A world of difference

Golf Digest ranks Pine Barrens at World Woods as one of the top 16 public-access courses in the nation.

By BOB HARIG

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 4, 2000

Since opening in 1993, World Woods Golf Club in Brooksville has received its share of accolades, despite its out-of-the-way location.

The Pine Barrens course, specifically, has been honored numerous times, from being proclaimed the 59th best course among Golf Digest's rankings of the Top 100 Courses in America to a No. 9 rating in Golfweek's America's Best Modern Courses.

Now comes another honor, and this might be the best.

World Woods' Pine Barrens is hailed in the May issue of Golf Digest as one of North America's 201 best public-access courses. If that isn't enough, the magazine breaks down its listing by giving five-star ratings to just 16 of those courses. Pine Barrens is the only course in Florida to make that list.

"This was totally a shock," said Stan Cooke, the director of golf at World Woods. "It's pretty darn rewarding for World Woods. We're ecstatic. Pebble Beach and Pinehurst and Spyglass Hill are some great names."

And that's what makes the honor so special. Among the top 16 are Pebble Beach Golf Links, site of next month's U.S. Open; Pinehurst No. 2, site of last year's U.S. Open; Blackwolf Run Golf Club (both the Meadow Valleys and River courses), site of the 1998 U.S. Women's Open; Kiawah Island Resort's Ocean Course, site of the 1991 Ryder Cup; and Spyglass Hill Golf Course, one of the courses used for the annual Pebble Beach tournament.

The others that made the top 16 were Bay Harbor (Mich.) Golf Course; Bulle Rock (South), Havre de Grace, Md.; Casa De Campo Resort (Teeth of the Dog), La Romana, Dominican Republic; The Challenge at Manele, Lanai City, Hawaii; Coeur d'Alene Resort, Idaho; Highlands Links, Ingonish Beach, Nova Scotia, Canada; The Links at Crowbush Cove, Morell, Prince Edward Island, Canada; Pinon Hills, Farmington, N.M.; and St. Ives, Stanwood, Mich.

The ratings were based on more than 20,000 ballots submitted by Golf Digest readers. These ballots came from some 300,000 courses evaluations.

Courses were first evaluated on overall golf experience on a 1 (poor) to 5 (outstanding) scale. Those evaluations determined the star rating, with the highest being 5 stars. Those with 41/2 stars made up the rest of the 201-course list.

Additionally, golfers were asked to rank each courses on four other criteria: value for the money, standard of service, condition of the course and pace of play.

"We don't have the amenities as far as a clubhouse and an on-site hotel," Cooke said. "But our staff works hard and I think this kind of says something to them in return for work they've put in. Our rangers keep play moving along, and sometimes we're criticized for that. But we believe in the 4-hour, 15-minute round and that's one of the criteria."

Cooke expects better things for World Woods when the extension to the Veterans Expressway opens just a mile from the course entrance, which is located on U.S. 98.

Plans are on the drawing board for another course on the property and on-site accommodations.

Meanwhile, World Woods' other 18-hole course, Rolling Oaks, was one of 14 Florida courses that received the magazine's 41/2-star rating. Among those courses were the TPC-Sawgrass Stadium in Ponte Vedra Beach, two at Walt Disney World (Osprey Ridge and Eagle Pines), Orlando's Grand Cypress and two courses at Orange County National (Crooked Cat and Panther Lake) in Winter Garden.

El Diablo in Citrus Springs received the distinction of "Unrated, new and notable."

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.