Panther Creek Golf Club in Jacksonville, Florida

Panther Creek Golf Club is one of the newest golf courses in the Jacksonville area, a big, sly brute out in the western wilds of Duval County, normally the province of only farmers and fruit stands.

Panther Creek is so new it doesn't have a clubhouse yet - just Betty in the double-wide - and the parking lot has yet to be paved.

There are 18 holes, though, and as if they weren't tough enough, there are nine more coming.

"When they get that last nine in, it isn't going to be easy, but it's going to be visually stunning," said Mike Berry, who lives on the course and plays it often. "There won't be anything like it in this part of the country."

There may not be now, at least in terms of difficulty. There's the TPC Sawgrass Stadium course about 40 miles to the west, but that's where all the fancy-dan PGA Tour boys are. This is out in the sticks, though "the sticks" in Duval County is rapidly developing.

Panther Creek is 7,526 yards from the black tees, though it can be stretched to about 7,900 if and when they land a major tournament. The slope rating from back there is an oh-no 149.

Too much for you? Back up to the gold tees: 7,039 yards, and a slope of 143. Keep retreating, you mid-handicappers.

Andy Dye is the architect, and he put in length, awkward angles and long carries off the tee, dangerous approaches and tricky green complexes. Danger lurks everywhere, some of it unseen.

And that's just the first few holes, before you get to the hard ones.

"Bogey is a good score out here, that's what a lot of people don't understand," Berry said.

The course plays through the northeast Florida woods, and right now there are few homes to intrude on the ambience and rattlesnakes. Officials say 22 of the 27 holes, when complete, will be set well away from the neighborhood houses.

The fairways are semi-rolling and tree-lined, and some of the rough so thick it's hello and goodbye on wayward tee shots.

The course picks up movement as it draws near the greens, with knobs and knolls and hillocks, grass bunkers and some nasty, little bunkers set down in some of the mounds.

Also, there are vast waste areas scattered around the layout, acting as huge hazards as well as, quite often, natural cart paths.