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Stand on the first tee and the inclination is to reach for the putter rather than the driver; the fairways, too, were impeccable, despite a late spring in Florida, and the greens awesome in their quality and speed.
"Right now they're running at 11 on the stimp," I was told. "For next week they'll be double cut and get a little sharper." A couple of 40 foot down-hillers were interesting. Now I fully understand the problems of Augusta National.
The course, designed specifically for LPGA members, may be one of Rees Jones' finest; its condition, predictably, was first class, a factor as much attributable to the $1 million annual maintenance budget as the following week's event.
That's not a misprint: $1 million a year is spent on up-keep, about double the going rate locally, I gather.
It is built on 420 acres and because of a forest fire some years ago the site was virtually bereft of vegetation when Rees Jones did his stuff. So he sculpted fairway mounds for definition, excavated lakes and generally injected some life and perspective into a flat site.
Once completed 10,000 young oak trees were planted, many in clumps at strategic points. That was five years ago. They're maturing nicely and they now add spice to a course that's been rated by US golf magazines among the top 10 new public courses in the country.
Yup, it's public: it's owned by the city but run by the development company empowered to transform the site into a resort.
The average male handicapper can peg up at the white markers (6,225 yards) and with fairly generous fairways face a challenge that's not over the top. The hot shot, meanwhile, can move back a bit and tackle it from the blue tees (6,664 yards) or, if he's been feeding on raw meat, the black, which come in at 7,088 yards.
With water in play on 10 holes that would bring an exciting afternoon, particularly if the wind gets up. Then the course grows teeth and the greens turn to glass.
A second course, The Legends, to a design by the renowned Arthur Hills, opened in 1999. That's a beauty, too.
IT won't end there: the estate covers 20,000 acres, give or take, and there's talk of another dozen or so courses. Don't believe it won't happen.
The International may be the only Daytona course known outside of Florida but several others are also of comparable standard. The terrain means they're a considerable contrast to the lush, breadboard-flat parklands that are common further south.
Inland, the country here is part marshland, rolling and heavily timbered, more redolent of coastal South Carolina. It might have been made for golf; indeed there's little else that could be done with much of it.
It's unchanged since time immemorial. Things are still slithering and bumping around in there so if you snap hook forget it and reload!
I saw six of the 13 courses in the Golf Daytona programme and while space precludes a detailed catalogue of their attractions let me say simply that you could play any combination and have a memorable holiday.
They're all visual appealing, rewarding for those who think before they act, and in immaculate order and all have off-course facilities of some style.
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