Getting Settled at the Sawgrass Marriott Golf Resort & Spa

Good day,

I’m sitting here in my villa at the Sawgrass Marriott Golf Resort & Spa sampling some peel and eat shrimp while slowly sipping on a cold beer. It’s been a long day that started at 4:30am when my alarm when off in a most obnoxious manner. Not much later than noon I had arrived at the resort and since then I’ve been a busy beaver making new friends and getting acquainted with my surroundings before heading to the Cabana Club for a sunset dinner. If only all days could be like this, minus the long commute of course.

The Sawgrass Marriott is undergoing a large refresh at the moment and it should be completed in the coming months. The hotel is over 25 years old and the upgrades are most certainly starting to take shape. Upon arrival I was met by a gregarious lady named Char and we headed to Alice & Pete’s Pub for some mahi tacos and cool conversation. The pub is named after Alice and Pete Dye who are both golf hall of fame architects and the designers of TPC Sawgrass.

Afterwards it was time to take a stroll through some of the property en route to my villa before heading to the spa. I’ll note that this establishment is very family friendly and the pools were filled with families of all shapes and sizes soaking up the sun. There are several pools and other facilities that lend to the family friendly feel as well as something for all ages, a full mini-putt course which I’d like to play before I leave.

I checked into my villa which is shown in the video above before heading to the spa for a massage. I’m always down for a massage but it was especially nice after a long morning of connecting flights. If you follow this blog you’ll know that I’ve been to many spas and am a man who is no stranger to a good massage. The lady asked me what I’d like as she listed different styles and I simply said I was in the mood for a “freestyle” aka the answer is “yes” to everything. She did a superb job and they have golden ratio tables here which contort to your liking for the portion of the massage where you’re on your back, golden. They also have great a great hot tub, steam-room and a host of other treatments.

Afterwards it was some downtime which naturally, I used to take care of odds and sods related to being a gentleman who travels and blogs. Shortly after I was on a shuttle making my way to the Cabana Club along the beach which is part of the resort and a short ride away to catch a glimpse of the scene before sunset. Considering I strolled into 619 Ocean View Restaurant solo, I opted to sit at the bar and made light conversation with some heavy drinking golfers before enjoying some more mahi with peel and eat shrimp for dessert that I’m still currently indulging in. Wanna get going in a hurry? Try the Rum Runner…

As a true golf fan who was once a real fanatic, it just feels special being somewhere with so much golfing history. Not only that, we’re also literally right down the road from PGA Tour headquarters and not far from the Golf Hall of Fame. Alice and Pete’s Pub has quite a crowd in it right now but I must enforce some self control as tomorrow at 8am I’ve got a master fitting at the Taylormade Perfomance Lab. I fully realize this is most certainly a once in a lifetime opportunity; I’d better rest up after the early start this morning.

In closing, I’d like to thank the Sawgrass Marriott for their hospitality and Diamond PR for making this happen.

Tips hat,

P.S: It was a bit of an overcast(ish) day, hopefully we get some “Sunshine State” weather.

P.P.S: You can sometimes see sea turtles and adopt a nest for $35; I probably should have remembered to do that.