The stretch of sugar white sand beaches between Pensacola and Panama City, Florida are most always rated as the best and most beautiful in the world.  Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort lays claim to some seven and one-half miles of this unique Gulf of Mexico and Choctawhatchee Bay front property.  What makes these beaches unique?  Quartz sand created by the glaciers from the ice age is found only in a very short span of Florida’s Panhandle.  Even in the hottest days of summer, the quartz sand reflects the sun’s rays and remains the temperature of the ocean’s breeze.

For the golfer, Sandestin is a true paradise and ideal for family vacations and get-a-ways.  First off, there are four championship courses testing all the equipment you are allowed to carry in your bag…including the ball retriever.  Secondly, the diversity of these courses allows you to experience everything from ocean views, bay views, marshes, pine forests and palmettos.  Truly these courses provide the golfer of all ages and skills a test of accuracy and strategy.

Sandestin offers a great junior golfer program

A special set of tees have been created for the junior golfer program at Sandestin

One of the newest elements in the Sandestin golfing

Special score cards have been created for the junior golfer program

program is the Baytowne Junior Golfer program.  The management has built tees especially for the young golfer on the beautiful Baytowne course.  The yardages for the youngsters on the 18-hole course range from 283 to 68.  In some cases, the holes will offer the same hazards as normal, but most will allow for easier and faster play.  Total par for the course is 71 and a total yardage of 3,002 yards.  Even the scorecard is designed to present a more youthful appeal.  As a means of taking the Junior Golfer program further, the standard yardage book includes all five sets of tees.  Last summer, I experienced the course with my two grandsons, Stone and Dylan Isaacs.  They loved it and so did I.  This is an ideal way to experience a relaxing round of golf with the family.   Predictably, this will become a big attraction for many upscale golfing resorts.

Sandestin was built in 1973 just South of the “sleepy fishing village” of Destin, Florida.  Shortly after opening, The Links Course was built.   The course features five holes

Sandestin offers 72 holes of outstanding golf

running along the Choctawhatchee Bay and 13 holes bring water into play.  Renowned architect Tom Jackson designed this winding layout against the backdrop of the Baytowne Marina and the bay.  It remains consistently ranked as one of the most challenging and fun courses in Florida.  Every day is a different test at The Links depending on which way the Choctawhatchee Bay wind is blowing.  From the tips, the yardage is 6,710.

Baytowne Golf Club opened in 1986 and is a most enjoyable course to play at 6,804 yards from the back tees.  This course allows some stunning views of the Gulf of Mexico and the Choctawhatchee Bay.  Extensively renovated in the summer of 2005 by original course architect Tom Jackson, this course, twice hailed by Golf Digest’s Places to Play with 4 ½ Stars, is exciting to play and demanding to all skill levels.  The gold tees play to 6,804 yards.

In 1994, Burnt Pine Golf Club was designed by Rees Jones and built primarily for members

Sandestin's Mariana Village

owning property at the development.  Burnt Pine is a true test of the game and plays to 7,001 yards from the back tees.  Combining the rolling fairways and strategically placed bunkers, golfers will be challenged to outduel the course by using a different approach to every hole.   There are breathtaking views along the Choctawhatchee Bay highlighting the back nine, while the front side brings golfers through the pine forests and wetlands of the Emerald Coast.  Recently, Golf Magazine deemed Burnt Pine the “Crown Jewel of Florida Golf” and recognized by Golf Digest as one of the “Top 30 Courses in Florida.”

In the late 1990’s, Robert Trent Jones, Jr. was engaged to design the famous Raven Golf Club that opened in 2000.  Truly a beauty and a beast, the average golfer will love and hate it.  RTJ, Jr. uses just about every technique in golf course design to test your ability.  He crafted this unique and visually stunning 6,931-yard par 71 into what he calls “a true modern traditional.”  In 2000, Florida Golf News voted the Raven “Best New Course in the State.”  Last year, Sandestin hosted the PGA Champions Tour’s Boeing Championship at Sandestin.  This official $1.65 million Champions Tour event will be back for a week in late May and early June of 2007.  One interesting fact, the two courses designed by the Jones’ brothers are the only ones in the world that play side-by-side on a couple of holes.  In addition to all the golfing mentioned above, Sandestin offers the Hank Johnson School of Golf for all skill levels by former Golf Digest Instructor, Hank Johnson out of Birmingham, Alabama.

The 2,400-acre Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort is a complete resort experience for both vacation and business travelers.  Some 30 distinct neighborhoods makeup the development with over 1,800 accommodations, including single family homes, one- to four-bedroom villa, condominiums, the 168-room Grand Sandestin, the 175-room Bayside Inn and penthouse suites.  Whether for shopping, dining or entertainment, the visitor will take pleasure in The Village

Sandestin's Village Pilot House

of Baytowne Wharf that is built on 28 acres and features 20 fabulous restaurants, 5 nightspots and more than 50 retail shops.  If this doesn’t whet your vacation appetite, try out the full-service 98-slip full-service marina, a world-class tennis center with 15 courts ranging from natural grass, hydrogrid clay and hard surfaces, salon and day spa and kids’ recreation program…making Sandestin a premier destination resort.

Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort is owned by Fortress Investment Group and operated by Intrawest ULC headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.  They purchased the property in 1998 and have done an outstanding job of enhancing the total development and being very sensitive to the environment. (Fortress purchased Intrawest in November of 2006.)

Today, this “sleepy fishing village” is definitely awake and very much alive.  My family and I have enjoyed these beaches since May 1972 and we return as often as possible.