Streamsong Black

It’s a tall order, following in the footsteps of Tom Doak, Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw to design the third 18-hole layout at a new golf resort where the existing two courses are already ranked within the nation’s Top 100. Well, that’s just what Gil Hanse and design partner Jim Wagner managed to do when they unveiled the Black course at Streamsong in September 2017.

Situated 55 miles south east of Tampa in Polk County, within a huge 16,000-acre site that was formerly mined by the Mosaic Corporation during its agricultural industry operations, Streamsong has been transformed in a short space of time from something of an industrial badlands into one of America’s most progressive, upmarket golf resorts.

Tom Doak’s Blue course and Coore & Crenshaw’s Red course first opened to the public in 2014 and, within a very short period of time, they’d become fixtures in our US Top 100 chart. It’s probably true that less than a handful of architectural firms might be expected to deliver a third course of similar stature and Hanse Golf Course Design is certainly one of them.

The Black sits on a separate part of the Streamsong property, to the south of the Red and the Blue, and it’s also bigger in scale, with a massive eleven acres devoted to its putting surfaces and their tightly mown surrounds. With five par fives on the card, the course plays to a par of 73, with a couple of driveable par fours and a good variety of par threes. Elevation changes are modest and water hazards kept to a minimum.

The 450-yard 9th is a hole to remember, its large two-tiered punchbowl green requiring a blind approach shot, while the par four 13th might be a conundrum for many as it features two possible greensites. Golfers on the 205-yard 17th play to an infinity green before tackling the 586-yard 18th, which wraps itself round a small lake before arriving at the home green.

The Black also has a large putting course called The Gauntlet which lies immediately outside the clubhouse. Players also have the option of playing shorter 6-hole, 9-hole or 12-hole loops if they wish. There’s also a free-flowing practice area called The Roundabout that includes several green complexes and short holes as well as an alternate 9th green, allowing golfers to take a shorter route back to the clubhouse.