With approximately 1,300 golf courses, Florida has more golf than any other state in America. Palm Beach and the surrounding areas are dense with high quality private clubs. TPC Sawgrass in Jacksonville gets a spotlight during the Players Championship. Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, and Tampa Bay are teaming with golf. Even Miami claims Doral and a vibrant rap scene.
Outside of 5th grade state capital quizzes, Tallahassee very rarely gets mentioned. Fortunately, I am on the job and it is my duty to explore every square inch of golf in America. I scoured Tallahassee to find the very best golf around the city. Please enjoy my top 10 photographs from Tallahassee’s finest, Killearn Club.
Established in 1967 as part of the city’s premier suburban community, Killearn Club was the place to be in Tallahassee. After its inception, The Killearn Club hosted the Tallahassee Open Invitational from 1969 - 1989. Greats like Lee Trevino and Chi Chi Rodriguez lifted the trophy over the years. However, the most impressive story at Killearn belongs to a PGA journeyman named Mike Reasor during the 1974 tournament. The story continues after my 6th place image.
DISCLAIMER: You will want to scroll down. Mike Reasor is a badass.
10th place: Moss is Boss
I have found that it is particularly challenging to fully capture the beauty of spanish moss. The moss always manages to create a sleepy and cozy scene and it’s tough to emulate this feeling with a camera. Several of my photographs here are my best efforts to recreate the essence of the moss.
9th Place: Power Cloud Tower
Every now and then the sky does something cool and you can get a spectacular photograph just by being in the right place at the right time. That’s the biggest piece of the photography puzzle and I got lucky on my first day of the shoot. This devastating mixutre of high level stratus clouds mixed with lower level cumulus clouds is something glorious.
8th Place: A Spot in the Shadows
I love it when the shadows spill softly across the green and still manage to miss the pin flag. The result is often a very cool picture with an illuminated flag set against the backdrop of a shadowy green. This is on the Clover course, which is a nine hole offering adjacent to the professional Camelia course.
7th Place: Brand New Stack of Bricks
As I walked across the back patio, I could smell the newness of the patio furniture. It was.a mixture of fresh paint and freshly cut wood. The entire clubhouse has been renovated and the results are spectacular.
6th Place: Pond Party
As a general rule, I believe that ponds are better suited for fishing than golf. However, some ponds can fit nicely into the course aesthetic and add to the quality of the golf course. The pond to the left of 10 at Killearn is an excellent example of a pond that knows how to party. Its not overly obtrusive when you are playing the 10th hole, but if you get wild, you are getting wet.
Killearn Badass Alert: Mike Reasor
In 1974 at Killearn Golf Club, Mike Reasor needed to make the cut and post a 72 hole score at the Tallahassee Open in order to play in the following week’s Byron Nelson Classic. Like an absolute savage, Reasor fired an even par 144 to make the cut on the number. Which meant that he simply needed to post two scores over the weekend and he was in the Byron Nelson. Pretty much a done deal.
After posting signing his scorecard on Friday, Mike Reasor decided to celebrate making the cut by riding a HORSE. I told you this guy was a badass. Despite Mike’s command of the reigns, that horse threw him into a tree. Mike tore some rib cartilage, separated his left shoulder and screwed up his knees. This horse bucked him good and hard. Most people would have forgotten about the Byron Nelson and headed to the hospital for an extended stay. Not Mike Reasor.
Mike grabbed a 5 iron, tucked his janky left hand inside of his belt and played the final 2 rounds of the Tallahassee Open one handed. He shot a 123 on Saturday and followed that up with a 114 on Sunday. Apparently his putter got hot down the stretch. At 93 over par, Reasor posted the highest 4 day total in PGA Tour history and qualified to play in the Byron Nelson. Even though he would end up losing by 107 strokes to a guy named Alan Miller, the majority of the Sunday crowd was following him instead of the leaders. His last place finish clearly established him as golf’s biggest badass in 1974.
5th Place: Opening Offering
The first hole at Killearn has a big glorious fairway bunker that separates the 1st and 9th fairways. You don’t want any part of this bunker on the way out or the way back in. The only time you want to see this bunker is when you are a golf course photographer.
4th Place: Sliver of Sun
On my final morning of the photography shoot, there was a heavy layer of fog and a dense cloud cover. I wasn’t hoping for much or anything at all. I gave it a loop around the golf course looking for some new angles and when I made it to the 15th hole, the sun popped out for about 20 seconds. I captured the moment and considered the morning a success.
3rd Place: Island in the Sun
Just like the Weezer song, this photograph rocks it. The 5th hole is the second par 3 on the golf course and poses some bunker trouble short with challenges awaiting over the green in the form of a grass and tree covered outcropping.
2nd Place: Killearn Crossing
Some golf courses have a piece of land or a particular view that everyone at the club knows about. There is something special about it and golfers are inherently drawn to its charms. At Killearn Club, that spot is directly behind the 9th green. Several live oaks set the scene just behind the club house and right next to the putting green. It might just be the best spot on the entire golf course.
1st Place: 14th Hole
The 14th hole at Killearn is the most photogenic golf hole on the entire property and its not really that close. Since I hard a hard time deciding which photograph to crown the champion, I went with four of my favorites.
