Bonita Springs, FL Outdoor Activities

As a former collegiate golfer and member of the Nationwide Tour, PGA teaching professional Jon Butler synthesizes his own experiences with the teachings of influential colleagues to form a unique teaching philosophy. Jon believes that each golfer’s swing should be custom fit to their set of physical characteristics to improve their play and lower their score. To achieve this, he uses advanced swing tools and demonstrations to help players find a balanced swing plane, as well as video analysis so golfers can determine whether they’ve eliminated the instinctual pirouette from their follow-through.

Though most instruction takes place on the range at West Bay Beach and Golf Club, Jon can also follow golfers out onto the course to teach course-management skills and strategy in different situations.

Like the Fort Myers Palms and the Miami Hustlers, Marlins, and Orioles before them, the Fort Myers Miracle continue a tradition of minor league baseball in South Florida that dates back to 1926. Under the stewardship of partial owners Jimmy Buffet and Bill Murray, the Miracle is now a Class A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins that faces off against rival Florida State League teams in front of crowds of up to 8,500 in Hammond Stadium. Though still pursuing their first FSL championship, the franchise has won six total first and second half division titles and produced a number of players who have gone on to play in the FSL all-star game, the major leagues, and community theater productions of The Sandlot.

It’s not uncommon to stumble upon fake alligators as you make your way around a mini-golf course. But at Smuggler's Cove's locations, live American alligators snap their jaws in exhibits nestled amid the miniature fairways—including a self-contained enclosure at Sarasota for Pearl, one of an estimated 40 albino alligators in the world. With an old-fashioned bamboo pole or a meat-scented golf club, players can dangle a piece of fried meat above 20–50 alligators, which leap from the water to snatch their treat. Between feeding frenzies, games take place across on Smuggler’s Cove’s 18-hole outdoor courses, where balls roll past rushing waterfalls, into caves, over mountainous terrain, and into a hole atop a pirate ship.

For more than 10 years, Germain Arena's certified hockey and figure-skating coaches have nurtured athletes on the ice of the facility's 200'x85' twin rinks. During eight-week programs, the coaching staff helps groups of up to 10 students grow comfortable standing, falling, and gliding on skates before tackling fundamentals in U.S. figure skating, synchronized skating, or ice dancing. For hockey hopefuls, they teach passing, stick handling, and backhand sweep passes, and each student receives a jersey and a pass that may be redeemed for public skate admission.

Inside the 7,100-seat main arena, advanced skaters and players face off in figure-skating competitions, hockey tournaments, and Florida Everblades matches. Leisurely skating commences at weekly open skates––where a disco ball and laser show cast the rink aglow against the thumping beats of Top 20 songs––and at birthday parties, not in the main arena, which include admission, skate rental, pizza, popcorn, private-room rental, and a free skate admission for every child.

Famed course architects Dick Wilson and Joe Lee artfully incorporated more than 50 sand traps, ponds, and diverse tree lines into Quality Inn & Suites Golf Resort’s 6,570-yard course. The course’s first hole is also its most difficult, so clubbers would benefit from a brief warm-up session at the course’s practice green and lighted driving range. An onsite pro shop maintains a wide selection of golf equipment and apparel, and a staff of PGA professionals orchestrates private, group, and undercover golf lessons.

On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights, live music enchants diners as they enjoy a meal of traditional grill fare by the pool or at the garden terrace of T. A. Fitzgerald’s Restaurant & Spirits. Meanwhile, the casual eatery’s indoor accommodations feature a wide-screen TV with a satellite feed to help guests keep abreast of faraway sporting events without having to use their putter as an AM radio antenna.

Course at a Glance:

• Designed by Dick Wilson and Joe Lee
• 18-hole, par 72 course
• Length of 6,570 yards from the farthest tees
• Course rating of 71.5 from the farthest tees
• Slope rating of 125 from the farthest tees
• Four tee options
• Scorecard

A windswept canopy of palm trees and tiki huts cast shadows over Golf Safari’s 18-hole mini-golf course, where putters explore a safari-themed pastiche of life-sized lion statues, jungly gardens, and misting waterfalls. Built upon a foundation of rocky outcrops, the emerald passageways swerve among the hooves of zebra sculptures, pretend giraffes, and real-life goat-human hybrids. Sprightly flowers and ponds dotted with lily pads greet putt-putt posses along the way, providing a tranquil contrast to pressure-packed putts. With each hole in one, players gain a lifetime of bragging rights against their competitors, as well as the eternal friendship of George T. Gorilla, the course’s primate mascot.