Old Memorial Golf Club

This is the stuff dreams are made of ... it's def. a 'bros club' if that's your thing. Imagine an NFL locker room crossed with a scene from The Wolf of Wall Street. Many professional athletes are members ... and successful people who generally enjoy a good time and cutting loose. It's a place where there is a drinking culture for sure ... but the food is probably some of the best I've had at any other golf course, or restaurant, even!The bar is actually inside the men's locker room! You heard me right ... the showers/steam bath/jacuzzis are in a different room, so it's not like naked folks are walking through the bar area. But, I've never seen a set up like this before and it really works because there are sitting areas, tables, furniture in the area in between the bar and the first row of lockers.Outside is a patio area with fire pits ... they have a cigar room inside where you can puff away and watch TV in a comfy leather chair ... or, you can have a smoke outside near the firepits or at one of the outdoor seating areas. It feels kind of like someone's backyard (in a good way) outside and they do have an outdoor dining area for when it isn't too hot.99% of the people you run into are male but there are occasional females playing a round. However, the main bar is in the men's locker room so if you are coming here with females, you'll be dining/drinking outside or in one of the dining areas.The course itself is beautiful, although very tough. Sand everywhere and the course was laid out to be challenging. These greens are some of the toughest I've played and although you need to pick your shots/locations on many holes, a few of them will let you open up and hope to avoid the water/sand/woods. It's not the nicest maintained golf course I've been to ... but it's certainly in the top 30% I've played. Your drink will never run out ... there are 'hydration stations' everywhere that offer beer or a Transfusion. (grape juice, vodka and something else)The course is caddy only ... no carts ... and the caddies are pretty good. I find them to be a bit of a mixed bag. The younger ones are fun and generally seem more like the type of person you'd expect to be selling financial services. The older ones are bit more grizzled and seem like they were hatched out of an egg and appeared as a caddy. Their reads on the course and greens are right on the money and you'll feel like a PGA player because they are so accurate.Overall, I must admit that there is no other club like it that I've played. It's fun, un-pretentious and will give you a chance to feel like what life as a pro-athlete in the off season would be like. The staff are all 100% service-oriented, the bartenders will keep your drink full at all times and the chef is a national treasure. If you like a traditional, buttoned-up golf club ... Old Memorial won't be for you. If you want a bit of a party atmosphere ... poker, drinking games and great conversations which include lots of laughter and under normal circumstances could get one cancelled ... this is your club. It's not cheap ... but the value is unmatched.

Somehow managed to get an invite to play this course. Going to college at USF and living around here the past couple of years, you only heard stories about this place. Really is hard to even see pictures, but man can I say from a 22 year old's perspective this place is a golfers heaven. Just driving into the facility, is like going into another world or secret society. From the driveway to the driving range, everything was in amazing shape. No carts here as it's caddie only and walking. Lots of sand on every hole and very very tough greens. Overall amazing experience from driving in, to walking into the clubhouse and grabbing a bite to eat. If you ever have the opportunity to play, don't make the mistake of passing up on Old Mo.