Welcome to Heritage Ridge Golf Course                                         

"Sneaky" may be the best way to describe Heritage Ridge.  And not just because you've probably driven by it 100 times and didn't realize there was a golf course there.

A quick glimpse of Heritage Ridge doesn't provide anything out of the ordinary.  It looks like your typical Florida course.  A few bunkers, seems to be fairly flat and it presents the challenge of a decent amount of water.  It's what you don't see that winds up haunting your scorecard.

There are several holes that send your ball into battle against the prevailing sea breeze blowing in from the Atlantic Ocean.  Standing on the ground, or in the tee box, you would have no idea what you were about to get yourself into.  Hit a 6-iron, though, watch if fall 30 yards short and you'll begin to get the idea real quick.

It is a uniquely challenging par 70, said the general manager.

Another issue golfers at Heritage Ridge have to contend with is the almost imperceptible change in elevation from the fairways to the greens.  What looks like a flat, Florida course is, in fact, a tract with enough elevation change to ruin even the best shot.

Whether it's the green at No. 6 that slopes away from the golfer, the uphill approach at No. 10 or the downhill shot to the green at No. 2, the nuances are enough to require some extra thought before you swing the club.

Heritage Ridge is a semi-private club, offering memberships as well as daily fee pay.  It was designed with the more casual golfer in mind, offering wider fairways and larger greens (although several of then have large slopes, either front to back or side to side).

Perhaps the most visible feature is the water.  There is lots of it and it comes from every direction imaginable.

Unlike many courses, which might have a lake border the along side of a couple of holes, or a pond here and there to up the ante on some shorts, Heritage Ridge has canals and lakes and ponds everywhere.

Because the course is basically flat, the water blends into the terrain, popping up at the most inopportune of times.

"It has numerous lakes and canals meandering throughout the property," the golf pro said, noting the course's signature hole take all of those into account.  "No. 8 is a 580-yard par 5 where you have to navigate three bodies of water," he said.  "You're kind of laying up off the tee and then laying up again before you decide if you want to try to carry 260 to 280 yards over water to the green or lay up again.  If you lay up, which 99 percent of the golfers do, you have about 130 yards into the green.  It's a great hole."

Which is what Heritage Ridge is designed to offer - a decent golf experience, at an affordable price. After a round of golf enjoy some lunch or a cold drink at the clubhouse.