World Woods Golf Club, Pine Barrens Course, Brooksville, Florida - A Golf Course that Designer Tom Fazio Considers His Best Work

When Yukihisa Inoue, President of World Woods Corporation, went in search of a golf-course architect with the ability to design a masterpiece, he chose Tom Fazio because of his unique style and penchant for utilizing the land's natural beauty, character and layout. The result is the visually stunning Pine Barrens Course at World Woods Golf Club in Brooksvile, Florida.

According to Fazio, this is his best work. Joe Black, past President of the PGA of America concurred when he said, "This is like having Pine Valley and Augusta, plus the best practice facility in the world - in the same location."

The course, which takes its names for the numerous pine trees, was sculpted from a vast pine forest. It features some dramatic and surprising elevation changes, expansive, untamed waste bunkering that gives the course a rough, rugged look, and large, manicured fairways. It has been favorably compared to the Pine Valley Course in New Jersey, which is the consensus #1 course in the world.

The course plays to par 71 and stretches to 6,902 yards from the longest tees. The course plays on Bermuda grass with a USGA rating of 73.3 and a slope rating of 136, offering a combination of intimidating and enjoyable holes. Golfers will typically find the course a solid test of both the mental and physical aspects of the game.

Some of the most noteworthy holes include No. 4 and 15, which have been rated among the most popular in Florida as well as some of the best strategic holes built in the last 60 years. Hole No. 4 is one of the most photographed in the state, which has been acclaimed for its scope and grandeur. The hole plays to 494 yards, which is short for a par-5. But a vicious waste area chasm, with a fall-off so deep that ladders are provided in places, dominates the fairway on the right all the way to the green.

Hole No. 15 is a short par-4 that borders No. 4 and sits in a sandy bowl surrounded by trees. The green is located across water and a sandy crater on the right, and may entice some golfers to go for it off the tee. But the prudent play is to the fairway far to the left, which wraps around a series of bunkers and waste area short and left of the green.

The Pine Barrens Course, which opened in 1993, has received other accolades as well, including being ranked #26 among "America's Best Modern Courses'' by GolfWeek magazine. GOLF Magazine ranks it #45 on its list of best courses in the U.S., and #9 on its Top 100 Course You Can Play list.

In addition, Pine Barrens also boasts what has been called the best practice facility in the world. The facility includes an expansive, 23-acre range with all grass teeing areas, an iron range, two greenside pitch and chip areas with bunkers, a two-acre putting green, along with a three-hole practice course featuring a par-3, 4 and 5.

The World Woods Golf Club features a total of 2,100 acres of land, a second championship course, Rolling Oaks, and plans for a third. Plans are also in the works for on-site accommodations and corporate meeting rooms. Currently, World Woods Golf Club offers golf packages, including accommodations at four new villas located near the Sugarmill Woods Golf Community, located a few minutes from the World Woods Club.

Nearby vacation attractions include Busch Gardens, Adventure Island, Homosassa Wildlife Park, as well as professional sports, such as the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers.