Golf in Deerfield Beach

At Villa Delray Golf Club, GPS-equipped golf carts zoom over lush, green fairways and past ponds visited by long-beaked ibises and snowy egrets. Before driving and putting their way through the par 71, 18-hole course, golfers can dig up divots at a grass driving range with 20 hitting stations, practice chipping, or dribble their balls up to the hole and dunk them on a putting green. After a day in the sun, players can refuel at the restaurant, bar, or snack shop, and stop by the pro shop to replace uncooperative dimpled orbs.

With state-of-the-art facilities and equipment, the professional instructors at A-Swing Golf Academy develop lesson plans that make swing improvement fun and, most importantly, functional. Their approach to instruction aims to instill fundamentals in all skill areas, including full strokes, chips, slapshots, and putts. During lessons and swing-analysis sessions, the golf gurus employ the technological intricacies of a high-speed video camera to capture a player's unique swing motion and identify unfavorable tendencies.

Golf pros also follow students onto the course for playing lessons, in which they coach the intangibles of course management, risk assessment, and subtle intimidation tactics such as grunting during an opponent's backswing or teeing up with a rusty nail and glass eyeball.

The 18 holes of Palm Beach Gardens Golf Course slither through the natural marshes and wetlands of the Loxahatchee Nature Preserve, testing golfers' mettle with frequent changes in fairway direction and lots of water. Players scoot about the Roy Case-designed layout aboard golf carts equipped with GPS systems, which help them ascertain exact distances to greens and around sunbathing caddies. The fairway of the par 5 ninth hole -- dubbed "Mucho Agua" -- lies on an isthmus between two large bodies of water, leaving little room for error as players try to reach the green in two. The fairway of the 13th hole, also a par 5, doglegs twice into a unique Z shape, earning it the name of "Zorro's Revenge." Before players may turn in for the day, they must deal with two shots over water on the last hole, named "Swamp Thing" for its proximity to marshland and proclivity for early '80s horror movies.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 72 course
• Total length of 6,500 yards from the back tees
• Four sets of tees per hole

The emerald alleyways of Forest Oaks Golf Club's 18-hole course tumble through towering trees and scenic streams for a round of lengthy, challenging play. Tight fairways supply the bulk of the difficulty throughout the round, which tests golfers' accuracy off the tee and golf carts' stamina with six par 5s. The club hosts frequent scrambles, beat-the-pro competitions, and other friendly competitions to unite linkspeople under the common cause of hunting pins and fending off mulligans. To prepare duffers for rounds on their scenic course, Forest Oaks' staff of resident aces offers onsite golf instruction, and the golf club fuels herculean drives and underfed 9-irons with refreshments and homemade snack-bar