Innisbrook Golf Resort – Palm Harbor, FL
After our wonderful trip to Reunion Golf Resort earlier this year we couldn’t wait to visit Innisbrook; another Golf & Spa Resort in the Salamander family. Innisbrook is nestled on 900 acres of rolling hills and 70 acres just off the west coast of Central Florida. Located only 20 miles from Tampa International Airport, this Resort attracts visitors from around the world seeking a top-notch golf resort experience that is within minutes of the beaches along the Gulf of Mexico. We spent months planning our trip to Innisbrook, we had tee times booked, dinner reservations, and various activities around town planned. The one thing we didn’t plan for was the weather. We were all set to arrive on Thursday September 1st, however Tropical Storm Hermine had other plans.
The Redskins at the Buccaneers Turned into a Mud Fest
As we mentioned Innisbrook’s ideal location is just a short drive from all the night life and activities of Tampa. At Golf Aficionado, we’re huge fans of the NFL and with Innisbrook located only 20 miles west of Raymond James Stadium, we figured we would take in a Tampa Bay Buccaneers game. With Tropical Storm Hermine drenching Florida’s Gulf Coast, the NFL decided to move the game up from Thursday to Wednesday. Our original plan had us arriving Thursday morning, playing 18 holes on the famed Copperhead Course, and then heading to Tampa for the Buc’s game. With the NFL rescheduling the game, we decided to drive down from Orlando that afternoon to watch the game and crash in a local hotel afterwards. The game ended up being a rain drenched mud fest but fun none the less.
The iconic snake pit on the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook
Waking up that morning in Tampa we decided to head straight to Innisbrook and attempt to get in 18 on Copperhead. Looking at the radar that morning, it appeared we might have a window that would allow us enough time. Copperhead which is among the top courses in Florida and the host of the PGA Tour’s Valspar tournament is the most well-known out of the four courses at Innisbrook. With the downpour, we witnessed the night before we thought at best the course might be opened as cart path only. To our surprise Copperhead was opened without any restrictions. It seems the new draining system that was installed as part of their $4.5 million restoration project in 2015 hand no problem handling the 6 inches of rain Tropical Storm Hermine dumped the night before. Following the 2015 Valspar tournament that saw Jordan Spieth capture the championship, all 18 greens and fairways were stripped and replaced with new grass and a state of the art drainage system.
After the short drive from Tampa to Innisbrook and a quick breakfast at the Copperhead clubhouse we hit the course and had it all to ourselves. On a Thursday morning, in-between bands of a Tropical Storm I guess nobody else wanted to play golf except the guys from Golf Aficionado. As it turns out we were only able to play the front nine before Tropical Storm Hermine started pounding the area once again. After dumping another 10 inches of rain on Innisbrook, Tropical Storm Hermine effectively shut down golf operations for the remainder of the weekend. Needless to say, we were devastated, after months of anticipation our best laid plans had gone astray.
It goes to show that you can’t plan for mother nature, but even with all golf courses closed at Innisbrook we were able to easily find ways to entertain ourselves and even play golf. By now, you might be asking yourself how in the world could you play golf, the area is being devastated by a tropical storm. The staff at the Copperhead clubhouse told us to visit Golfer’s Grail, an indoor golf experience located in Tampa.
Golfer’s Grail Indoor Golf & Tap – Tampa, FL
Golfer’s Grail is owned and operated by Jeff Sproat, and he gave us a warm welcome along with the full run down on how the simulators worked, whilst Emily (our cart girl) walked up with a pitcher of beer (the grail offers a wide range of drinks, no liquor, and though food isn’t on site they will gladly order in from a range of local restaurants). Golfer’s Grail consist of 4 bays, 65 courses, and a lot of infrared sensors and cameras which measure speed, launch trajectories, shot distance, club angle and a number of other pieces of information that breaks down your game, if you are a computer scientist I’m sure it would all make sense, but it eventually translates into a ball flying into the air and appearing on a screen in front of you.
After we had all hit our first tee shots what was immediately noticeable was ‘it was real’ we all hit our normal draws and fades and we all recognized our games. There is a very minor delay on hitting the ball and seeing it on screen but it doesn’t detract from the game. Iron shots are the same but the others had all voiced concerns over chipping and putting from their previous experience with other simulators, especially the putting element. The chipping element was on point and we had no complaints, as for the putting although not perfect it drew positive comments overall. Over the 18 holes we played, the results were pretty much the same as on the course. Bunkers are played like chip shots, that would be nice in real life, however that would be one of the few negatives compared to the outdoor version. Golfer’s Grail made the impossible possible, we played 18 holes during a tropical storm and didn’t get wet. If you’re in the area, the staff at Golfer’s Grail make it a must visit no matter what the weather conditions are. Just like any other course you can book a Tee time on GolfNow or ring Jeff and the team directly, and given that there are only four bays I would strongly suggest making a reservation.
Innisbrook’s great location allowed us to still have a great trip even during a tropical storm
While the weather didn’t cooperate, the moral of this story is that when booking your ultimate golf getaway make sure to pick a great location like Innisbrook. Being located so close to a major city like Tampa allowed us to avoid disaster and we were able to find tons of options to keep us entertained despite being rained out. We capped off our trip to Innisbrook with a fabulous dinner at Packard’s Steakhouse. While we didn’t get in as much golf as we had planned we still had a blast and made the most of a wet weekend at Innisbrook. We can’t wait to get back out to Innisbrook and weather permitting play all four of their championship golf courses.