Club Adena Ocala

Opened in the summer of 2015, the course at Adena Golf & Country Club was built by Frank Stronach, the Canadian businessman, politician and thoroughbred horse breeder who owns a successful stud farm in nearby Ocala, the “horse capital of the world”. He also operates a number of racetracks in the United States so his primary sporting leanings are clearly towards the Sport of Kings.

That’s not to say his investment at Adena has been half-hearted as he’s reported to have pumped more than $50 million into this 420-acre residential golf development, where several holes are routed around three old flooded limerock mining quarries and a number of the fairways undergo substantial changes in elevation from tee to green.

There’s lots of interesting things going on here, much of it unconventional: like the ultra-narrow, tree-lined fairway on the 3rd hole, the rock wall running along the left of the 7th hole or the split level fairway and two-tiered green on the 9th. On the back nine, there’s a monster par five hole at the 14th which measures all of 747 yards from the back tees, followed by a scary downhill par three that plays to a precarious peninsula green.

In July 2018, just three years after opening, Adena Golf & Country Club closed abruptly. Recently, it reopened as Adena Club with the Ocala Golf Course.