Independent Property Rental

Bradenton, Florida has quickly become our favourite golf vacation destination. Three friends and I travel to Florida every year for a week of golf and sunshine during late January or early February. There is no question that Bradenton offers us the best accommodations and options for a golfing vacation.

We play 36 holes per day for 6 straight days so we need affordability, convenience, and comfort. The rental properties from Mr Kevin Gallagher and Independent Property Rental are conveniently located, clean, and supplied with all the amenities to make you feel at home. We have found the local courses to be very accommodating for replays, and very affordable. The generous number of golf courses within a short drive ensures tee time availability is not a problem.

We have found a great alternative to the traditional “play and stay golf package”. We set our own tee times at the courses we want to play, and we rent our own home for plenty of room and comfort. After a day of golf, being able to eat in is sometimes a great option to have. This is also a very affordable alternative, especially when splitting the cost between a foursome.

I can personally recommend Bradenton, Florida as a great golf destination, and Mr Kevin Gallagher's and the Independent Property Rental homes are great places to stay while you are there.

It is my pleasure to provide the following write up for the “Independent Property Rental” website on which I believe to be “My Favourite Golf Courses” in the area.

In general the real problem about playing golf in this area of Florida is choosing which of the hundreds of courses there are to play. However, the homes are superbly located to travel to the better courses, with a great road system that takes you 20 to 30 miles in about as many minutes. We found so many courses in that range that it is going to take us a while to work our way through them all in order, to define our top 20 - tough work, but someone has to do it. The standard of the courses and the range of options, from par 3 courses, to public courses and top quality semi-private courses takes some matching and offers something to everyone, from beginners to scratch golfers.

ROLLING HILLS GOLF COURSE is a public course with basic facilities. The course itself is fairly flat, with wide fairways and shouldn't present too much of a challenge for most golfers. If you are jet lagged and want an easy start to the week this is not a bad option, but otherwise look to another course.

MISTY CREEK COUNTRY CLUB is a private club with great facilities and a course to match. An absolute treat to play this course, which at a touch under 6,400 yards off the blue tees (slope of 125) is a good test of golf without being outrageous. If you can only play once in this area (you must have done something wrong in your life if this is the case), put this one on the list.

OAK FORD GOLF CLUB is typical of the high quality clubs in the area. Oak Ford Golf Club is a well presented course with good greens and nice practice facilities. This course was also one of the most tranquil that we have played in Florida and a great breakfast!

THE RIVER CLUB is a public course, this shows the high standards that are achieved with a pay and play course. Friendly people and a pretty good course combined to make it a good day out, if not the toughest challenge.

UNIVERSITY PARK COUNTRY CLUB is a good course with lots of water! Despite its location the course is a beautiful setting for golf, with lots of wildlife. Depending on handicap, this can be a tough course to score well on, but the course is beautifully manicured and deserves it's ranking. Only problems we encountered were some over-eager marshals on timekeeping (no matter what is in front of you) and no breakfast on Sundays!

STONEYBROOK GOLF CLUB is on your doorstep, this is a pretty nice course which can be fairly tough to score well on. From a golfing point, a slight shame that it gets so close to some of the villas. Facilities are very good and food in the country club is also pretty good.

To make it easier for my fellow guests I have provided below a list of the addresses and telephone numbers, which I have listed as both myself and the groups favourite Golf and Country Clubs in the area.

As far as golf goes you have contacted the right person. Part of the reason we stay at Mr Kevin Gallagher's and the Independent Property Rental homes is that they are beautiful as is the golf.

The Stoneybrook Golf Club which is located on your homes community “Heritage Harbour” is probably the nicest course for the money. The rates are reasonable and the course is always in great shape and very challenging. The other course situated on Heritage Harbour, which is a new course, namely, River Strand is very well kept and is also challenging, however, this course is more expensive to play.

There are a number of other courses to play in the area, these being, Serenoa Golf Club, Oak Ford Golf Club, University Park Country Club, The Preserve Golf Club, Waterlefe Golf and River Club, and Pelican Point Golf and Country Club to name but a few.

I have been going to the Bradenton area for close to 20 years now and I am quite happy to base myself at Heritage Harbour “the home of the Stoneybrook Golf Club” it is a good test of golf and value for money. Waterlefe Golf and River Club close by is definitely the hardest but when playing bad you can look around and see how the other half live.

When I was over in June, I was joined on the first tee by a gentleman who introduced himself by telling me a good joke, we both laughed - he said “Ian that is what I want to see all the way round, we are supposed to be out to enjoy ourselves, forget the bad shots, everybody takes it too serious”. He introduced himself - Tony Pagan, it turned out he is the teaching pro for Stoneybrook Golf Club. We had a fun time and he got my game back on track and stopped me beating up on myself. In all we played another 18 holes together - I still don't think he exhausted all his jokes! Since I have come home he keeps in touch by email, and is still sending me jokes. I would definitely recommend a lesson or two from him, he is a good teacher. I have made another friend!