I had the pleasure of playing Crown Colony in late August 2022 during a practice round for the first stage of Korn Ferry Tour Q-School with my son Michael. In this Crown Colony Golf Course review, I will reveal to you why it is considered one of the best golf courses in Fort Myers Florida and why you should consider playing it if you have the opportunity.
Here is what we found:
Crown Colony Golf And Country Club Review
As you are driving to the first tee, you pass by the 10th tee, which gives you a look at an incredibly intimidating tee shot with bunkers everywhere. Setting the tone for a round of golf on a very challenging tract.
I was playing the member tees and Michael was playing as far back as he could get, one foot in the long grass as we call it, which only stretches back to 6815 yards. Very short for a Korn Ferry Tour Q-School Tournament, considering that last year we played Q-School at Kinderlou Forest Golf Course in Valdosta Georgia, that stretches all the way back to 7781 yards.
That was our first clue that Crown Colony had some defenses that we were about to discover.
The first defense that we found was some tight landing areas in the fairways and many holes that take driver out of your hand and force you to hit well placed tee shots with irons and fairway woods.
The next thing we discovered about this Ron Garl designed gem was that the greens can be very challenging if you don’t put your ball in the correct position.
Crown Colony is known for its meticulously maintained, fast smooth greens and on the day we played, this proved to be the case.
The greens complexes are magnificent. They are well protected with bunkers and feature a tremendous amount of slope for greens that are maintained at such fast speeds.
As we made our way around the golf course, we found ourselves continually saying, “What a great golf hole”.
One of our favorite holes was the par 4 11th hole, which features an easy tee shot with an iron to stay short of the water and then a wedge into the island green.
Very picturesque.
The par five finishing hole is a challenging hole with a great view of the fabulous clubhouse and a canal that runs through the fairway right where I would have laid up, had I not known it was there.
It wasn’t a problem for Michael, as he hit the green in two, but we mere mortals are forced to play it as a three shot hole.
At the end of the day, it was an great round of golf on an awesome golf course that I would love to play again.
I shot a respectable 75 and Michael posted a beautiful 69.
Practice Areas
Crown Colony has a nice driving range with a large teeing area to accommodate plenty of players.
There is a small, but sufficient short game area where you can practice chipping and pitching from the fairway and rough, as well as a sand trap to practice your bunker shots.
Behind the clubhouse you will find a huge, undulating putting green that rolls as beautifully as the greens on the course.
How Can You Play Crown Colony
Crown Colony is a private country club located in Fort Myers, but there are ways that you can play this Southwest Florida gem.
One way is with the South Florida PGA Golf Pass. This pass let’s you play many of the finest private golf clubs in South Florida during the period May 1st – October 31st.
If you want to check out the practice facilities, you can do so by booking a lesson with my good friend Tom Patri. Tom operates TP Golf Schools out of Crown Colony during the high season.
Wrapping Up The Crown Colony Golf Course Review
Crown Colony is a challenging championship golf course that has some of the finest putting greens that we have played in South Florida.
The Crown features wall to wall Paspalum, a grass species known for its salt water tolerance and providing lies that sit up high on top of the grass.
Paspalum is one of our favorite playing surfaces, when it is managed correctly and it is managed magnificently by golf course superintendent Paul Bacon.
Crown Colony is one of the best golf courses in Fort Myers, and all of Southwest Florida and that is saying something, given the shear number of great courses in this area.
If you have the opportunity, get out and play this gem. You will be glad you did.