Salt Leaf Golf Reserve’s The Preserve Course in Bonita Springs, Florida (Naples, Ft. Meyer area), is a par 72, 7,075 yard, 150 acre masterpiece. It blends nature and sport in harmony, providing a scenic and enjoyable yet challenging play for high handicappers and other golfers.
The Preserve provides six different tee boxes to choose from based upon an individual’s skill level or comfort. The blue tees, which I played from, spans 6,317 yards with a 69.3/119 rating/slope (Men’s), likely above average slope due to the amount of water in play along 15 of the 18 holes. So if you are like me… water is the last thing I see before I swing and the first thing my ball finds when it returns to earth. Which only adds to the official difficulty rating from my perspective.
Playing in July, the rainy season in this part of Florida (gulf side south), created a hot, humid environment. An early tee time helped get most of the round in before the sauna was turned up full blast; but the heavy morning dew reduced the yardage after carry (which I rely on) and the greens were slow. As the day progressed, the conditions and playing strategies changed, adding to the course’s permanent design challenges. The condition of the course despite the uncontrollable weather was excellent.
Salt Leaf, reopened in late 2023, is a rebuild of the Raptor Bay Course designed by four-time major champion, Raymond Floyd [Masters (1976), PGA Championship (‘78 and ‘82), and US Open (‘86)]. Floyd, known for minimizing impact on natural areas, collaborated with architect Harry Bower on the reconstruction. The redesign added yardage and difficulty to the play on the 18-hole course. Also added is a new short 9-hole short course that I didn’t have the opportunity to experience. I read somewhere that if you had previously played Raptor Bay, you will find a completely different course. Although Salt Leaf is part of a resort development it is intentionally not designed for fast paced play and lower difficulty that you might find on other resort courses for the purpose of squeezing more people through.
The course merges seamlessly with its surroundings, featuring an unnoticed absence of traditional sand traps. Instead, compact and finely crushed rock paths blend into large waste traps, providing flat lies often surrounded by rippled earthen walls. These can present significant challenges akin to deep sand traps. Getting up close to one of these vertical obstacles will force you to think twice about trying to get over them instead of making the smart play out. The remainder of the course is merely well maintained fairways and greens with little rough before finding the out-of-bound markers delineating the grass from the natural vegetation of the swampy wetlands. And did I mention the abundance of water hazards along the course.
Additional, there are a few assists provided to those who let course design features play with their mind, from tee to green. Off the tees there is a lack of forced carries that would typically cause a topping of the ball. The fairways are of a comfortable width (minus the waters). And, once finally on the greens, a player is presented with reasonable and manageable challenges of false fronts and slopes.
I was able to get a tee time booked a month in advance on-line at a rate of $105 a golfer (weekday and off-season). A lot of other courses in the area didn’t open reservation to 5-7 days out, making it had to plan the trip.
Upon arrival you are immediately met with resort-level service, that last until you depart the grounds. We were met at the bag drop area by an attendant who unloaded and strapped the bags in and parked the carts outside the pro shop doors. Upon return to the club house, you are greeted by an attendant who gives your clubs a quick wipe down and returns your clubs to the drop area for easy pick up. The entire staff was friendly and attentive – and seemed happy to be of service. Even the starter was courteous as he wrangled players to teeing off exactly on time and not a minute later!!
Bonus: I am not sure if it was a perk of the day or an everyday benefit, but to my surprise upon checking in all players were offered a complimentary gift of a Salt Leaf branded ball cap or Yeti style cup (est. $40-50 value), and a voucher for a menu item off the lunch menu ($15 value) in the club house. Bringing you a round of golf with resort level treatment for around a conservative net cost of $50. A rate I can hardly find at a public or municipal courses at home. Disclaimer: this was during their off season.
The warm-up area, with 25-ish tee-able artificial turf bays, a large putting green, and chipping area, provided ample opportunity to prepare for the round. This was the first warmup area that I have been to that was – well – strictly a warm up area. Each bay hit into an enclosed netted area. It was deep enough to know you are hitting straight and high enough to know you got your desired loft. However, this set up prevents you from dialing in your yardages for the day. I did find it nice to just swing and loosen up and make my technical adjustments before the round rather than combining these with the frustrations of not making my distances.
With a handicap of 28.2 (and yet to record a round under a 100, I completed this round in 113 strokes. The ability to par a hole escaped me on this course but I did record 7 bogeys and was tortured with 4 quads. The rest were split in between. I was not at all disappointed in my score rather my simple mistakes, as my score is absolutely no indication of an excessive course difficulty rather it is an adequate reflection of my L.O.F.T.
It is really hard to say what my favorite hole was on this course as I found all of them with acceptable challenges and was wrapped up in the admiration of the healthy green grass that escapes Texas golf courses most of the year and the natural flora and fauna of the Florida wetlands. Not to mention I was a bit distracted keeping an eye out for alligators as I searched for my balls along the edges of the swamp. I didn’t find either!
As far as the 19th hole. The clubhouse was clean and roomy, with a full bar (a must in my book). There is seating for approximately 15 weary golfers to belly up to the u-shaped bar, and plenty of tables if the bar is at capacity. The menu had a great selection of food including a variety of salads, wraps, and sandwiches. At the suggestion of the cart girl, the bartender, the waitress, and one of the guys from Illinois that we joined at the bar who finished their round ahead of us; I chose the Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich served on a pretzel bun. A nice sized lightly breaded breast with a slight amount of heat paired to the right amount of flavoring. I too will join the others on making this my recommend to those playing or visiting Salt Leaf. Although, I did hear that the quesadillas were good… maybe next time.
I have only played a few resort courses in my time trying a hand at this addiction called golf, as I prefer the price tag of municipal course at my skill level. There is however something to be said about the service, the scenery, and the quality of course management (at least here) that comes with resort courses. With the bonus gift and free lunch, I was more than ecstatic of the price. Given all things unchanged other than the season, I would definitely play this course again, even at its in-season rate of $250-300. And given the six choices of tee boxes, the course can be enjoyed by any skill level.
Course Information:
23001 Coconut Point Resort Drive
Bonita Springs, FL
(239) 390-1600
