Inside the course: Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club

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Feb. 25, 2011

The TOUR hits its next Florida stop this week for the Transitions Championship at Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club in Palm Harbor, Fla. Learn more about this venue.

How to play the Copperhead Course

Steven Voguit, the PGA TOUR Academy's head instructor at World Golf Village, analyzes this week's course.

The PGA TOUR heads to the west coast of Florida via Alligator Alley, where the 2010 Transitions Championship will be held on the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club in Tampa, Fla. The Copperhead is known to be one of the tougher tracks, playing as the 9th most difficult of the 2009 season. Originally designed in 1971, it was later restored in 1999, with the focus on increasing both distance and difficulty. The hilly Copperhead Course feels like it's located in the mountains of North Carolina rather than Florida, which is usually very flat. With this elevation change, the players are going to be forced to hit many approach shots from uneven lies.

Striking shots from a perfectly even lie is hard enough, but trying to place the ball from an uneven position poses an even bigger challenge. Even TOUR players are going to struggle with unusual lies, though they will have a game plan for each unusual situation. One of the most difficult lies to contend with is a ball below our feet. Many golfers often hit this shot off to the right; in fact, as long as you have a good setup and you are able to maintain your posture throughout your swing, the ball will indeed travel relatively straight.

Try making the following adjustments at address, much like a TOUR player would, to successfully pull this shot off:
A) Take one to two extra clubs.
B) Bow forward more from the hips, feeling your balance back into the slope.
C) Make at least two rehearsal swings at 75 percent effort with a focus on staying down and maintaining your balance.
D) Step up to the shot, take dead aim and make it happen!

For more information about the PGA TOUR Academy golf schools, click here

Fast facts

Course Superintendent	Ryan Stewart
Original architect	Larry Packard (1971)
Par value	71
Number of TOUR events as host venue	11 (including 2010)
Course ranking	Ranked 9 (out of 51) in difficulty on the PGA TOUR in 2009
Yardage history	7,340 (2004-present)
	7,315 (2003)
	7,295 (2000-2002)
Grass	Bermudagrass (Tees, fairways, greens, rough); Perennial ryegrass (Tees, fairways, rough); Poa annua (Fairways); Poa trivialis (Greens)
Tournament Stimpmeter	11 ft
Sand bunkers	75
Water hazards	9
Course tour	Click here

Course record

Player
Jeff Sluman
Mark Calcavecchia

Year
2004
2007

Round
1st
3rd

Finish
T20
Won

Holes-in-one

There have been four aces recorded at Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club

Player	Hole	Year
Ryan Moore	17	2007
Jonathan Kaye	17	2004
Mathias Gronberg	15	2004
Stewart Cink	8	2003

2009 Rankings

Most Difficult Hole

	The par-4 465-yard sixth The downhill, dogleg-right sixth hole may be the toughest par 4 on the Copperhead. An accurate tee shot is necessary to leave a long second shot from a sloping lie. The large green is elevated and severely contoured. 2009: 0 eagles, 25 birdies, 273 pars, 120 bogeys, 13 double bogeys, 3 others.
Easiest hole
	The par-5 560-yard 1st Copperhead opens with a double-dogleg, par-5 hole. The placement of the second shot is necessary to set-up a birdie opportunity. 2009: 3 eagles, 153 birdies, 237 pars, 35 bogeys, 4 double bogeys and 2 other.

Innisbrook Resort			2009 rankings		Last 10 years
Hole	Par	Yards	Avg. Score	Rank	Avg. Score	Rank
1	5	560	4.747	18	4.700	18
2	4	435	4.274	2	4.146	4
3	4	455	4.108	9	4.205	3
4	3	195	3.048	12	3.014	13
5	5	605	4.956	15	4.977	15
6	4	465	4.3	1	4.252	2
7	4	420	4.048	12	4.066	12
8	3	235	3.154	6	3.142	5
9	4	430	4.051	11	4.089	11
10	4	445	4.053	10	4.125	6
11	5	575	4.765	17	4.791	16
12	4	380	3.97	14	3.979	14
13	3	200	3.118	8	3.121	8
14	5	590	4.806	16	4.784	17
15	3	215	3.124	7	3.119	10
16	4	475	4.256	3	4.302	1
17	3	215	3.191	4	3.120	9
18	4	445	4.187	5	4.121	7

Course origins

The Copperhead course is part of a 72-hole complex with natural elevation changes that range up to 80 feet. This elevation change is very unusual for Southwest Florida, especially along the coastline of the Gulf of Mexico.

The Copperhead course opened in 1974 and was restored in 1999, two years after it was purchased by Westin, Inc. The goal of the restoration project was to regain the shot values and still challenge today's longer-hitting PGA TOUR players when Innisbrook hosts TOUR events. The plan involved refurbishing all 18 greens, restructuring many of the bunkers, removing some trees around the greens to improve air movement and sunlight and clearing out undergrowth between fairways. The length of the golf course is the most visible change from 7,295 to 7,340 yards by the addition of tournament tees on five holes. A reported $500,000 was spent, and the course re-opened just in time for the 1999 JCPenney Classic.

With its unusual elevation changes, the natural setting of the Copperhead course will probably remind you of a Carolina layout rather than Florida's West Coast. --Source: Golf Course Superintendents Assocation of America

Tournament course history

Course	Location	Years
Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club	Palm Harbor, Fla.	2000-present

LINKS Magazine

Learn more about golf in the Sunshine State.

• Resort Profile: Innisbrook (click here)
• Destination: Tampa (click here)
• Top 25 college golf courses (click here)
• Archive: Destinations on the PGA TOUR (click here)