Baytowne Golf Club (at Sandestin)

Baytowne Golf Club (at Sandestin): Just east of Destin on Florida's Emerald Coast, the Sandestin Resort boasts four impressive championship golf courses - the ever-popular Baytowne course combines a pleasant variety of golf holes and settings, and is perhaps an easier-going proposition than Sandestin's highly-rated Burnt Pine and Raven layouts - laid out on either side of a clubhouse that also serves the Raven course, Baytowne comprises two contrasting nine-hole loops - the front-nine heads north into a resort-style environment, bringing you close to the buzzing Village of Baytowne Wharfs - on the first ten holes (and later the 14th and 16th) you will frequently be challenged by the presence of water, with small lakes and ponds skirting several fairways and defending many greens - stylish bunkering also plays its part, especially around the greens and along some fairways - the back-nine takes you south, to within a few hundred yards of the Gulf of Mexico - holes 13, 14 and 15 form a testing loop on the other side of the Emerald Coast Parkway (Hwy 98) - the tight, villa and condo-lined par-4 13th and uphill par-5 15th are separated by the fabulous par-3 14th - here, under the gaze of towering condo blocks, a testing tee-shot is required to find the seriously water and bunker threatened green - Baytowne's continued popularity is assured, with more undulation than is found on most of the area's courses, several nicely elevated tees to play from, a forward set of Junior tees to encourage family play and the benefit of a significant renovation in the mid-2000s.