Living the Golfing Lifestyle in Tampa Bay Florida

    Have you ever imagined living either now or when you’re ready to retire nestled in a community that lives and breathes the game of golf. Do you know how many golf course communities exist right here in the greater Tampa Florida area? Can you imagine living in a spacious home overlooking a well-tended golf course fairway or right off the 18th green?

    The Tampa area is home to at least nine golf course communities, each with its own set of amenities, many with elementary schools right within its borders. Some are private courses while others are semi-private or open to the public. There is a Tampa area golf community with a golf course that matches your level of play from the duffer to the most accomplished competitive player. And, of course, there are homes from fairly modest and priced in the low $100’s to private gated communities with estates priced in the million dollar range.

    We’ll present here just a sampling of the variety of golf communities available including both private and public courses:

    Tampa Palms is a master-planned mixed use community north of the University of South Florida campus along the Bruce B Downs corridor. This golf community includes homes, shops, office spaces, churches, recreational facilities, and restaurants. Schools within its boundaries include elementary, middle and high schools. Tampa Palms was named “the top master-planned community in the US for 1987.” Home prices range from fairly modest single-family homes priced from mid $100,000’s to larger homes priced in the $400,00-$500,000’s in the gated Ashington Reserve section and executive estates in the gated Tampa Palms Reserve section priced up to $2 million. \

    The Tampa Palms Golf & Country Club is a private members-only club offering a Arthur Hill designed 18-hole course as well as a hotel with luxury guest suites, a full-service restaurant, fitness center, junior Olympic swimming pool, tennis courts and spa. Members enjoy benefits at four golf courses in the Tampa Bay Area including Tampa Palms,itself, nearby Hunter's Green, as well as the Eastlake Woodlands and Countryside courses in neighboring Pinellas County as well as other country clubs and resorts across the country.

    Hunter's Green is another master-planned golf community located just over a mile north of Tampa Palms on the Bruce B. Downs corridor. Beyond its gated entrance, you'll find a private, unspoiled natural environment where over half of its nearly 1,400 acres have been reserved for conservation and recreation. Shimmering lakes, peaceful parks, and nature are among its natural highlights. Homes in Hunter’s Green range from single family homes for just under $200,000 to executive homes in the secure, double-gated Heritage Oaks area priced as high as $2 million.

    The Hunter's Green County Club with its 35,000 square foot elegant, yet casual clubhouse and its Tom Fazio-designed 18-hole golf course designed specifically to emphasize environmental integrity. The club includes a premium tennis courts, athletic and swim club, and an outstanding dining and social club. Membership includes access to the other 3 courses at nearby Tampa Palms and the Eastlake Woodlands, and Countryside courses in Pinellas County.

    Heritage Harbor is located in Lutz, an unincorporated area northwest of the city of Tampa. Heritage Harbor's location is one of its best features with easy access to the Carrollwood section of Tampa with its excellent selection of schools, shopping, dining and health care facilities. The community includes about 400 homes among conservation areas, lakes and ponds. Community amenities include a fitness and aerobics center, two resort-style swimming pools, waterslide, tot pool and playground, volleyball, basketball, racquetball, a roller hockey rink. Homes in Heritage Harbor range in price from the high $100,000's to over $400,000.

    The well-equipped Harbor Towne Clubhouse includes a fitness room, Olympic size pool, and lighted tennis courts. The public 18-hole, par 72 course includes a well-equipped pro shop. Along the fairways, you’re likely to spot hawks, ospreys, loons, ibis, herons and kingfishers. The course is a paradise for birds as well as for golfers, but it was created to give golfers a challenge.

    Westchase is another of Tampa’s master-planned communities located on over 2,000 acres on the west side of Tampa near the Pinellas County line. It is conveniently located with just a 20 minute drive to the Tampa International Airport, the Westshore Business District and only 30 minutes to St. Petersburg and the some of the best beaches in Florida.

    There are over 3,500 residences in 29 separate neighborhoods, each offering a different lifestyle including condos, townhomes, villas, and single family homes and apartments. Prices in Westchase range from the mid-$100,000's to approximately $750,000. There are also several private, gated neighborhoods. Each neighborhood has its own hub of activity all of which come together at the two Town Centers with swimming pools and tennis courts, playgrounds, sport fields, and picnic pavilions. The community includes hundreds of acres of preserved land, playgrounds, parks, nature trails, and soccer fields, Westcahjse has a top-rated school district.

    The Westchase Golf Club is a public course. The 18-hole, par 72 course winds through natural wetlands, wooden bridges and bulkheads. The club has a beautiful 9,500 square foot clubhouse used by residents and others for a wide variety of events.

    Cheval is a prestigious, gated community located in the unincorporated Lutz area of Hillsborough County north of the city of Tampa, offering the best of golf and equestrian country club lifestyles. Homes are situated in cypress conservation areas surrounded by all the amenities of 5-star resort. Amenities in this golf and equestrian community include golf, tennis swimming, fine dining, and 24 hour manned security. The community includes 2,000 acres of lakes, conservation areas and wildlife reserves. Homes range in price from the mid-to high $200’s to over $2 million.

    The private Cheval Golf and Country Club sits in a cypress forest, much of which is set aside as conservation areas for wildlife. In the words of one prominent Sarasota FL real estate agent and avid golfer, "even considering all the wonderful golf courses we have in Sarasota, the 18-hole, par 72 golf course at Cheval is clearly one of the finest in all of Tampa Bay and its especially pleasant in that it meanders through the community itself." The Cheval Athletic Club houses nine lighted Har-Tru tennis courts and has recently undergone a complete renovation which added a junior-olympic size pool, an enlarged pro shop and a fine dining facility to already upscale amenities. Most members of the country club are residents of Cheval although it is not a prerequisite for membership.

    Saddlebrook Resort, situated about 40 minutes north of Tampa in the town of Wesley Chapel, is an award-winning golf and tennis academy/resort with facilities for corporate events and conferences. As a resort, Saddlebrook offers hotel rooms and suites, but residential properties are also available. Housing options at Saddlebrook include 1, 2 & 3 bedroom condos and townhomes, and larger single-family homes. The homes are situated into “villages” in secluded wooded and lakefront settings minutes by golf-cart to the main resort. Many families own properties at Saddlebrook as second homes adjacent to the Saddlebrook golf and tennis training facility. Homes vary in price from condos for the low to mid $100,000’s to executive homes priced in the $700,000s.

    Saddlebrook offers 2 Arnold Palmer designed courses; the 18-hole, par 71 Palmer Course and the 18-hole, par 70 Saddlebrook Course as well as 45 tennis courts, a European-style spa, and 7 restaurants.

    Over 100 students from 20 different countries attend an intensive training program and study together at the Saddlebrook Preparatory School offering grades 3 through 12.

    Other golf course communities in the Tampa area include Pebble Creek and Heritage Isles in the New Tampa area, Lexington Oaks in Wesley Chapel, Lake Bernadette in Zephyrhills, and Lake Jovita in Dade City. Each of them will be profiled here in future updates.

    I would be delighted to show you homes and condominiums in any of the many Tampa Bay golf course communities in Hillsborough and Pasco County. For more information, please use my brief Request for Tampa Bay Information form or E-Mail Me today. For more immediate action, call me at 813-263-6806. I'd be delighted to hear from you.