Located in the central-west region of Florida, aptly known as the Nature Coast, Cabot Citrus Farms is set across 1,200 acres of pristine natural beauty. Boasting dramatic elevation changes, sandy soil, and rolling hills canopied by towering sand pines, palmetto trees, and century-old moss-covered oaks, the unique landscape is truly enchanting.
Previously known as World Woods Golf Club, the newly acquired Cabot property will re-emerge as a vibrant destination known for incredible golf and world-class real estate, surrounded by a serene natural landscape.
Located on 1,200 acres outside Brooksville in sunny Florida (50 minutes north of Tampa and 80 minutes west of Orlando), Cabot Citrus Farms is designed for those who love the game and want to play on the world’s most exceptional courses.
In addition to offering three courses comprising 57 holes of golf, Cabot Citrus Farms will also be a thriving, virtually self-contained community that includes a range of luxury homes and properties, retailers and restaurants, sports and fitness providers, recreation and adventure opportunities, and community gathering places—all family-friendly and situated at walkable distances connected by trails and pathways.
Cabot is a proudly Canadian company operating out of Toronto. In addition to Cabot Citrus Farms and Cabot Cape Breton, The Cabot Collection of luxury residential, resort, and golf destinations includes the celebrated Cabot Highlands in Scotland, Cabot Saint Lucia in the Caribbean, and Cabot Revelstoke in British Columbia.
As well as two 18-hole courses, named Cabot Barrens and Cabot Oaks, Cabot Citrus Farms boasts something unique: a 21-hole golf course. Dubbed “The 21,” the course includes several nontraditional half-par holes and can be played in variations: in full or as 10- or 11-hole short courses between or after full rounds.
Born out of a challenge put to golf architect Mike Nuzzo to find as many great holes as he could in the 100 acres of land dedicated to the course, the holes on The 21 range from 85 to 560 yards and offer a diversity of layouts, strategies, and green complexes.
The property of Cabot Citrus Farms was formerly the site of World Woods Golf Club, once a highly celebrated two-course club designed by Tom Fazio.
The 18-hole Cabot Barrens and Cabot Oaks bear names that honour the original World Woods courses, though they are newly designed. Cabot Barrens, designed by Kyle Franz, features rugged aesthetics, wide corridors of play, and unique grassing patterns, while Cabot Oaks, co-designed by Mike Nuzzo and Kyle Franz with Ran Morrissett as Golf Course Architecture Advisor, includes repeated 15-metre elevation changes, broad fairways, and a rare variety of landscapes, including scrubby areas, undulating meadows, and a 12-metre-deep cenote.
Something else that distinguishes Cabot Citrus Farms in the context of Florida golf courses: It diverges from the aesthetic of the ultra-manicured, brilliantly green, largely flat, and sparsely treed courses common in the state. Standing along a ridge separating Cabot Oaks from Cabot Barrens, one observes two distinct terrains, with Barrens’ vast sand exposures on one side and Oaks’ traditional rolling green waves on the other. Cabot Citrus Farms uses to its advantage the land’s natural surges, its moss-covered oaks, flowering dogwoods, and rolling, sandy soils.
In addition to its golf courses, Cabot Citrus Farms offers exclusive cottages and customized homes. The Cottages are part of the first phase of development, comprised of 36 two- and four-bedroom residences situated in one of three locations: along the golf course, fronting Main Street in the Village, or facing a wild expanse of land. Pricing begins at $1.8 million US for the two-bedroom option. The Cottages were designed to honour traditional Floridian architectural style and to reflect a modern era of Southern living, with shiplap-shingled roofs, raised scissor-truss ceilings, large windows, and covered outdoor patios. Fully furnished with luxury finishings and appliances, the interiors are bright, modern, and designed for easy living and relaxation. An optional property management program provides owners with the opportunity to generate rental income during weeks when they are not in residence. Upcoming phases of development will include larger luxury vacation homes with amenities such as personal swimming pools and customizable options.
The Cabot approach is to put the magic back in golf—a magic that, for some, can be blunted by the fussiness and pretensions that other courses embrace. Accordingly, the courses at Cabot Citrus Farms are walkable, with tree canopies and frequent huts for shade and refreshments. Along the way, the eye delights at towering pines, mossy oaks, and palmetto trees, sand traps fringed by swaths of wildflowers, and ponds lively with fish and waterfowl.
The Resort Village aims to provide everything vacationing golfers and their families need to make unforgettable memories together, including exceptional dining, retail, wellness, and cultural experiences. Full programming is available for activities both in the Village and in the surrounding areas of Florida’s famed Nature Coast, which includes neighbouring Withlacoochee State Forest, the Gulf of Mexico, and the beautiful spring-fed Crystal River, the only place in Florida where you can swim with manatees.
A Town Square provides the perfect place to lay out a picnic blanket and listen to live music or just gaze at the stars.
Characterized by Men’s Journal as having “the makings of the next top Florida golf destination,” Cabot Citrus Farms is already drawing the attention and excitement of golfers everywhere.
Mike Nuzzo led the re-design of the short course and practice facilities, as well as the design of The 21 at Cabot Citrus Farms. Nuzzo favours original and interesting golf holes unlike any he’s seen before, especially when they blend into the environment. As a former aerospace design engineer who launched satellite antennas to Mars and into geosynchronous orbits, Nuzzo has spent the past 20 years bringing a rigorous perspective to the efficiency and creativity of golf course design.
Kyle Franz led the renovation of Cabot Barrens, a previous mainstay on the World Top 100 list. Kyle is an accomplished golf course architect, consultant, builder, and project manager with over 20 years of experience. Another familiar face to Cabot, Kyle worked with Rod Whitman to bring Cabot Links at Cabot Cape Breton to life. Kyle’s project as architect at Mid Pines Inn & Golf Club won the 2013
GOLF Magazine Resort Renovation of the Year Award.
GOLF Magazine’s architecture editor Ran Morrissett worked as a golf course architecture advisor to both Franz and Nuzzo at Cabot Citrus Farms. For 40 years, Ran Morrissett has been hooked on golf course architecture. The North Carolina-based writer started studying the topic seriously for Golf Club Atlas, a website he founded with his brother.