As we were only about 30 mins drive away from the famous TPC Sawgrass Golf Club we decided to take a drive north along the coastal road which we'd originally thought was a toll road but we checked with Tourist Info and it wasn't.
I don't know if you can see well enough from this map, but the road runs north on the thinnest strip of land.
Unfortunately though it was almost impossible to see either the beach or the sea as we were driving along as the road was lined with houses practically the whole way. But when we did get a chance to stop and see the beach it was very much wilder than Crescent Beach.
TPC (Tournament Players Club) Sawgrass is one of a chain of clubs owned and run by the PGA and hosts an annual tournament which Ian follows with great interest.
We fully expected to be politely told we couldn't go in the clubhouse, but no, it seemed anyone was welcome. We found the pro shop and Ian treated himself to a very expensive baseball cap with a logo on it and the lady serving told us about the storytellers. These are older members who take guests on a tour of the course and the clubhouse at various times of the day and the next one was at 1400. So we wandered back into the main lobby area where there was a chap in a smart blazer and tie but he didn't engage with us so we just sat down and waited. A few minutes past 1400 a rather loud middle-aged lady came in with another couple and went straight over to the old guy who immediately offered to take them out. We then piped up that we'd been patiently waiting but luckily his golf cart could carry 6 pax and so we all went off together. He drove us to several of the most popular spots on the course and gave us a very detailed overview of its history. The tournament was about 6 weeks away and there were all sorts of grandstands and hospitality marquees being erected but we still saw a lot including Ian's favourite 17th Hole which is an island green.
The daunting view from the tee box. Apparently about 100,000 balls are recovered from the lake each year.
I found the white pelicans more interesting.
The sign on the golf cart made me chuckle; Ian and I were sitting at the back, facing backwards, and the chap drove so fast we had to cling on for dear life and should we have fallen off it certainly wouldn't have been from choice.
Back in the clubhouse the tour continued and we went just about everywhere apart from the changing rooms and our guide continued to regale us with anecdotes about players over the years.
The famous trophy.
The tour was completely free but embarrassingly for us the storytellers accept donations which they all give to charity (US$40,000 last year) and we didn't have a single dollar on us.