Introduction and the Lodge
By now, most people have heard of Streamsong, the newly developed golf destination in Central Florida. The three courses that are now opened have consistently shown up on the "best of" list of nearly every golf publication that you can imagine. This includes Streamsong Black opening as "the top new course in 2017" accxording to Golf Magazine. And while people have offered many accolades regarding the courses, not a lot of mention has been paid to the other amenities that the Streamsong resort itself offers.
Streamsong opened the first two courses (Red and Blue) in 2013. At that time there were limited lodging options- the clubhouse shared by these two courses offers 12 guest rooms on the second level. The 216 room Lodge opened in 2014 and the new Black course and accompanying clubhouse opened the end of 2017.
To date, on the golf side, the resort now offers 3 championship courses, a massive 2 acre putting challenge, called the "Gauntlet", and the "Roundabout" which is a short course adjacent to the Black's driving range. At the time of this post, it is the only single location featuring the course designs of Tom Doak (Blue), Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw (Red), and Gil Hanse (Black). Like I said, bucket list time.
Aside from golf there is also plenty to do including: Bass fishing right off the lake behind the lodge, skeet shooting, archery, the full service spa AquaPietra, tennis, basketball, an infinity pool, 6 restaurant offerings, and 5 bars.
Streamsong is located kind of in the middle of nowhere. Officially in Bowling Green, the closest "town" is Fort Meade. It is located about an hour south east of Tampa, straight east of St. Petersburg. It is about 1 hour and 45 minutes southwest or Orlando. Once you get to Streamsong, the idea is to have everything taken care of for you and generally that is the case. The property is owned by Mosaic Company, a Minnesota based company which has recently chosen to relocate their headquarters to Florida. Mosaic owns 16,000 acres of land here which used to be a phosphate strip mine. This provided them with virtually unlimited land to use for the golf courses and resorts. While this remoteness is a boon for having plenty of room to develop golf courses it is somewhat limiting for staffing. Most employees, including caddies have to make a long daily commute to get to work.
Past the entrance sign you take a narrow lane nearly 1.5 miles before coming to a fork in the road. Turn left and you head towards the lodge. Turn right and you head on off to the golf courses. If you look left as you approach that fork you will be able to see the back side of lodge, though it is partially obstructed by trees.
The lodge mirrors the design theme of the Red and Blue course's clubhouse- a minimalist low design that fits well into the flat Central Florida landscape.
P2O5 right off the front entrance to the hotel.
The reception desk and main hallway beyond
The seating area off the main lobby
Back in the other direction, as you pass P2O5 you will come to a long hallway that separates the hotel area from the banquet and meeting spaces at the west end of the complex. Streamsong offers a full range of event and meeting services. There is almost 25,000 square feet of space that can be customized for corporate events, weddings, or anything in-between.
The exterior of the main conference event hall
Once you check-in and head up to your room you will discover they all have some kind of water view. Our room was on the front side of the hotel and faced the small pond that you drive around to get to the lodge. The view from the back rooms is better, facing the larger lake. Neither side really has any meaningful views of the courses.
Our view from 5th floor
The guest rooms continue the minimalist design. They are large and comfortable. We had a suite which offered a seating area and 2 queen beds separated by a double-sided TV wall and desk area. This main area had its own bathroom and walk-in closet.
Behind the seating area was a large separate bedroom with a King Bed and a very large walk-in closet and sizable bathroom. The bathrooms have very large double showers but no tubs. The exterior wall of the rooms are all floor-to-ceiling windows. In the main area, large wooden slats can be closed or opened to control light. A pretty cool feature. In the other bedroom, heavy blackout curtains can be pulled to keep the light out.
Also in the rooms, are some unique features. In our room there were specially cut holders for classic novels built into the wall. I am not sure if that is in every room, but I have to say I was digging the choices we had. Especially The Fountainhead, maybe my favorite book. I did see on a sign behind the Megalodon jaw that there is at least one book in every room- A Land Remembered by Patrick Smith, which details early settler's lives in Central Florida.
Light reading after your round. Good choices though.
Each room also has refrigerators. We were welcomed with a bucket of beer on our first night. A very nice gesture by the hotel.
If you head up to the top level of the hotel you will find Fragmentary Blue, the rooftop bar and lounge area. This rooftop area is a great place to watch sunsets over the lake the is behind the hotel. It is also a great vantage point to see how in the middle of nothing you are. At night you can see just a handful of lights on the horizon. The sky is black and the stars are pretty amazing.
This bar is the "late night" offering at the resort though it closes at midnight. Most of the other bars at the resort and in the restaurants have posted closing times of 10pm.
A gator is swims through a reflected cloud in the lake behind the hotel
If you head outside, in the back of the hotel you will find the spa AquaPietra under the walkway on the East end of the hotel. The spa offers all of your typical massage, wraps, and salon services. It also has multiple hot tubs of varying temperatures. Something that would be nice to partake in after walking multiple rounds of golf. The use of the spa is not included in your stay but you can pay a nominal fee for usage of the hot tubs if you want to use those.
Right outside the spa is a meandering path with several gas fire pits and accompanying seating areas. These overlook the lake and would be a great place to enjoy the evening, though I am sure the mosquitoes would enjoy your company there also. Between the fire pits is a one of two large grass areas (with the other being ahead next to the pool). I would imagine the lodge may use for some events?
Continuing on the pathway you will come to the Infinity pool and the poolside bar Hemy's. These are right outside the meeting area of the hotel. This bar also serves a poolside food menu. Hemy's is only open until 7pm, again because of the mosquito situation upon twilight descending. Also at the pool, there are a handful of covered settees, as well as your typical lounge chairs.
The path leading to the pool
The pool overlooking the lake
If you continue on the path past the pool you will walk by the large parking lot. To your left here is the boat launch where guests can enjoy some pretty remarkable bass fishing offered by the resort.
Smaller bass boats and larger pontoons are available for guided fishing
To your right of the docks, across the parking lot is where the tennis and basketball courts are located. These are combined together in two courts.
Finally, if you continue heading straight on the path you can enjoy a paved hiking trail that wraps around the entire length of the lake. It is a nice stroll and takes maybe 45 minutes (or more if you stop to watch the wildlife). I took a walk around the lake and saw a lot of vultures and osprey. I never saw any alligators in the water, though I did see a lot of bass jumping. This walking path offers some great views of the lodge. This is a natural area and you do run the risk of running into wildlife, so be aware for alligators or snakes that could share the trail with you. Apparently when we went (February) it is mating season for the gators and they can get a bit aggressive.
While most of the resort amenities are at the main lodge, two dining options: Bone Valley Tavern and Restaurant Fifty Nine are located at the Black and Red/Blue clubhouses respectively.
To get to the golf courses, Mercedes Sprinter vans shuttle you around. There are several of these vans always driving around so you never have to wait more than a couple of minutes to get where you need to. The red and blue course is about 1 mile from the lodge. The Black course is just south of the other courses and is about 1.5 miles. As I said before, Mosaic has a ton of land here.
Lets go over the restaurants
P2O5
Other than what is offered at the two clubhouses, this is the breakfast option for hotel guests. For breakfast there is either a buffet you can do or you can order from a set menu. For our stay, breakfast was included in our package and you could choose from either the menu or the buffet. Service during breakfast is a bit spotty. I think that in general they seemed understaffed and you sometimes had to wait a while to get your check or have your order taken. This seemed a bit problematic as I think breakfast is typically pretty busy; as people all head down in the morning before their rounds.
I never partook in the lunch here so I can't speak to that.
We did have dinner here the first night we arrived. I ordered the conch fritters that had a nice coconut infused crust and tangy caper dipping sauce. Those were very good. For my entree I had the shrimp and grits. Again, this was executed well with nice creamy cheddar grits and large char-grilled shrimp. I also enjoyed a nice bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon, The Franciscan from Napa Valley. This is a well priced bottle that we enjoyed again later at SottoTerra.
SottoTerra
Located in the lower level off the lobby sitting area, this is the resort's fine dining offering. It is only open for dinner. As I mentioned before, outside the entrance is a big table for large groups. Inside the restaurant, subdued lighting and a very cool color palette of linen and grays offer the most "romantic" feel of the dining choices. The name means underground, and a large tree like design feature reinforces this name.
While the atmosphere is nice and the food was above average, the service again seemed a bit spotty with some long waits and a bit of slowness with the food coming. My food was very good, but for being touted as fine dining, the overall experience was not what I would expect from a top notch stand alone restaurant you might patron away from this type of resort destination.
Details of SottTerra here.
Bone Valley
Details of Bone Valley here.
Restaurant Fifty-Nine
I ordered the double cut kurobuta pork chop with stonefruit and kumquat mostarda. It was the greatest pork chop I have ever had- bar none. It was so good I had to source my own kurobuta pork when I returned home. I also enjoyed the french onion soup and truffle Parmesan cauliflower that I order, but the chops stood far above everything else.
Kurobota Pork Chop - SO GOOD! If you come order this!!!
This restaurant is also open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Based on my experience I would have to say this is the place I would most recommend for dinner.
Details on Fifty-Nine here.
I would also very much like to try the Bone Valley Tavern if I get to come back.
The Black Clubhouse
As I mentioned, the black clubhouse is probably the most striking architectural design at Streamsong. It seamlessly brings in the surrounding landscape with its enveloping floor to ceiling windows.
A short walk down the hall, past the restrooms from the pro shop, is a seating area adjacent to the bar. Large sliding walls are an interesting feature of this lounge area. This is a great place to watch the TVs or to face the other direction and watch people play The Gauntlet just outside the back of the clubhouse.
The bar in the Black clubhouse is a large u-shape to maximize the amount of bar space. When we were in here after our Friday round we were the only people in the entire bar or restaurant.
At the end of the bar, the space transforms into the small dining room for the Tavern. All the seats here enjoy the large windows on three sides for some amazing views.
In the back of the clubhouse there is a shaded overhang to allow people to watch players on "The Gauntlet" while staying out of the hot Florida sun. Also located here is a fire pit with seating around it. "The Gauntlet" is the two acre 18 hole putting course. There are some big undulations here and some of the "holes" can be quite challenging. They change this routing often so you can come back and play here different days for a completely different experience.
The 2 acre "Gauntlet" putting green
The Gauntlet is a great way to spend time after your round. Provided drink holders let you enjoy your favorite beverage while you play.
Just behind The Gauntlet is the 11th green and adjacent 12th tee. It is not uncommon for shots coming up the uphill 11th to go over the green and run down almost to the Gauntlet area. Not to worry, this area is expansive and you don't need to fear about getting hit by stray approaches. It is cool to be able to watch people as they play the 11th having to attempt to get back up and down.
Also adjacent to The Gauntlet is the stunning finishing hole for the Black course. There are a line of Adirondack chairs where you can sit and watch people come up this hole and work their way around the lake to the green. An even better vantage point is offered if you climb the path next to these chairs. At the top of the hill there is another seating area with sweeping views.
What a view to sit and enjoy the 18th hole
From atop the hill you have an even more stunning view over the finishing hole
Back on the front side of the clubhouse is where you get to the driving range. The range is very large. I felt it kind of lacked visual targets for practicing hitting to. Behind the teeing area of the range is a large chipping green with bunkers. Next to the range is the "Roundabout" which is a multi-hole pitch and putt short course that plays on 4 different green complexes (some are double greens). Some of these holes are surprisingly hard. Especially if the wind is blowing.
The range and adjacent Roundabout
Warming up in the morning with the black clubhouse in the distance
The chipping green on the Black course
And the large practice putting green. Immaculate.
Both the Roundabout and Gauntlet are free to use, so make sure to take advantage of them if you are here.
The Red and Blue clubhouse
The original clubhouse at Streamsong was also once the site of the only on-site lodgings. This building is a contrast to the Black clubhouse. While still strikingly modern it lacks the ultra open feel with windows primarily only on the back side. When you enter the building, the pro shop is on the left and Restaurant Fifty Nine is to the right. The pro shop is quite large and has a ton of high-end souvenirs to ply your wallet out of your pocket.
There are a couple of small seating areas in the lobby of the clubhouse, along with framed photos of some of the holes on the Red and Blue courses.
Restaurant Fifty Nine offers a bar and separate dining area. All of these overlook the shaggy dunes that make the Red and Blue courses feel so much different than the Black course. The courses practice putting green is also located right behind the clubhouse.
The front of the Red and Blue clubhouse.
Who would think this is Florida?
This clubhouse also features 12 guest rooms on the second floor, along with a surprisingly spacious full locker room and changing rooms on the main floor. A nice amenity to have for when you play the day you fly home. Taking a shower and changing clothes feels a lot better than sitting on a plane with sand over your legs and in your socks.
Below the clubhouse is a tunnel where golf buggy storage is housed. After you check in you'll likely head behind the clubhouse for your bags. You can then grab a shuttle cart to take you through the tunnel under the clubhouse and to the driving range. The range is located on the front side of the clubhouse, on the other side of the huge hill. The range is smaller than the black course but is still well appointed. Behind the teeing area is a large putting green and chipping area, including a practice bunker. This practice area is adjacent to the 18th green but that is visually obscured by more of Streamsong's unique hills.
Conclusion
While the level of golf at Streamsong is undeniable, there are also a myriad of other reason to come and stay at the resort at Streamsong.
With three courses now offered, it is no longer possible to come and play everything in a 36 hole day trip from Orlando or Tampa. And the three courses are different enough that it really would be a shame to make it all the way here without getting to experience all of them. The answer? Stay at the resort!
While not likely to be a top family destination, the resort offers a great compliment to the world-class golf. Make no mistake, it is pretty golf-centric but there are enough activities to possibly entice your spouse to join you for a long weekend, even if they don't golf.
On my first trip to Streamsong I only experienced the golf. And though I still say it was the greatest golf-experience I have had, I missed out on a lot of what the Streamsong property offers. This time, after getting a bigger exposure to the resort I am even more enamored by this place.
I have not been to other golf mecca destinations like Pinehurst or Bandon but I would argue there is a good case that Streamsong should be in the conversation with those lofty level of places.
And while the amenities are very, very good there were some small things that need to be worked out. It seemed all of the restaurants and bars were consistently short of cash for change- to the point you almost had to pay with a card. Also, before the weekend even began some items were already running low, or they were out. A few of the dining experiences suffered due to a perceived shortage of wait-staff. We were also charged when we checked into the Black course, even though we were registered guests under a stay and play package- that was quickly rectified by the front desk at the hotel.
All of these quibbles are likely anomalies, or just growing pains of the resort as it continues to mature. I would not consider any of these to be of long-term systemic concerns. Though when you are touted as a world class golf resort, you do expect the best in every interaction.
At face value, the resort and its on-site restaurants are not cheap, but the stay and play deals are actually pretty good for a resort of this caliber, and certainly of golf of this caliber. There are plenty of packages to choose from which you can see here
I have to unquestionably give the experience at Streamsong my highest possible recommendation. If you ever get the chance to make this trip, do it!
Sunsets from the rooftop of the lodge are pretty spectacular.
Here's to hoping for another trip to Streamsong in the near future!
Streamsong Resort
1000 Streamsong Dr
Bowling Green, FL 33834
http://www.streamsongresort.com
(888) 294-6322
