Preserving Old Florida

By WAYNE MILLS

There is a lot of discussion these days about the “Old Florida” and whether or not it exists at all anymore. Well, feel heartened because it does, at least in the northwest portion of the state from Tallahassee to Pensacola.

Much of the reason is because of The St Joe Co., which owns more than 850,000 acres of land across that region including miles of white sand beachfront on the Gulf of Mexico. To put that in perspective, that is an area 10 percent larger than the state of Rhzode Island. St Joe is a real estate development company but it does its business quite differently from clear-cut, bulldoze, carve into postage-stamp lots, pave it and sell it to you as paradise developers that operate in other parts of Florida.

To St Joe, land isn’t just a commodity to exploit for profit, it is a resource to be respected and protected. The company’s idea is more of stewardship than ownership. St Joe chairman and CEO Peter S. Rummell says, “Our success isn’t measured by what we have built, but through the on-going quality of life we have enabled.”

If you think that is just self-serving hyperbole, maybe Eric Draper, state policy director of Audubon of Florida, will convince you with this comment; “We have been gratified by St Joe’s response to our input as we have worked together to protect some of northwest Florida’s best natural areas. Many years from now, people will look at what we are doing today and say, “My God, how did they do all of that?”

It is good to know that St. Joe takes the same approach with its golf courses. At present there are golf courses at its Southwood primary residence development in Tallahassee and in conjunction with its vacation-oriented WaterColor and residential WaterSound developments two hours west of Tallahassee, on the Gulf near Santa Rosa Beach.

The centerpiece at Southwood is a Fred Couples-Gene Bates design collaboration masterfully routed over the -- atypical of Florida -rolling countryside and through many stately live oak trees dripping with Spanish moss. Southwood Golf Club opened in 2002 but has the look and feel of a golf course that has been there for many, many years.

If you are looking for an Old Florida feel, the Southwood course has it for you. Appropriately Southwood has received accolades from the national golfing media, being named one of “America’s Best New Courses” by Golf Digest and “Best New Upscale Public” courses. GOLF Magazine named it an honorable mention on its “Top Ten You Can Play” in 2003.

Over on the coast St. Joe has created two stunning developments; the WaterColor Inn & Resort and WaterSound. The 60-room, 499-acre WaterColor Inn is the ultimate in casual elegance exuding relaxed sophistication as it overlooks a long stretch of white sand beach and the Gulf of Mexico. It is obvious that every detail has been thought out and executed to perfection. To use a golf analogy; St Joe has a lot of touch. In fact, the firm’s touch at WaterColor is more like that of a diamond cutter than a short-game maestro. The Watercolor Inn’s excellence was recently acknowledged by having received AAA’s Four Diamond Rating.

WaterSound is described as a collection of neighborhoods woven through a former pine plantation and framed by a network of ecologically rich wetlands. WaterSound is closely linked, both in character and in function, to the nearby community of WaterSound Beach. Rich in native understory vegetation such as live oaks, palmettos and indigenous grasses, along with marsh areas and pine stands, WaterSound’s abundant flora provides a dramatic landscape for this developing community.

The golf offering for both WaterColor and WaterSound is a stunning Tom Faziodesigned layout located a bit inland from both of the residential areas. Camp Creek Golf Club, in fact, has no housing in view as it winds its thought-provoking way through a dune-scape environment.

Camp Creek is not a lot of Fazio eye candy with no challenge, as he is sometimes accused of creating. Quite to the contrary; Camp Creek will test you on every shot with water hazards, waste bunkers, undulating greens grassed in ultra-quick Tifdwarf, plus a ubiquitous Gulf breeze awaiting your preshot considerations. Helping you in those deliberations are highly professional caddies, if requested. Camp Creek had been selected by the United States Golf Association as a May qualifying site for the 2007 United States Open.

In a welcome departure from the standard golf course offerings at resort and residential areas, St. Joe brought in PGA Tour veteran and golf-course architect Davis Love III to build a short course. Named The Origins Course, it can play as an executive-type 6 holer or a 9-hole par-3. It is a pleasure to play for families with children, young golfers, seniors, women or beginners who can go out and have a pleasant round without being overwhelmed.

The Origins Course is grassed wall-to-wall in Seashore Paspalum turf which is salt and effluent tolerant while requiring less water. The ball sits up very nicely in the fairway and rolls true on the greens.