Old Corkscrew Golf Club is Vintage Track

Old Corkscrew Golf Club, Estero, FL, (2006) is a stand alone Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course which is situated on 275 pristine acres of land which has been designated as a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary.

In the 1950s, long before it was on anyone's dream list of golf course sites, a lady who lived on the property created a haven for wayward alligators. Gators which had become a nuisance to developers and inhabitants of SW Florida found their way to this parcel as welcomed guests, according to local lore.

Old Corkscrew gets its name from the Corkscrew River, which flows through Lee County near Estero, the closest town. The property has no residences and there are no plans to develop the land. It is as out in the boondocks as one can get in development-crazy Florida and it is thriving as a pure golfers club. It deserves to.

The Audubon designation is achieved through the development of a rigorous, cooperative plan between course owners/developers and the Audubon Society. The plan identifies trees, plants and animals which may be sensitive to the creation and maintenance of a golf course. Old Corkscrew is a refuge to deer, bobcat, wood storks, herons, egrets, osprey and eagles, to name a few. The stands of pine and cypress are bracketed by palmetto and sawgrass creating visually pleasing settings for a remarkable routing of golf challenges. Jack Nicklaus has combined a pine tree nursery, mature oaks and a cypress-canopied slew which bisects the property. This slew is crossed three times during a round, enabling Nicklaus to blend the holes into the pine nursery of the south, or "back yard" as Mark Iwinski calls it, with the clubhouse side o the north. There are a numerous natural lakes and collection ponds to make an aesthetically pleasing and nails-tough golf experience. Water comes into play on 14 holes.

Cedarburg resident W.S. ("Squire") Parsons, had this to say about his experience playing Old Corkscrew; "For a Florida course, this has tremendous beauty and diversity. No hole looks like another. The bird life is abundant if you want to forget the last shot or focus for awhile on something other than your swing."

Squire Parsons means that the lack of topography, or "relief" as the mapmakers say, is in short supply in Florida. Flat is the rule and creating a sense of height on a Florida golf course requires artistry if large yellow machines are not to be used excessively. At Old Corkscrew the shapers moved dirt and sand but Mr. Nicklaus' affinity for wholesale earthmoving has diminished in recent years.

Mark Iwinski is the Manager of Golf Operations at Old Corkscrew and he has been on site since ground was first broken. He spent many hours with Nicklaus and watched and listened as Nicklaus conferred with the operators during the shaping. He believes that Tom Doak, the dean of the minimalist movement in course design, has influenced Nicklaus' philosophy. One day, as a discussion was in progress regarding what to do with a certain green complex, Nicklaus said, "Look at what nature has given us", and added; "I'm not about perfect anymore. Designing a golf course is my total expression. My golf game can only go on so long. But what I have learned can be put into a piece of ground, and that will last beyond me."

That does not mean that the player won't be required to get the ball in the air ( a long-standing Nicklaus design element) in order to hit greens. The opportunity for risk-reward shot options present themselves on every hole.

Number 5 plays 380 yards from the middle tees and is a good example of the strategic choices which confront the golfer on every shot. This #2 handicap hole has water all along the left side and a bunker complex which squeezes the waist of the fairway at 220 yards. Play to the right and the crowned fairway escorts your ball into knife-edged palmettos resulting in a likely double-bogey. Attempt to cut off 20-30 yards up the left side and the same crowned fairway ushers your golf ball into the water hazard. Length and accuracy are required to par this beauty as the green is protected by bunkers both left and right.

Number 8 is a stunning par 5 which plays over a holding pond and around a hazard which is buttressed by a timber retaining wall. At 544 yards and sporting three doglegs it is by no means a limper. It is modest in terms of length but there is an abundance of trouble; including six bunkers and the hazard which hugs the left side from about 140 yards out. The original plan was to squeeze the fairway to force a carry over the hazard for all but the longest hitters. Nicklaus relented and cleared a number of pine trees on the right side; permitting we mortals to land our second shots there, allowing approach shots access to the full length of the undulating green. Attempts to hit this gem in two requires a shot that will land softly as approaches from the left side of the fairway come into the shallowest part of the green. The Nicklaus of old was deft at hitting mile-high irons which stopped where they landed.

I believe that the par fives are the superstars at Old Corkscrew as they are all very challenging and remarkably unique. One can recall each of them, in order, at round's end, without confusion. The 11th hole is relatively short from the middle tees at 499 yards but each shot must be planned carefully as the shot into this elevated green will, on most days, be into the west wind. The small front bunker protects more pin placements than one would imagine.

Number 12 is the best par 3 at Old Corkscrew. At 139 yards from the middle tees, the tee shot must carry the swamp in front and if you hang on too tight the lake on the left is only several yards from the putting surface. Again, these greens are very undulating and choosing to bail out rather than to go for these pins always leaves chips that require imagination and a deft touch.

Not that playing a course as beautiful and challenging as this on an 87 degree Sunday afternoon wouldn't be quite enough, every attention to detail has been anticipated here. Hospitality is the key and Mark Iwinski and his team make sure that every amenity is addressed and cheerfully provided. The pulled pork sandwich at the turn arrived swiftly and the post-round libation in the clubhouse came amidst a happy gathering of players who had enjoyed a Nicklaus-inspired afternoon in sunny Florida. It's no mystery why Old Corkscrew has been included on Golf Digest's list of America's Best New Courses of 2007 and the NGCOA's Best Florida Golf Course Award for 2008.

Information about Old Corkscrew can be found at www.oldcorkscrew.com