Jacksonville’s Bent Creek: TPC Déclassé

Bobby Weed built Bent Creek (formerly the Golf Club of Jacksonville) while serving in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s as in-house architect for the PGA TOUR, which used to operate the course. It looks like something from that time period with flat fairways buffered by small knobs and knolls, grass kettle bunkers, small strips of waste sand, plenty of water and linear-shaped greens nestled up against hazards with rolled down faces.

For a typically flat, wooded north Florida site there’s a nice variety of angles and presentations to the holes although the course is too short (6,620 yards) for any of it to really get in the way good players. The land plan was also decently done and homes are only loaded to one side of any particular hole and in many places they’re completely isolated.

A few wetland crossings–like at the long par-4 11th, in front of the par-5 15th and before the drive from the rear tees at 18–create force carries that will make average players swallow a little harder. But they’ll be licking their chops when they get to the two good short par-4’s, 5 and 12, both under 320 yards. (84)

Bent Creek Golf Club

Jacksonville

Architect: Bobby Weed

Year: 1989


 

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