The Moorings at Hawk's Nest

The Hawk’s Nest course is one of two 18-hole courses operated by the Moorings Yacht & Country Club near Vero Beach. Pete Dye’s Moorings course is a short layout (with nine par threes) offering a fun-packed, friendly game of golf, while Jim Fazio’s Hawk’s Nest is a far meatier challenge, extending to just over 7,000 yards from the back markers.

Unusual for Florida, there’s quite a bit of movement in the landscape here, with many of the undulating holes flanked by large sandy waste areas. Water hazards only come into play at a couple of holes on the longer front nine, which occupies the southern portion of the property.

Author Daniel Wexler, in his book The American Private Golf Club Guide, cites the par fours at the 5th, 6th and 8th as the pick of the holes on the outward half. He then says: “The back nine, whose holes are more tightly squeezed together, is highlighted by the 507-yard 14th (an undulating dogleg left around open sand) and the 406-yard 18th, a sandy dogleg left played to a narrow, tightly-bunkered green.”