PGA Village: Port St. Lucie:

Everything for Your Florida Golf Vacation.

By: Rick Parnham

The Atlantic Coast of Florida has no shortage of great golf facilities to explore. The PGA Village in Port St. Lucie is one such location that must be considered to satisfy that golf desire. Easily accessed from I-95, this golfer’s paradise is home to three championship layouts desinged by legendary course architects Tom Fazio and Pete Dye, as well as a fun, six-hole, family friendly Short Course, PGA Hall of Fame and 35 acre, state-of-the-art Golf Learning and Training Center. Owned by the PGA of America, this public play facility has fantastic golf and a few extras to satisfy every part of your get away golf fix.

Wanamaker and Ryder Courses: Opened in the late 90’s as the original North and South courses, the courses underwent an update and were rebranded with two of the most recognized names in golf history, Wanamaker and Ryder. Both Tom Fazio designs are filled with his trademark playability featuring generous fairways, lined with framing bunkers and large tricky greens. The layouts gently roll with slight elevation changes and are routed along large ponds and creeks. Many green sites are perched precariously with water guarding the line of play. The stretch of holes 5-8 on the Wanamaker Course all have water protecting them, including the terrific short Par 4, Number 8 with two separate greens, each with its own set of unique challenges. The Ryder Course features 12 holes with water to add to the challenge, including the risk / reward Par 5 Number. Bending right all the way to the hole bunkers and water guard the right side and the split level green can be a beast. Beautifully visual and imminently playable these Fazio designs are a wonderful challenge.

Pete Dye Course: Dye is best known for his eccentric design principles, featuring stark fall-offs, mounding and menacing strip and pot bunkering. All of these characteristics are featured in this 2000 design routed along marshland and beautiful forested areas. The layout playing between 4963 and 7279 yards has five sets of tees providing a range of challenge for players of all abilities. The course, links in style, is typical to Dye’s designs place a premium on all three parts of your game. Tee shots must be shaped to avoid hidden bunkers, approaches must contend with water and nasty green side bunkers and your putting stroke will be tested with the large heavily sloped greens.

The Muesum: The PGA of America has an on-site museum paying tribute to the great game and its professional roots. A grand collection of the history of golf and many of the characters is a wonderful journey through the ages of the game. Also used as The Hall of Fame for The PGA, history of the grand ole game abounds along with the history of the largest sports organization in the world dating back to its founding in 1916. In addition to getting to see the Wanamaker Trophy and Ryder Cup guests can immerse in the glory of past PGA and Ryder Cup lore.

Stay and Play: PGA Village has numerous stay and play packages available to cater to whatever type of needs you have. Whether reserving for a guys golf junket, a large group of diehards or a relaxing family vacation centered around some great time spent on the links, the hotels, inns and villas nearby will have something to suit your visit. Custom packages can be built to suit your budget and timeframe. www.pgavillage.com

Aprés Golf at Hop Life Brewery: A pair of local firefighters and their passion for high quality beers now has a terrific taproom experience adding a wonderful apres locale in this coastal Florida golf hotbed. Conveniently located near the St. Lucie W. exit off I-95, the brewery is a stone's throw from the PGA Village complex and First Data Field, the New York Met's spring training facility and home to their "A" affiliate St. Lucie Mets. Long time friends and co-workers Rob Tearle and Jim Kelly have had a passion for brewing that dates back to 2011. Kelly's recent retirement from the local fire service and Tearle's approaching end of his firefighting career, lead to the idea of opening a bricks and mortar locale for their brand after years on the craft brew circuit, all while winning a variety of awards for their brews along the way. Five months into their opening our visit brought us there on New Year's Eve to a full house of patrons taking advantage of the "Bottomless Beermosa" brunch.

A bright airy ambiance welcomes you upon arriving at the contemporary, yet rustic styled venue. The spacious 75 seat taproom compliments the 15 barrel A tough decision awaits as you are presented a clipboard with the 16 on-tap brews making the decision to pair it down to four choices on your flight card, no easy task. A wide pallet of brews is offered, ranging from their signatures; Dynamite Point Golden Lager, Fire Hog  Red Ale, Naranja Wit, Big House IPA and Hop Daze Pale Ale.  A diverse collection of blonde ales, porters and stouts fill out the list of staples, while other creative and tasty small batch brews round out the taps. With all the delicious brews to pick from, one of the non-traditional selections was the stand out for both its unique blend of tastes and drinkability. The brew that passed the take-home growler test was the Mother Pucker Pineapple Mango Gose. The fruit tones alone make this a must sample when heading to Hop Life.

The Welcoming Taproom Experience

With the vast selection of delicious brews, warm inviting experience and easily accessible locale near I-95, Hop Life is a must on any visit to the Port St. Lucie. Whether the reason to visit is baseball, beaches, or birdies, you can now include great craft beer samplings making your stay along the Atlantic an even more memorable one. www.hoplife.com