Streamsong Red Review and Photos
- Weather: Warm, sunny
- Price: Depends on the season - check current rates here.
- Summary: Streamsong Red was designed by the dynamic team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw on a site that was originally mined for phosphate. Streamsong has three golf courses - Red, Blue, and Black. I played all three on my visit to Central Florida. I stayed in Tampa and made the roughly 1.5 hour drive which was definitely worth the drive.
- Of the three golf courses at Streamsong, my favorite was the Red course, but all three are incredible tracks.
Hole #1 - 474 yard par 4. The first hole starts off strong with a tee shot that needs to bisect two bunkers and if you can do that, you're still left with a long second shot that is slightly uphill. The picture below shows an alligator that was in a pond right off the first tee, not far from the clubhouse. I saw several alligators throughout the day, all of them in the ponds.
Hole #2 - 555 yard par five. The second hole requires a tee shot over a set of ponds on the right and bunkers down the entire left side of the fairway. The tee shot plays downhill and the green is huge, so if you hit a good drive you'll have a good shot of getting on in two.
Hole #3 - 404 yard par four. Number four is a tight driving hole but not incredibly long. There are bunkers up the left and right side of the fairway along with a lone bunker that guards the green.
Hole #4 - 330 yard par four. Fun short par four that requires a decision of whether to go for the green or try and lay up either left or right of the fairway bunker that goes up the middle of the fairway. I think the best shot is driver right over the fairway bunker and hope that the pin isn't tucked to close to the bunker near the green.
The picture below is after driving from the 4th green to the 5th tee. You'll be glad you took a cart about right now, though the pro told us that some of the members do walk the course. They would have to be in incredible shape.
Hole #5 - 393 yard par four. I just took a 3-iron off this tee and kept it about 15-20 yards left of the bunkers, which resulted in about a 150 yard approach to this awesome infinity green.
Hole #6 - 595 yard par five. The first par five of the day is breathtakingly beautiful. If you have ever wanted to play golf and feel like it's just you, the golf course, and nature, you'll feel that on this hole. The hole offers some unique options as well. It is reachable in two due to the down hill elevation and the fact that you are 7,500 feet above sea level. The second shot is pretty risky over a grove of pines and an elevated green. There is no need to play it safe, though. You're in Big Sky - go BIG!
Hole #7 - 150 yard par three. See previous hole's description about you, the golf course, and nature. Same feeling on this hole as well.
Hole #8 - 477 yard par four. Pretty tight tee shot, but just bust it over the bunker on the right with a baby draw and you'll be perfect. Note: easier said than done!
Hole #9 - 616 yard par five. A good three-shoter unless you happen to be named Dustin Johnson or Tony Finau. Uphill tee shot and downhill 2nd and 3rd shot.
Hole #10 - 443 yard par four. Tough hole to start the back nine with a creek/bunker near the landing area. Great view of Lone Peak again on this tee shot.
Hole #11 - 172 yard par three.
Hole #12 - 392 yard par four. This hole presents some fun options. As seen in the trail map below, if you want a short 2nd shot, you can aim for the left split fairway. You'll have to be able to carry it pretty far though. Otherwise, just hit a 200 yard club off the tee down the right fairway. Three of the four of us in our group took the left fairway route off the tee. We all made it, but next time I play this hole, I'm going to just hit a 200 yard shot down the right fairway because even though I only had about 60 yards left for my second shot, it was to a green that was about 30-40 feet above the level I was standing on, so it was an extremely difficult shot.
Time to refuel at the comfort station. It seemed like they had any kind of snack you could think of.
Hole #13 - 568 yard par five. The thirteenth hole is a pretty straightforward par five that is slightly uphill on the tee shot and dog-legs right.
Hole #14 - 248 yard par three. This is the longest par three on the course and there is nothing easy about the hole. If you can get out of here with a par, you'll be feeling really good. From the tips, this hole plays 286 yards.
Hole #15 - 572 yard par five. A fun par five that is downhill, but feels like about a 1% downward grade compared to the 17th hole.
Hole #16 - 184 yard par three. I landed my tee shot about 10 feet left of the pin and about 20 feet past the pin, but the ball ended up about 3 feet from the pin due to the steep slope behind that pin location.
Hole #17 - 739 yard par five. We were all looking forward to this hole and decided to play it from the back tees - 777 yards! It plays much shorter than that because the 2nd shot is about straight down hill. I wasn't close to getting there in two, but I accomplished my goal of getting there in three shots. That view behind the 17th green is a good one.
Hole #18 - 325 yard par four. I can't think of a better finishing hole that I have ever played. I love the split fairway that gives you different options. I would even recommend playing this hole from one set of tees up, which makes the hole drivable at 282 yards. The conservative play is about 215 off the tee to the left fairway which will leave you about 100 yards with a nice angle into the green.