A Foxy Course

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While in North Florida for the Taste of the Beach food and wine festival earlier this month, I had the urge to play some golf. Locals suggested Shalimar Pointe (emeraldcoastgolftrail.com), which turned out to be a friendly course that the regulars couldn't stop boasting about-and a fox and troop of frisky fox squirrels call home. Located in Fort Walton Beach on the edge of Choctawhatchee Bay in a neighborhood where Edwin Watts (yes, the founder of the golf stores) and five-star generals reside, the Dye-Finger course is all about undulation and a narrow design. Take the 364-yard par-4 7^th hole for example, "It plays like a valley that sucks the ball in," says Al Cieluch, who's played courses around the world, but claims this is the most difficult hole he ever played. Big oaks in the middle of the fairways, houses on the sidelines, huge sand bunkers and daily pin placement changes create the challenges here. Ken Cook, an Edwin Watts exec who was playing in a tournament that day, told me: "There are a lot of decisions you have to make when playing this course. Do I try to hit over the trap or the trees?" Needless to say, I was invited back by a group of lady golfers impressed with my game­­­­-a friendly course indeed.