Amelia Island Plantation covers all bases of true golf destination

Resort destinations typically carry a theme throughout their numerous golf courses. Watch the Bob Hope Classic this weekend in La Quinta, Calif., and you’ll see shot after shot with desert and mountains as backdrops.

At Amelia Island Plantation tucked in northeast corner of Florida, I had the best of both the seaside and inland worlds this week while playing Ocean Links and Oak Marsh. It was like going to the beach one day and taking a nature hike through a tidal marsh the following morning.

It’s a rare mix, having two distinctly different courses next to each other. Whistling Straits and Blackwolf Run in Wisconsin comes to mind. Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill, of course. Kiawah Island and Myrtle Beach, what with their plethora of layouts in such small areas. Very few golf destinations like Amelia Island, though, have two courses so close that they share the same pro shop and grill (if you ever get to the Amelia Links clubhouse, try any of the breakfasts and Italian meatball soup for lunch … the meatballs are the size of what you’d put on a plate of spaghetti).

Scenic Ocean Links (by Pete Dye and Bobby Weed) has five holes along the Atlantic Ocean, including one right below my fifth-floor hotel balcony, and Nos. 15 and 16 are as good as anything you’ll see along any coast. It’s also recognized as one of top woman-friendly courses in Florida and the southeast.

Oak Marsh was a solo effort by Dye. He does a great job of combining scenery with strength, with the various marsh landscapes as his canvas. The last three holes are breathtaking, not only visually, but with the shots they make you hit.

My reviews of both courses should be posted on WorldGolf.com and TravelGolf.com next week. If you’ve got a favorite one-two punch – remember, they’ve got to be opposites – let me hear your argument.