New upscale golf resort in Polk County already receiving praise from golfers and nearby community

POLK COUNTY, Fla. - A new, top of the line golf resort in a remote part of Polk County is getting a lot of buzz, and it's only been open for a month.

Streamsong is an upscale resort that offers 36 holes of golf that were built around one massive sandbox. Years of phosphate mining on the property formed the mountainous sand dunes.

"It's stunningly beautiful," said Tom Sunnarborg, Vice President of Land Development and Management for Mosaic, the mining company that owns the property.

The two courses opened around Christmas, and already Golf Magazine named Streamsong Red the best new course in the country. The blue course received honorable mention.

By this fall, the resort expects to finish construction on its 216-room luxury lodge that overlooks a lake and both golf courses.

"This is remote. It's quiet, and it's unlike any other part of Florida and in an area of Florida that even a lot of Floridians have not seen before," Sunnarborg said.

Fort Meade is about ten miles from Streamsong -- it's the closest community to the resort.

Locals say fortunately the commute hasn't stopped visitors and resort workers from venturing over.

"The economic boom, if you can refer to it as that, is already started," said Bob Sweeney, Owner of R&S Pawn and Cigar in Fort Meade.

Just the other day, Sweeney says a few caddies came into his store and purchased laptop computers and other electronics.

Plus, he was awarded the contract to provide the resort its own cigars.

Other shops have also seen a pick-up in traffic.

"I do think it has encouraged people to come to Fort Meade curiosity-wise at this point, and I hope it remains that way," said Retha Crawford, Owner of Southern Posh.

The resort cautions nearby communities and businesses to manage their expectations, because when all said and done, Streamsong will mostly be self-contained.

Though, some are hoping to fill in any cracks left open.

"There are always going to be some things that the local economy can provide that just doesn’t make economic sense for the resort to provide," Sweeney said.