"Arguably the best pure-public course within a day trip of Wesley Chapel (about 90 minutes north) and a frequent 'best in Florida' list-topper — an easy recommendation for a members' road-trip round. Current rates aren't published online; call ahead."

John Sanford — ex-Nicklaus Design, 60-plus projects worldwide — got 546 acres near the Rainbow River in 2007 and, unusually for Florida, routed the golf before any homes were platted: 'we went out and found the best golf holes.' The result is un-Florida golf: real elevation change, corridors framed by mature live oaks, waste bunkers trimmed in muhly grass, four waterfall features, and a green set many call the best in the state. Golf Digest put it in America's top-five new-courses-you-can-play soon after opening.

Floridians tired of flat, house-lined golf. Anyone who wants elevation change, pure greens and a hidden-gem feel at a daily-fee price — it routinely ranks among Florida's best public courses.

Holes 8, 12, 13 and 15 carry the biggest elevation swings — rare currency in Florida — and the par-3 quartet is the course's spine, two of them playing to greens that melt into the water. The putting surfaces themselves, fast and full of shape, are the real signature.

Playable but honest — 'hard' is fair from the wrong tees. Fairways are generous, but the fast, wildly contoured greens and 200-yard par-3s sting. Move up a tee box and it's a great day.

This is a real Clubhouse day-trip: Dunnellon is about 90 minutes north of Wesley Chapel up I-75/US-41. Arguably the best public greens within two hours of the venue — a natural members' outing when someone wants real-grass golf that isn't flat.

No GSPro recreation found — it's a genuine gap. For the closest Florida-sand-and-movement feel in our bays, queue Streamsong (Red or Blue), which is in GSPro and scratches the same un-Florida-Florida itch. If a community build of Juliette Falls appears, it belongs in our rotation.

Public daily-fee (family-owned) outside Dunnellon, ~10 miles from Ocala. Green fees are mid-range Florida resort money — strong value for the ranking. Book online; winter season fills with snowbirds.