Hideaway Beach Club

In the Beginning

A well-established and close-knit gated community that hugs part of the northwest corner of Marco Island, Hideaway Beach Club is largely a home from home for successful and affluent retirees.

The enclave is a veritable oasis on an island not exactly overrun with lush vegetation, and is said to be home to the world’s largest concentration of native Florida live oak trees.

In fact, Hideaway Beach Club’s luxuriant vegetation is evident the moment one drives through the barrier gates, evoking a feeling similar to that of beautiful Sanibel Island.

The community has about 600 automatic golf facility members, and its 300 acres embrace 110 homes and 312 condo units, with 31 acres designated as a conservation area.

Just as important are the 23 acres on which the 9-hole golf course is situated.

The changes, the result

As with many courses in the area, Hideaway Beach opted for a makeover precipitated by natural wear and tear as well as the development of new grass hybrids.

It did so in the summer of 2005, covering fairways, roughs and tees with certified 419 Bermuda grass, and greens with Tifeagle, a Bermuda grass ultra dwarf.

Hammocks of Florida live oak trees mixed with more than 200 sable and coconut palm trees drape the edges of the course, and a recently renovated half-way house is located between holes 4 and 5.

The course renovation followed a 2001 revamp of the sports center, a 6,000-square-foot facility with fitness center, pro shop, steam room, therapeutic room, men’s and women’s locker rooms, card room, party room and covered deck.

A busy tennis facility with nine courts also operates close by.

Diagonally opposite the sports center, the main clubhouse underwent a renovation around the same time, as well.

Tour de fours (and threes)

Member Joe Gardner led the course tour, which began with the daunting first hole.

Its 120 or so yards are all water carry, and anything safe but short will still end up in a protective bunker, he says.

Holes 2 and 8 cozy up against each other in slight V formation with their fairways heading west, so it’s an ideal place to put refreshment stations during tournaments, Gardner says.

Number 2, he’s quick to point out, is one of the par 4s that tempt people to pull out drivers.

But, he warns, like many other holes on the course, there’s deception.

On this particular hole, a ball driven straight at the green will join many in a lake that juts out just in front, so less than perfect is invariably disastrous.

At this juncture, Gardner stops his cart to greet Bill Logue, an 83-year-old resident who earlier this year shot a 34 on the par 32 course.

Logue echoes what many members know only too well: “Even though this course is quite short, relatively speaking,” he says, “it’s very difficult. What it lacks in length, it makes up in hazards.”

That’s once again evident as Gardner noses his cart to hole 3 with water flanking on the left and trees beckoning on the right.

There’s a bit of respite on number 4, he says, except that an oak tree in the middle of the fairway has a surprising knack for blocking approach shots.

The rest of the holes each have their own identities in terms of distance and protection, and are generally characterized by narrow fairways that Gardner says require good club selection and course management.

Club Head Professional Heidi Papoosha concurs.

Out on the course monitoring a men’s tournament on this particular day, Papoosha says she often dissuades people from pulling out drivers.

“Egos can get in the way of good drives,” she says, “so it really is all about course management.”

Lest that be a deterrent to playing such a small course, Gardner points out that many members are also belong to larger courses, so golfers split their time between assorted approaches to the game in terms of power.

About a round

Hideaway Beach is a walking course, and there’s certainly merit to taking things a little slower.

Firstly, it makes the executive, par 32 course feel a little bigger than it is.

Next, you get a better “feel” for the substance of your shots as you walk the distance from one to the next.

Also, there’s time to drink in the surroundings, which in Hideaway Beach’s case are garden-like.

Sometimes house facades — that you’d never notice while speeding by in a cart — peep through foliage to reveal their charms.

Forewarned being forearmed, it’s a case of keeping the woods covered and the irons handy.

Hole 1 can either be a rude awakening or a little gift from the gods depending on whether you carry the lake.

Hole 2 (the convivial gathering spot where you’ll encounter players on number 8) is devilish because the protrusion of another lake protects the green, so it’s wise to lay up.

Number 3 is one of four par 3s on the course, and although short, requires accuracy to prevent (yes, once again) getting wet.

The aforementioned big ol’ tree indeed beckons a warning on hole 4, but the fairway does allow one to unleash a solid 4 iron to leave an approach of about 90 yards in.

Signature hole is number 5, also a par 4 that forces a choice between trying to drive the hole (about a 220 yard carry to a small green), and laying up.

The catch is a creek that completely protects the hole.

The next hole is also tempting, but the better alternative is a punch shot which will prevent straying to either side of the narrow fairway.

Number 7 parallels 6 in the opposite direction, and is probably the toughest par 3 on the course because of another watery jut placed exactly where you’d aim a bump and run.

Instead, you either have to head right for safety (hoping for an up and down) or go the whole hog in the air.

The penultimate hole is a fairly long par 4 protected again by water on the right of the green, and number 9 is almost a shorter carbon copy of hole 1 with a full water carry to the green of between 100 and 110 yards.

The overall experience of playing Hideaway Beach is a blend of beauty mixed with tough and tricky strategic playing decisions.

Bold can backfire, but so can being too meek, so in this case it’s the search for the happy medium.

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