Streamsong & Cabot Citrus Farms, Central Florida

Florida has a lot of golf. Most of it occupies the predictable geography of the state's coastline and suburban sprawl: flat courses carved through housing developments, resort layouts wrapped around retention ponds, fairways framed by palm trees and condominiums. Streamsong Resort exists in a different Florida entirely. Built on 16,000 acres of reclaimed phosphate mining land in Bowling Green, roughly 80 miles southeast of Tampa, the resort sits in terrain that most visitors would not associate with the state at all. The land rolls. Sand ridges rise 60 feet above the surrounding prairie. The horizon is uninterrupted by buildings, traffic, or signage.

This isolation is the point. Streamsong was conceived as a golf destination with no distractions from the golf itself, and the execution has been faithful to that premise since the resort opened in 2012. Three full-length courses by two of the most respected architects working today, a 12-hole short course, a 228-room lodge, and enough on-site activities to fill the hours between rounds. The resort does not compete with Orlando's theme parks or Naples' beach culture because it does not occupy the same conversation. The courses that Tom Doak and Gil Hanse built on a former phosphate mine in Polk County rank among the best in Florida.

Ninety miles northwest, Cabot Citrus Farms is writing a newer chapter of the same story. The property outside Brooksville, built on former citrus farmland with sandy soil and gentle elevation changes, opened its first courses in 2023 and continues to expand. It is the Florida outpost of Cabot, the Canadian hospitality group whose Cape Breton property helped reshape expectations for destination golf in North America. The two resorts are different in age, scale, and stage of development, but they share a commitment to walking golf on interesting ground in a state not traditionally known for either.

The Courses

Streamsong operates three 18-hole courses, each carrying its designer's distinct philosophy, plus The Chain, a 12-hole short course for late-afternoon rounds.

Streamsong Red was one of two courses that opened with the resort in 2012, both designed by Tom Doak. The Red plays at 7,148 yards with a par of 72 and a slope of 140. Doak routed it through the most dramatic terrain on the property, with sand ridges creating elevation changes that feel transplanted from the Sand Hills of Nebraska rather than anything native to Florida. The bunkering is aggressive, the greens carry significant internal contour, and the wind that sweeps across the open landscape changes the course's character from morning to afternoon. Walking is encouraged and caddies are available. Green fees run $275 to $395 depending on season.

Streamsong Blue, Doak's second design, takes a different strategic approach on the same terrain. At 7,177 yards with a slope of 142, it is marginally more difficult on the scorecard than the Red, but the fairways are wider and the challenge lives in subtle internal contours rather than visible hazards. Golfers who prefer to think their way around a course rather than overpower it tend to rank the Blue as their favorite of the three.

Streamsong Black arrived in 2017 from Gil Hanse. At 7,311 yards with a par of 73 and a slope of 146, it is the longest and most difficult of the three. Hanse's minimalist bunker style gives the Black a cleaner visual appearance than either Doak design, but firm, fast conditions and demanding routing make it the most punishing layout for golfers who play without a plan. All three courses share the same green fee range.

The Chain, also a Tom Doak design from 2017, is a 12-hole short course playing to a par of 46 at roughly 2,400 yards. It operates without tee times, is walking only, and carries a modest fee of $50 to $75 as an add-on to a full round. The course is designed for the golden hour, when the main courses have closed and the light turns the sand ridges amber. It is one of the best short courses in the country and the kind of facility that turns a two-round day into a three-round day without the fatigue of a third full layout.

A critical operational detail: Streamsong is a guests-only facility. Playing any of the courses requires an overnight stay at the resort. There is no public access and no day-play option.

At Cabot Citrus Farms, the Karoo is the flagship 18-hole course. Designed by Kyle Franz and opened in 2023, it plays at approximately 7,100 yards through former citrus groves where sandy subsoil and rolling terrain create conditions more reminiscent of the Melbourne Sandbelt than the Florida flatlands. Early assessments from architecture-focused publications have been uniformly positive. Green fees are estimated at $250 to $350. The Roost, an 18-hole par-3 course designed collaboratively by Keith Rhebb, Rob Collins, Riley Johns, and others, opened alongside the Karoo and is typically included with a stay or Karoo booking. The Squeeze, a 12-hole short course by Mike Nuzzo, opened in 2024 and is generally included with an overnight stay.

South of Cabot, Southern Hills Plantation Club offers a Pete Dye design from 2003 at 6,931 yards. It is semi-private, with green fees of $50 to $100 making it the most affordable round in this destination. The Dye pedigree delivers more design interest than the price might suggest, and the rolling Hernando County terrain reinforces the theme of this region: Florida has hills if you know where to look.

Where to Stay

Streamsong Resort is the obvious and, for its own courses, the only option. The 228-room lodge sits between the three championship courses, and the car stays parked from check-in to checkout. Rooms run $300 to $500 per night, and stay-and-play packages that bundle accommodation with rounds are the standard booking method. The resort operates three restaurants, a full-service spa, and on-site activities including bass fishing, sporting clays, and archery. It is comfortable without being ostentatious, which suits a property built around golf rather than around the idea of luxury.

Cabot Citrus Farms is developing its own accommodation, with an estimated 50 rooms currently available and expansion underway. Rates are estimated at $250 to $450 per night. As a newer property, the accommodation details continue to evolve, and booking directly through Cabot is the most reliable approach.

For golfers splitting time between both properties, Lakeland serves as a practical midpoint. The Terrace Hotel, a boutique property downtown, runs $130 to $200 per night and sits roughly 40 miles from Streamsong and 50 from Cabot. The Hampton Inn in Lakeland offers a chain option at $100 to $160. The Holiday Inn Express in Bartow, 20 miles from Streamsong at $80 to $130, makes sense only for trips focused exclusively on the Streamsong courses.

Beyond the Course

This section requires honesty. Central Florida's interior is not Charleston. It is not Scottsdale. The non-golf activity offering is limited by geography and by the rural character of the landscape, and pretending otherwise would be a disservice to anyone planning a trip with a non-golfing companion.

At Streamsong itself, the resort spa is the primary companion activity, with treatments running $100 to $250. Bass fishing on the resort's private lakes, guided catch-and-release with Florida largemouth, costs $75 to $100 per person and works equally well as a golfer's rest-day diversion. The 12-station sporting clays course runs $50 to $75 with all equipment provided. These are quality offerings within the resort grounds, and they fill a half-day comfortably.

Beyond the resort, the options require driving but reward the effort. Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales, roughly 45 minutes north, is a National Historic Landmark featuring a 205-foot Art Deco singing tower within 250 acres of gardens designed by Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. Admission runs $15 to $20. Circle B Bar Reserve near Lakeland, a 1,267-acre nature preserve with boardwalks through wetlands, is free and open sunrise to sunset. In Lakeland itself, Florida Southern College houses the largest single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture in the world: 12 buildings designed for the campus between 1941 and 1958. The self-guided walk is free. For a destination that lacks coastal scenery, these are genuinely interesting alternatives.

The Case for the Interior

Streamsong and Cabot Citrus Farms represent a different proposition from the rest of Florida golf. The courses here exist because of the land beneath them, not despite it. Phosphate mining and citrus farming created terrain with elevation, sand, and movement that the coastal flats cannot offer, and the architects who designed these courses recognized the opportunity. The trade-off is isolation. There is no beach at the end of the day, no restaurant row to walk after dinner, no cultural district to explore on the non-golf morning. The resort grounds and the courses themselves are the destination.

For golfers who treat the golf as the primary purpose of the trip rather than one component of a broader vacation, that trade-off is not a concession. It is the appeal.