Hit the Links at Osceola Golf Course!

GOLFING IS A GREAT STAYCATION DURING COVID-19

This summer, we’ve been highlighting local places where you can have a great daycation even during the travel restrictions of Covid-19. Drexel Gilbert recently hit the links at Pensacola’s only 18 hole municipal golf course. It’s been around since 1926 and is proving to be a great place for fun even during a pandemic.

Adrian Stills is the general manager and golf pro. He began playing on this course when he was 9 years old. After graduating Catholic High School, going to college on a golfscholarship, going on the pro tour, and spending years coaching golf at prestigious courses across the country, he returned home and is happy to be on a course that serves the Pensacola community.

Golfing is the best way that people can get out and recreate and keep their social distancing intact,” says Stills. “And, golf is a lifetime sport. You can play this sport from age 5 to 95!

As he showed us around the course, the pride in this course, part of Pensacola’s City Parks and Recreations Department, is apparent.

“This golf course has been here 93 years. It’s Pensacola’s only municipal golf course. We service over 35 thousand customers every year. It’s undergone extensive renovations and we are continuing to make improvements even today. We have a great canopy, thanks to the city, that provides shade on our driving range. It drops the temperature ten degrees!”

And, as we learned, it also protects from pop-up showers!

Stills says golfing is a great way for friends to spend time together in a safe, socially-distanced way. He says it’s also a great way for families to have time together.

“Were else can I have four hours at a time of uninterrupted attention from my kids? I get them out here, they got no choice!” laughs Stills.

Stills adds that as a municipal course, Osceola offers an economical way for golfers, both experienced and beginners, to enjoy the game that can last a lifetime. Lessons for newbies are available. (Drexel’s already signed up!)

There are many golf courses along the Gulf Coast. Google is a great place to start to find a course near you. For more information on the Osceola Golf Course, go to their website or Facebook page at these links.