Daytona Golf Club – Rich In Character(s)

There’s a Cadillac in the parking lot. And a tractor. There’s a GQ kid bombing one off the first tee dressed head to toe in Nike sharing a cart with a likely farmer in jeans with a denim, Phil Mickelson-like, long sleeve, button up shirt. This is a metro course with a rural feel, a literal country club that figuratively is anything but. The owner who built the course (now in his 80’s) still comes in 5-6 days a week.

The course was built in 1964 and is still family ran today. The clubhouse and the course have changed over the years, but the original commitment to their guests has remained the same – to greet people with a smile, make them feel welcome, and to provide a friendly and warm atmosphere for family and friends to enjoy the game of golf. This is the course where everyone comes to play from every walk of life and either shoots their best score ever or they don’t, and they don’t seem to care either way.

I asked one gentleman if I could snap a quick picture of the golf hole he was about to tee off on. “Why?” he asked. “For a story,” I replied. “But why this hole?” I pointed downhill at the green, with the pond tucked behind it. “Because it’s pretty,” I answered. “Huh,” he chuckled, “I’ve never really noticed that.” (Seriously?) “Do you play here often?” I asked. He nodded. “Every week.” His cart partner chimed in then with the perfect one-liner. “His problem is, he only looks up when he swings.”

There’s scenery here, but guys like (we’ll call him Ray) apparently don’t come for that. They come for the fun. They come for the casual… and most of all for the camaraderie. Daytona gives a fast value round to people who just like to hit a little white (or neon) ball as far as it wants to go on any given swing. (Never very far for Ray… something his cart partner (and best friend) pointed out every time.)

For those who don’t know, Daytona Golf Club is technically in Dayton, although Rogers and Otsego residents also tend to claim it. That puts it in the far northwest sector of the Twin Cities metro, an easy shot from Maple Grove, Champlin, Blaine, etc. Thousands of people drive by it every day without knowing its even there, mostly because the one little roadside sign is partially blocked by a telephone pole. This course is good for beginners, but it plays more difficult than it looks and is challenging for even the experienced golfers. Anything but daunting from the tips (at only 6,245 yards), the most punitive hazards are the bunkers that catch wayward approach shots. Yes, there are ponds, and an occasional stream, but you can ALWAYS hit a safe shot to a safe spot, and would have to work REALLY HARD here to ever get an “Other” on your scorecard.

The short length of most holes makes mediocre tee shots feel much better (speaking from experience), especially when you can almost always see a clear path to the green on approach from pretty much everywhere. My favorite holes on the front nine are the opener, a downhill runway towards the distant corn field, with a slightly elevated, sand-protected green… and the 294 yard uphill dogleg-right 5^th hole that takes you to the indoor tennis courts, and yet I contend the three best holes on the course are all on the back.

The tenth hole is probably my favorite hole on the course, a downhill risk reward tee shot over a pond on a dogleg left that quickly climbs back up to the course’s most elevated green, with a genius little bunker in the back to catch people who can’t stick greens very well (like myself). “I never even knew that bunker was there,” Ray said. “Never hit one far enough to find it,” his playing partner jabbed. (Ha! I like these guys.) “Which one of you is Jack Lemmon and which is Walter Matthau?” I asked playfully. They both looked at me like I was an alien. “Never mind.”

My other two favorite holes are the downhill Par 3, 15^th with a pond right behind it, and the closing hole (#18) – a dogleg right that finishes at another great, elevated green, right in front of the clubhouse (with another deadly bunker front right). The elevated nature of many of these greens is slight, but clearly intentional, and paired with a ton of purposefully placed mounds gives them some great character. They are otherwise large and mostly flat greens, perfect for draining long putts (as Ray did on 11, in what might have been his longest hit of the day). “Great shot, Ray,” I said. “I’ve never once missed that putt,” he replied.

Character and characters… that’s what I remember fondly about my Daytona Golf Club experience.