Golf in Port Orange

For more than half a century, salty breezes off the Atlantic have rustled the fronds of the palm trees that arch along the fairways at New Smyrna Golf Club. The 18-hole, par-72 layout—originally dreamt up by course architect Donald Ross—more recently underwent renovations by Bobby Weed, updating them for 21st-century expectations such as an absence of pack horses. Before driving and putting their way across the 6,567-yard course, golfers can warm up at one of the driving range’s 30 hitting stations or acquire gear from Titleist, Callaway, and Nike at the pro shop to fill their club quivers.

The Golf Hub is helmed by teaching professional and owner Steve Roberts, a player who has championed a number of section PGA tournaments over his career. Roberts lends his time-earned expertise to golfers looking to improve through lessons or the outfit's offering of irons, apparel, and accessories by such brands as Nike and Titleist. During individual instruction, Roberts analyzes each player's personal swing profile with TrackMan technology, identifying issues in skills such as backswings and follow-throughs. The Golf Hub also punches up each ball's individuality by performing custom labeling onsite, emblazoning orbs with anything from personal photos to company logos to lost-cat flyers.

Renowned golf-course architect Bobby Weed aims to fill his courses with the kind of rich details typically produced only by Mother Nature herself. His 2008 overhaul of The Deltona Club completely transformed the course: today, blowout-style native-sand bunkers bear roughly scalloped edges that call to mind a raw desert landscape, and the elevation rises in craggy steps as the course progresses, giving players a sense of conquering the land itself. The course's resulting beauty, sense of challenge, and secret bonus level snagged the club a spot on Golfweek's list of best Florida courses in 2012.

Sweetwater Golf & Country Club's 18-hole Highlands Course weaves over 6,771 yards of fairways and greens stitched by mature oaks. The player-friendly, par 72 course puts clubbers face to face with the Loch Ness Monster—which is the name bestowed upon the course's signature hole, a 625-yard par five that double-doglegs around a lake. Golfers can prepare for their round with a stint at the club's driving range, where practice balls await to be launched in the stratosphere while commenting on the tense relationship between golf balls and sheets of glass. The club fosters more competitive fun at its tennis complex, which boasts eight lighted, outdoor Har-Tru—green clay—tennis courts.

After a day spent reading putts or thrashing forehands, guests can unwind at one of the club's three dining facilities. The relaxed vibes of the Fife & Drum Pub and the Carnoustie Café welcome casually-clad guests fresh off the course, and the more formal, chandelier-lit confines of the Highlands Dining Room provides an apropos backdrop for dinner parties or a romantic setting for date night for golfers and their caddy.

The golfing gurus at Edwin Watts Golf Academy diagnose and correct their students' poor swing and putting habits in an effort to help them improve their shots and lower their scores. In one-on-one swing-analysis sessions, students learn a repeatable swing that eliminates tendencies they may have to slice, hook, push, or pull the ball. A special laser attaches to the end of the player's club and tracks the swing path while JC Video swing-analysis software records the session from two separate angles, lest analysis be thrown off by only looking at the golfer’s good side. Putting analysis employs Tomi technology to measure eight separate parameters of the putting stroke, from clubhead orientation at address to swing path and tempo. After swing and putting lessons, students may access the recordings on a password-protected website, so they can forward videos to friends or sports-documentary filmmakers.

At the tee box on Cimarrone Golf Club's 12th hole, golfers face a dilemma: play a drive safely out to the right—where, at worst, the ball may stray into the rough—or attempt an aggressive shot over the water on the hole's left side, cutting off much of the dogleg and setting up a closer approach. With multiple bending fairways, deep bunkers, and a water hazard or marsh feature on every hole, the 18-hole, 6,891-yard course presents high-risk, high-reward scenarios at nearly every turn, delighting golfers who like to live dangerously and favoring those whose sand wedge moonlights as an actuary.

Before rounds, golfers can warm up swings at the club's driving range, a much-needed confidence booster before taking to the water-laden course or betting that they can outdrive the staff's resident T-shirt cannon.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 72 course
• Length of 6,891 yards from the farthest tees
• Course rating of 73.5 from the farthest tees
• Slope rating of 137 from the farthest tees
• Five tee options
• Scorecard