Page 34 - Travel Guide to Florida 2020
P. 34

SPORTS

                         A SPORTS PARADISE FOR ALL


           BY EDWARD SCHMIDT JR.








































                                                                TIAA BANK FIELD, JACKSONVILLE • VISIT JACKSONVILLE/RYAN KETTERMAN

             lorida is a vacation dreamland for  has a massive Yankees memorabilia store,  In addition, there is a plethora of superb
             sports enthusiasts. For those who love  and JetBlue Park in Fort Myers, a Boston Red  daily fee courses to play with designer tags
        Fwatching great sporting events, the  Sox training venue featuring a replica of  like Jack Nicklaus, Tom Fazio and Robert
        Sunshine State has NFL teams in Miami,  Fenway Park’s Green Monster.    Trent Jones.
        Tampa and Jacksonville, NBA teams in  From April to October, enjoy regular  The PGA Tour utilizes Florida every year as
        Orlando and Miami, as well as NHL and MLB  season Major League Baseball in Miami with  sites for some of its most prestigious tourna-
        teams in Tampa and Miami. If you want to  the Miami Marlins, a National League team  ments. You can stroll among the lush fairways
        participate, the options are plentiful ranging  owned by famous baseball player Derek Jeter,  and palm trees and watch some of golf’s greatest
        from deep-sea fishing charters at countless  and with the Tampa Bay Rays, an American  stars.  The  tournament  lineup  includes  The
        marinas to snorkeling and scuba diving at  League team that competes at St. Petersburg’s  Honda Classic at PGA National Resort & Spa in
        state and national parks brimming with  domed Tropicana Field.          Palm Beach Gardens in February; Valspar
        nature, biking and hiking trails and                                    Championship at Innisbrook's  Copperhead
        canoe/kayak-friendly waterways.     EPIC COURSES                        course, a Salamander Golf & Spa Resort in Palm
                                            You’ll have little difficulty teeing it up in  Harbor in mid-March; Arnold Palmer Invitational
        FIELDS OF DREAMS                    Florida, which boasts more than 1,400 golf  at Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando in early
        Baseball fans flock to Florida during the  courses and over 50 resorts where golf is the  March; and THE PLAYERS Championship at TPC
        month of March when 15 teams train and  main amenity. Many of Florida’s golf resorts  Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach in mid-March.
        play exhibition games prior to the season. It’s  are world-renowned and home to iconic
        a great way to see your favorite players when  courses like THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at  HOOPS HEAVEN
        they’re more accessible for autographs and  TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, the Blue  You can follow the bouncing ball in Florida
        you can be closer to the action. The engaging  Monster at Trump National Doral in Miami  from October to May with the NBA’s Orlando
        venues include George M. Steinbrenner Field  and  Copperhead  at  Innisbrook,  a  Magic and Miami Heat. Both teams play in the
        in Tampa, where the Yankees train and which  Salamander Golf & Spa Resort near Tampa.  hotly contested Southeast Division, which also


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