“Heathland Citrus.”
Chances are you’ve never heard the term, but that’s how Jim Wagner describes the course he and Gil Hanse completed recently on the southern tip of a sand ridge that runs for 100 miles through flat central Florida.
The label fits. In a state where most courses play to print (palm fringe; real estate), High Grove dollars and rolls. More than 65 feet of elevation change mark the property, giving unusual movement to holes that climb and dip into a scratched canvas.
The terrain makes High Grove unusual. The setting makes it singular. Most holes run through a working citrus grove, so the air is perfumed with flowers and the background bustles with hand-picking.
A prominent stretch from 6 to 9 plays over and along a sandbar that dissects the country, offering scenery and shooting requirements rare even for Florida.
The first 18 opened in December and a short course in March, equidistant from Naples and Jupiter, in a setting that feels peacefully remote and central to the state’s booming golf belt.
