Madison RV and Golf Resort Review

We recently found ourselves heading west along hwy 10 in the Florida panhandle, looking for an overnight stop. We had looked at Madison RV and Golf Resort several times going back and forth to Tampa over the last few years, but never seemed to have enough time to stop – this time was different.

And when we have the time, Marc says: “Book ’em Danno!”
(Hawaii Five-O reference here!)

Living this “full-time” RV life has me looking for RV parks with golf courses more often than the location having a pool!

It’s not that I don’t like floating in a pool, it’s just that I enjoy golfing more!

Madison RV and Golf Resort is located in North Florida, and is the ideal layover along I-10 for RV travelers (a.k.a. – us) As with many other RV parks, they are pet friendly, they have a pool and laundry facilities. They have a clubhouse with large clean bathhouse amenities. They offer concrete slab RV sites with pull-through or back-in options. Some sites have a waterfront view to the small pond on the property. And…at 80′ long and 37′ wide, the sites are large and long enough for Big Dee, Dee-Luxe and Mini Dee. They even have a 2 acre off-leash dog park. That is a very rare find.

But the biggest bonus for us? You guessed it – they have a golf course!

And you can reserve a site that has a fairway view. Whenever we find an RV park that offers golf, we feel like we hit the jack-pot!  

Madison RV and Golf Resort’s course is a PGA regulation 9 hole track with 18 tee boxes. The distance from the longest tees is 3,074 yards, which does provide a challenging par of 36. With a slope rating of 106, and a 67.4 rating on Bermuda grass, I found the course well designed to offer golfers of all skill levels an enjoyable experience. 

It’s January, which means it is cold. But even though it is winter and the grass is dormant, this course was in pretty darn good shape. The greens were fast and smooth. The bunkers were soft and pretty consistent and playable. Yes, I did loose a couple of balls in the rough, but as Jimmy Buffet says – “It was my own damn fault” for hitting them there.

Since the golf course is attached to the RV Resort, they do not take tee times, it is walk-on only. This can be a good thing or a bad thing.

• Good thing – you never have to worry about calling to make a tee time, you just wake up and go when you want or when the weather is cooperating.
• Bad thing – everyone else is doing the exact same thing you are, so the queue to tee off can get rather long when the sun does come out.

They day we played, the sun had just shown it’s face after several days of rain, and the line at the first tee was long. With no Marshall on the course, there is no one managing the group sizes. Which means there were lots of 2 players per group – and that makes for a slow round of play.

Keeping pace of play in mind, we chose to pair up with a nice couple from Indiana. Clint and Tami have stayed at Madison RV and Golf Resort for the last 3 winters and were a great source of local course knowledge. Clint’s insight in knowing the proper distance for Marc’s shots helped him keep his score low.

As I mentioned earlier, the weather had been rainy over the past week or so, that resulted in quite a bit of standing water on the course – however, the Grounds Maintenance team was in full swing doing their best to clean it up.

We also noticed damage from Hurricane Idalia along the course. Hurricane Idalia was a powerful and destructive Category 4 hurricane that caused significant damage across parts of the southestern United States, especially in North Florida in late August of 2023. The Grounds Team was diligently at work clearing away debris and timber. Controlled burns were ongoing during our stay, but had little to no impact in our round.

Although there isn’t a starter at the first tee box, the staff in the Pro Shop were professional and friendly, and were very happy to share their own awareness of the ins and outs of the course.

We only played 9 holes, but we enjoyed our time and do plan on returning to play again.

Based on our score card rating – I would rate Madison RV & Golf Resort a Par.

If you find yourself driving your RV along I-10 in the Florida panhandle, I would strongly recommend you stop at Madison RV & Golf Resort to play some golf, oh…and park your RV for a night!

Fairways and Greens – We are 18 Holes and Counting

Written By Kathy Festa

COURSE REVIEW SCORE CARD

Course: Madison RV & Golf Resort

Type: Private Course

Date Played: 22 January 2024

HOLE	PAR	SCORE	COMMENTS
1 – Tee Time Availability	4	4	There are no tee times, it is walk-on only.
2 – Cost of Green Fees	4	3	Very reasonable price.
3 – Condition of Tee Boxes	4	5	Due to recent heavy rains, many of the tee boxes had to be moved because of standing water throughout the course.
4 – Condition of Fairways	5	5	Bermuda grass but winter conditions – dry and dormant. Cut very short.
5 – Condition of Greens	4	4	Winter conditions.
6 – Length of Course	5	5	Back tees distance is 6071 yards and forward tees 4948 yards with a par of 72.
7 – Hazards	4	4	Some water hazards and bunkers.
8 – Starter/Marshal	3	3	Starter is located in the Pro Shop.
9 – High Handicap Friendly	3	3	There are 4 sets of tees to choose from.
OUT	36	36
10 – Practice Area	5	5	There is a driving range, pitching/chipping area and putting green.
11 – Locker Rooms	3	3	Nice and large, plenty of room to shower and change.
12 – Pro Shop	4	4	Standard golf essentials.
13 – Location	4	4	Located at the RV resort.
14 – Rental Equipment	4	5	No rentals available.
15 – Restaurant/Food Cart	4	4	The club house has snacks.
16 – Club House	4	4	Plenty of space to relax after a round.
17 – Parking	3	3	Spacious parking.
18 – Customer Service	5	4	Very friendly and helpful.
IN	36	36
TOTAL	72	72	PLAYER: Kathy F.   ATTESTED BY: Marc F.