Palmer golf course at Saddlebrook Resort in Tampa: Challenging greens will take you to school

Brandon Tucker

February 27, 2012

Updated July 20, 2018

WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla. -- Located just north of Tampa, Saddlebrook Resort is home to 36 holes of golf including the newer Palmer Course. The course features a pleasant and quiet setting within this large tennis and golf retreat that is also home to a world-class prep school.

Saddlebrook Resort was once a 27-hole facility until Arnold Palmer and Ed Seay designed a brand new nine and renovated nine existing holes of the former routing, which are now holes 6-through-14. Opened in 1982, the course plays 6,641 yards from the back tees, short for modern standards, but the real difficulty in the Palmer Course is in the green complexes. While fairways are generous and feature lots of mounding, the greens are often raised and well-protected.

Another unique aspect to the Palmer is that it closes with a short but tricky par 3 that plays less than 150 yards.

In addition to the Palmer Course, Saddlebrook is also home to the original Saddlebrook Course. Also, the BannLynch teaching academy, with a partnership with K.J. Choi, is new to the property and teaches both the prep school and offers destination golf schools for adults.

Brandon Tucker

Brandon Tucker is the Sr. Managing Editor for GolfPass and was the founding editor of Golf Advisor in 2014, he was the managing editor for Golf Channel Digital's Courses & Travel. To date, his golf travels have taken him to over two dozen countries and nearly 600 golf courses worldwide. While he's played some of the most prestigious courses in the world, Tucker's favorite way to play the game is on a great muni in under three hours. Follow Brandon on Twitter at @BrandonTucker and on Instagram at @btuck34.