Featured Golf Trip: Cabot Citrus Farms

All of a sudden, the Florida men and women of Tampa have two real golf meccas reachable in barely more than an hour.

We’ve ​talked​ ​Streamsong​. So let’s dive into ​Cabot Citrus Farms​, an hour-ish north of downtown.

What you’ll find awaiting in Brooksville, Florida, is a place previously called World Woods that has been totally reinvented into a stunning, modern destination, with a couple of 18-hole courses alongside an inventive 10-holer and a short course lit for night play.

The centerpiece is ​Karoo​, a Kyle Franz design that embraces the sandy soil of the area, with open fairways exposed to wind and weaving through waste areas. It evokes “the feel of an inland links course with undulating terrain and strategic bunkering that reward thoughtful shot-making,” ​writes​ Golfer’s Journal. It ranks 40th on our ​composite list​ of the top 100 public golf courses in America. Meanwhile, the ​Roost​ course offers a “sublime counterpoint” to Karoo’s volatility, Golf Digest says, played in a “tranquil setting amid moss-draped oaks.” Roost is a mutt, architecturally speaking, derived from the four-headed design team of Kyle Franz, Mike Nuzzo, Rod Whitman, and Ran Morrissett.

And then there are ​The Squeeze​ and ​The Wedge​. The former is a 10-hole affair from Nuzzo with holes that range from a sizeable par 5 to short par 3s. There’s a mix of complex greens and bumpy terrain, and the course is loaded with short 4s and “half par” holes that keep things interesting at every turn. The Wedge is a more traditional par 3 course, also from Nuzzo, but one that similarly brings the drama (day or night).

On-site accommodations are intriguing, a mix of well-designed cottages to lay your head. But they’re not entirely necessary, as the resort allows players to book rounds as non-staying guests as far out as a year in advance. That opens up your options—tack a quick round or two onto a trip to Streamsong, stay in Tampa and go a la carte, or simply snag an airbnb near Cabot Citrus Farms to save a little cash.