Florida’s Streamsong Black

A round at this massive new central Florida course transitions from broad valley to dramatic dunes, back across the valley, and into a cozy little zone of crumpled ground.

Leave it to one of Florida’s largest private landholders to steer you onto “terra incognita.” Streamsong Resort—virtually equidistant from Orlando, Tampa, and Sebring—is dead center in the middle of nowhere and probably looks nothing like the state you thought you knew.

Mosaic Co., a global force in the mining and manufacture of phosphate and potash, has devoted 16,000 acres (25 square miles) of central Florida land to a starkly modernist golf resort and spa. The beauty of the place is the sharp juxtaposition of classically inspired golf courses against a backdrop of stunningly linear buildings, all of it set in a manufactured landscape of debris mounds, settlement ponds, and reclaimed sandy dunes.

Streamsong Black, a par-73 course measuring 5,293 yards up to 7,331, was designed by Gil Hanse and opened in September 2017. It is the third 18-hole layout onsite, complementing and in many ways transcending the scale of the resort’s first two layouts—Streamsong Blue by Tom Doak and Streamsong Red by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw—both of which opened in 2013.

The course routing occupies an unusually expansive ground: 300 acres, two miles from end to end, with 85 acres of fairway. The greens are also massive, on the order of 12,000 to 16,000 square feet. A round here transitions from broad valley to dramatic dunes, back across the valley and into a cozy little zone of crumpled ground comprising holes 12–17 that Hanse describes as “the glove.”

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While a classical sensibility of place emphasizes the ground game, walking, and creative shot making, the Streamsong Resort embraces a modernistic look in its buildings. Streamsong Black’s clubhouse is a linear block of steel and glass. And the 216-room lodge and 25,000-square-foot conference center look like New Age Scandinavian buildings that house top-secret security operations. Somehow, the architecture works to highlight the playful inventiveness of a site that has been completely reclaimed and reinvented.    

COURSE

For more information about Streamsong Black, visit streamsongresort.com or call (888) 294-6322.

AIRPORTS

Wauchula Municipal Airport (CHN) is 17 miles south of the resort and has a 4,005-foot runway. Lakeland Linder Regional Airport (LAL) is 28 miles to the north and has an 8,499-foot runway. Orlando International Airport (MCO) is 85 miles northeast and has a 12,005-foot runway. Tampa International Airport (TPA) is 64 miles northwest and has an 11,002-foot runway.