Saddlebrook Resort: A Premier Meeting, Golf and Tennis Resort For over 40 years, Saddlebrook Resort has been a golfing haven, with two Arnold Palmer-designed golf courses. There’s more to the Saddlebrook story than just great golf, however. Owner Tom Dempsey, who made his mark in the publishing industry in Cleveland, was a member at Palmer’s Bay Hill Club in Orlando, when he gained ownership of Saddlebrook nearTampa. The facility only had one 18-hole course designed by Dean Refram, who had played on the PGA Tour. Palmer was hired to remodel the original Saddlebrook Course, after Dempsey took ownership and later designed a second track, the Palmer Course. The Saddlebook Course measures 6,510 yards from the back tees and the Palmer maxes out at 6,273 from the tips, which are both considered short by today’s standards, but make them perfect for resort play. In Saddlebrook’s early years, the highest-profile athletes on the grounds were tennis players. Jim Courier, Pete Sampras, Jennifer Capriati and Monica Seles were among big-name tennis stars, who trained there in the 1980s and 1990s. Legendary tennis coach Harry Hopman was in charge until selling to Dempsey in 1986. Now named the Tampa Tennis Academy, it includes 45 courts, including surfaces from all four of the Grand Slam tournaments. “We still do well with that,’’ said Pat Farrell, Saddlebrook’s director of golf sales, “but American tennis isn’t what it used to be.’’ The glory years of Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe and Chris Evert are long gone. As it pertains to Saddlebrook, however, the athletes enjoying the golf courses are now hockey players. That all started in 2018 when USA Hockey chose Saddlebrook to host the U.S. women’s team when it was preparing for the Winter Olympics. By Len Ziehm Michigan Golf Journal
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