Pensacola, FL--Blue Angel courses??

[buzzinb]

Hey all,

Really wanting to play the Blue Angel courses but it looks thay are resitricted to military or members/sponsered. Any way for an average schmo who is down on vacation to get permission to play?

Also, what other courses nearby would be worth playing?

Thanks a bunch,
Brian

[reggaB]

Buzz,

Check out the SNDG website

I think it is SNDG.org

There will probably be someone on there that can get you in.

Good Luck,

Mike D

[billnchristy]

When are you going to be there? My father is retired Navy and we planned on playing there...probably not til august though.

[buzzinb]

Thanks for the responses. Billnchristy, I will actually be there next week but I sure appreciate the offer. reggaB, I did go to the website and left an email with a local BOD (Mike I beleive).

Thanks again for all the help,
Brian

[billnchristy]

Hey if you play down there take some pics man...there is next to nothing on this site.

We plan on hitting all of them when we go but it would be cool to see them prior.

Don't forget the course in Gulf Breeze and there are 2 at the PJC campus in Milton and another in Pensacola at the UWF campus.

[ThePatrick]

Don't forget the course in Gulf Breeze

+1 on the gulf breeze course. It's not the hardest by any means, but the little island holes are a must play. Luckily I have family right down the street and we caught that course on the way to La Vie En Rose this year.

[SpringDgLover]

+1 on the gulf breeze course. It's not the hardest by any means, but the little island holes are a must play. Luckily I have family right down the street and we caught that course on the way to La Vie En Rose this year.

I have a lot of fun playing that course when we head to Destin.

[tamahawk]

My sister and her family was actually there about 2wks ago. They played one of the Blue Angel Parks. They did not have any trouble at all getting on the course without any help. I know the info on the homepage says something about being a member or a guest of a member or something like that, but my sister told them at the gate that they were only there on vacation and they let them pay the one-time fee and play, i think it was like $3 or something.

[magictenor1]

I too understand that you can play on the base if you call ahead. The Gulf Breeze course is nice also.

[buzzinb]

Thanks for the responses. We leave tomorow! I contacted a member of the club and he said it will be no problem. I plan on at least playing both the Blue Angel courses and the Sunset course in Gulf Breeze. May play others if time allows. Got the whole family with me and I am the only DG fanatic. I will take pics if I remember to bring the camera--truth be told I am not much of a photographer. We also plan on visiting the Naval Air Museum and old Civil War/Spanish forts again. Anyone who spends time in this area must see these awesome attractions.

Will give reports upon returning.

Brian

[tamahawk]

Enjoy your vacation, and the courses. Have a great trip!

[buzzinb]

Appreciate it Tamahawk. We had an awesome time in the FL Panhandle. I got to play both of the Blue Angel courses twice. I was going to play Sunset in Gulf Breeze on my last day there but found myself magically drawn back to the BA courses again! They really are that good. I took pictures from the Palmetto Am tees and the first 18 of the Oaks Pro tees for contrast. I will upload them from the mem card sometime this weekend and hopefully get them to this site. My only concern is that I will not be able to tell which holes are which! In hind site, I should have brought 18 paper plates with the respecive numbers with me to hold up as a reference. We'll see how it turns out.
For anyone planning on being in this area...you must play these courses. They are not to be missed. I have included moderately extensive reviews of both here on DGCR. I would also include a visit to the Naval Flight Museum as a "must do " activity. It will bring out your inner patriot as you realize how lucky we are to have such talented people and innovators keeping this country safe over the years. I would also highly reccomend the Shrimp Basket on Perdido Key for excellent fried seafood at a reasonable price. The home grown 4th of July fireworks show that we saw at Perdido Key was sensational! There must have been 10's of thousands of dollars woth of mortars shot off in the little area that we were at. Rivals anything I had seen previously.

Damn, gotta wait for next summer now....

[buzzinb]

Sorry I took so long but I uploaded some pictures to my profile page under photo albums. I'm not confident enough of the quality to upload them to the course directory page. Please feel free to visit my profile and check them out. They are in reverse order so start on page 4 and work your way back. There were actually an additional 6 holes on the Oaks course that I did not take picutres of. I was just too beaten down by the heat, humidity and father time.

Missing the Gulf...

[billnchristy]

Did you play anywhere else? We hit the Pirate's Cove 9 holer and Ferry Park in Ft. Walton. We enjoyed both...such a different game from GA courses, we don't have a lot of palms, sand, or swampy water here!!

[buzzinb]

I had actually planned on playing the course in Gulf Breeze but wound up playing the Blue Angel courses again instead. I probably should have tried at least one other course while there--its just that I was so impressed with the Oaks and Palmetto that I couldn't resist going back :-) Next time I'm out that way I will definately enjoy a little variety.

[billnchristy]

We are looking forward to playing Whiting Field with my father and maybe the Gulf Breeze course as well.

I take it the Blue Angel courses were good?

[buzzinb]

The Blue Angel courses were among the best I've played though admittedly I haven't played many. Their are several things that stick out in my mind about the courses:
1. They are both well designed making excellent use of the landscape. They really struck a nice balance between being challenging but still very fun for an intermediate player such as myself. I think that the Oaks course would have a nice appeal for even seasoned veterans. Many of the Pro tees on that course demand distance and precision.
2. The courses are both immaculate. The grounds crew aren't merely a bunch of trash stabbers, these guys are all DG enthusiasts and have helped develop and perfect the courses over the years. Several took the time to stop by and introduce themselves, offer helpful pointers and solicit feedback...never experienced this before! There are water coolers every so many holes that they generously maintain with ice water and cups.
3. Replay value. Nearly every hole has an alternate tee that noticeably alters the shot. You can have a different experience just by switching tees.

Some may find the high number of low ceiling shots a bit repetitive but I think that it forces one to carefully think their shot through before teeing off. Those who like to grip n rip for pure distance may end up having a long day.

If you are anywhere close (Sunset at Gulf Breeze is only about 30 min), you MUST play these gems!