Floridays

The Sheraton Resort at the PGA Village is, well, not as good as it could be. It has potential, but it’s not there yet.
The Sheraton Resort is located in Port St. Lucie, Florida, not far from the Atlantic Ocean (20 minutes east). As condos go, it’s fabulous: master suite Jacuzzi tub, Heavenly Bed, screened-in porch, CD player, washer/dryer, cable TV, a kitchen larger than mine at home.

What’s not to like? Three things – location, location, location! We were under the impression that we could grab our clubs and walk to the PGA courses. Not so! We had to drive a mile through a residential neighborhood. There is also the PGA Learning Center nearby. Their driving range actually butts up against the Sheraton property, but again, to get the entrance you have to drive all the way over to the other side. Another problem is the drive to Port St. Lucie. The Sheraton is separated from the main city by the Florida Turnpike and the bridge over the turnpike is only one lane. If it’s rush hour, it could take you 10 minutes just to cross the bridge!

The PGA Sheraton is a minimalist property. The resort consists of 4 buildings, the lobby, and three condo complexes. It looks unfinished. They have an outdoor pool, kiddie pool, and hot tub with plenty of lounge chairs and even a life-size chessboard (we would have played a game, but there was a rook missing). There is no restaurant, no fitness center, no concierge, and NO BAR! What is a person to do? You can’t play golf after 8pm. Fortunately, because of the kitchen, we cooked our own meals, but if we wanted to go out of a restaurant we had only one choice, an Italian fine dining establishment that was only three blocks away, but across a busy street so you have to drive there. When I go to a resort, I want to leave the car in the parking lot; I don’t want to be driving every little place.

The Sheraton Resort at the PGA Village was not bad, but it wasn’t good either. It’s a fairly new development so hopefully the resort will grow.

Jensen Beach is on Hutchinson Island, about 20 minutes from the PGA Village, maybe longer if there’s traffic. We drove down to the City of Jensen Beach, a little south of St. Lucie. Since it was a Tuesday, there was plenty of public parking. Greeting us at the parking lot were two beautiful volleyball nets completely surrounded by green shrubbery with soft sand and rope lines. We wished we had brought a ball. I had to settle for photos for my volleyball website. The beach itself was busy, but not crowded. There were retirees, people on vacation like us, students between classes, and there was even one beach comber. Never seen one in person before!

Because of bad weather off the shore, the waves were huge and it was very windy; perfect for surfing, but not for lying on the beach and reading a book. Sand kept blowing on the pages. It was still a warm, sunny day so a nap would just have to do. We took a long walk heading north, which turns into private condos and hotels. Disappointed there wasn’t much shopping. The beach is still accessible to everyone though. At the public area of the beach there is also a grill with outdoor seating (mostly benches, but a few tables that have umbrellas to get out of the sun). The food’s not great, but it’s hard to mess up a grilled tuna sandwich.

After the morning at the beach, we then drove along A1A all the way up to Fort Piece. A1A runs along the length of the barrier islands so we saw beaches and coves and lots and lots of development (which was sad because the trees and land were beautiful). We wished we had rented a convertible, but we did have a sun roof. We made it back to the resort just late enough in the afternoon take a nap before dinner.

The PGA Learning Center is a huge facility dedicated to making you a better golfer. They have left nothing out when it comes to golf course play. For $21, plus $6 for each additional person, you can stay all day (and into the evening) and practice every conceivable golf shot. They have 2 driving ranges, some spots are even covered. In between the ranges, there are eight different sand traps, each with a different type of sand. The sand represents all the types of sand on PGA courses throughout the country and next to each one is a plaque that tells what type of sand it is and on what course it is to be found. The Learning Center has 2 putting greens. One is concave, with the holes at the bottom of gentle slopes while the other is a convex green with the holes rising up. Who thinks of that? Finally, there is a chipping green so you can practice getting those shots out of the rough; what I need to work on most. We spent more than 3 hours there, driving, chipping, and putting. If my arms hadn’t tired out, I would have stayed into the evening. They do have a pro shop and offer lessons, but we did not have the time or extra cash to take advantage.

PGA Village is for golf fanatics. With three courses, you can find a course that’s right for you. Course descriptions are on their website. The Die course does not have any water hazards, which is good for beginners, but is still very challenging. The Wanamaker Course has lots of water so be prepared to lose some golf balls. The Ryder Course is in between the other two. Our first day in Florida we played on the Die course and were paired with a semi-professional golfer who had just won a tournament the week before, and his wife. It was intimidating, but they were very nice and the wife had only be playing for three years, so we spent most of our time talking to her while her husband practiced. This was a Sunday, a very busy day for the course, and Die was crowded. We also golfed Monday, Thursday, and Friday, and those days were much quieter, we were by ourselves on the Ryder course on Thursday, which was the day we got sprinkled on. Friday we were paired with a father/son team. We played the Die course for a second time. The best part was each round our scores got better.

The staff are exceptionally friendly. If you pull up to the clocktower entrance, they will get your bags out of the car and set them in a cart for you. They’ll even give you tips on how to play the courses, depending on what the weather is doing that day. When you’re done, they clean your clubs and cart for you. Green fees are $119 on Saturday/Sunday and $89 Monday through Friday. This fee includes your cart, four bottles of Aquafina, and and bags of range balls, so you get a lot. In the off season, these rates go way down! Currently $59 and $69 on their website. The also have a fully stocked pro shop and great café. A beautiful facility, the PGA Village is a great place to play golf. If I can play well there, so can you.