety of leafy green salads.

Both courses have comprehensive practice facilities with full-length driving ranges, short game areas with bunkers, and large practice greens. Many players that don’t have time for a round will spend a couple of hours at one of the two practice facilities.

WGV is managed by Troon Golf, the #1 golf course management company in the country. As a member of a Troon-managed property, you’ll have access to other Troon private and daily fees across the country and around the world. And with Troon’s recent acquisition of Indigo Golf Partners, that list has grown...

I completely enjoyed playing this course (sorry I forgot to take pictures). I am an average golfer and enjoyed that the course had enough sand and water to give it enough of a challenge but not make it too frustrating. I think the course was very well maintained. The fairways were nice (even as an average golfer I spend most of my time in them... I stink at putting), the sand traps were actually soft sand and decent to play out of, and the greens well manicured. I read other comments of this course from people who played not too long before me that complained of the condition of the course but I didn't see any of those problems.

Oddly enough, I was able to play as a single and the the pace of play in front of me was not slow to even hold me up (I hope I make sense with this).

The staff that I dealt with were friendly and helpful.

Other comments that I observed that had negative things to say were about the food. I did not eat anything while there so I can't comment about my experiences.

My negative experience was that I followed the GPS to the course and the GPS took me past the golf school and into the cart path near the pro shop. A regular golfer advised me this is a normal occurrence due to the GPS. This must be a common mishap as there was another vehicle that followed me because he was following his GPS. If this is the case, it would be helpful if the course were to work with Google Maps to fix that issue so people coming from out of town did not make that mistake.

The only things that I would recommend as improvements (not negative experiences) is: the refreshment cart only came by my location twice during the 18 holes. Once on hole 11 and once on hole 18. It was a hot day but not incredibly hot so I was not desperate for beverages from this cart. I have been on busier courses and the refreshment cart has been able to make rounds more often. -the course maintenance persons were out in abundance. It is appreciated that they were maintaining the course but they needed to be more aware of golfers preparing to take swings as they were driving by on their lawnmowers. Also, on one hole the person mowing the tee box pulled all of the markers, mowed the boxes, and left the tee box without replacing the markers.

The things for improvement did not hinder my play nor cause me to not enjoy my play. I thoroughly enjoyed my golfing experience and would recommend...

Came here while on vacation and enjoyed the round. Great place to enjoy golf!

The course was in great shape. The greens were fast and in good shape. The cart paths are wide and smooth. The course has Bermuda greens and fairways.

No gimmicks on the course which is nice. There is water pretty much on every hole but the landing areas are large enough to avoid it coming into play. The bunkers are fair as well.

The facilities are in great shape. The signage for each hole was very beautiful. The only thing missing were consistent yardage markers on the paths.

The pricing is progressive, so the earlier you go the more expensive the round. They are very transparent with the greens fees, which is nice. I would have expected the cost to be $85 or less due to the round being mid-week but it was a touch higher than I would expect. They do not have a 9 hole rate either.

If you want to use the practice facilities only, you can pay $50 before 2pm and practice all you want. After 2pm, it drops to...