In 1962, Alfred Kaskel founded the Golf Resort at Doral and it's Blue Monster Course has hosted a PGA tour event ever since it's inception.  From 1962-2006 it was the Doral Open and since 2007, it's the WGC Cadillac Championship.  it features 90 holes of golf with 18 of those belonging to The Blue Monster.  You can find the Blue Monster hiding in some of the bunkers.  Today the course is owned by Donald Trump and in typical Trump fashion features a ridiculously massive fountain right by the first tee and putting green.

The Blue Monster at Doral was going to be the very first round of golf that i have ever played in the state of Florida.  And it was going to be a windy one.  We faced down the tough test of championship golf in 30-40 mph winds.  After everyone took an 8 on the 1st hole, we knew it was going to be a long day.

The good news was that our 3some consisted of Breaking Eighty's Sean Ogle, myself, and local member Wes Ferrell.  Our spirits would not easily be broken.  Our new friend, Wes, has a contagious enthusiasm for just about any good golf shot.  My 6 footer for bogie on #2 was greeted with radiant cheers.  This was going to be an enjoyable struggle indeed.  After grinding most of the day, the wind settled down in the evening and our group finished in style with some great par putts on the tough 18th.

Side note: Nobody threw any clubs in the lake.

Be sure to get the full scoop on my visit to Hammock beach with the wildly popular Florida Man blog post.

For more on a visit to Palm Coast please consult the Golf Blog.

The Blue Course at Streamsong resort was designed by  Tom Doak and has a reputation as the bolder, more fun offering of the 36 holes currently at Streamsong.  Not necessarily better or worse, just different.  I continue to wrestle with which course I prefer, Red or Blue, or was it Blue or Red??  There can indeed be great joy in discussing your preferences and explanations.  Either way, both courses are challenging, fun, and well designed.  Streamsong Blue would be the second round in a fantastic day of 36 with Golf Digest's Ashley Mayo and Breaking Eighty's Sean Ogle.  

As Ashley's sunburned worsened and the birdies and sun started to fall, we golfed our little golfing hearts out on this fine Florida day in January.  It would be a sun up to sun down type of day on the golf course with 2 great friends.  

By the numbers;

• 1 - Number of times our group was sssshhh'd by the group in front of us for having too much fun.

• 56 - Number of pictures taken on the 7th hole

• 2 - Number of holes played in darkness

• 1 - Number of alligators that turned down our offer to join our threesome.

• 100% - Percentage of effort put into birdie celebration on #3

• 6 inches - Acceptable distance to "kick in" your birdie putt

• 0:5 - Ratio of jumping high fives attempted to jumping high fives successfully executed

Streamsong Red was created by the design team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw and was opened to the public in 2012.  Just about everyone I meet raves about the 2 courses at Streamsong, so I was very excited to finally get a chance to play.  I was also excited to have two big time playing partners in Ashley Mayo and Sean Ogle.  The excitement was officially tripled when I read Streamsong's philosophy on why a golf course should be walked.

The Red course starts off with a ridiculously good first 6 holes that set the tone for a great day of laughs, screams, and sun burns.  I particularly enjoyed the 4th hole, It felt like I was at a drive in movie theater hitting my approach towards the big screen.  Not exactly sure if that was the intended vibe, but I freaking loved it.  Coore and Crenshaw have done a magnificent job of shaping the terrain to create a unique experience on every hole.

By the numbers;

• 2:8 - Ratio of sausages to selfies taken at the turn

• .0000001 - Measurement in inches by which my eagle putt on 13 missed

• 0% - Chance that Sean's birdie bomb on #7 had of NOT going in the hole

• 7/10 - Severity of Ashley's sunburn

• 0 - Number of times our caddie had seen any group take this many pictures

• 3 - # of satisfied golfers