Every other month, The Neighborhoods of World Golf Village hosts a “Post for Prizes” contest on our Facebook page. It is a pretty simple contest. All you have to do is submit an answer to whatever the question of the month is. (My favorite question so far is, “What is your favorite line from Caddyshack?”) This month all you had to do was name one of the top 5 reasons the World Golf Village golf courses are the best. The person with the best answer wins a different prize each month. For July, Michael Stockwell gave the best answer and won a $100 gift card to the golf pro shop! Congratulations Michael!

Although all of the answers were wonderful, I was surprised that the chilled apples served on the 1st and 10th tees of both courses weren’t mentioned….Neither was the iced towels handed out by the player assistants on hot days or the GPS in every cart. I guess there are so many great things about the courses, we should have made it a top 10 list instead!  Here we go with the winning 5…

5. The WGV golf courses are core golf courses. The Slammer & Squire has no road crossings and the King & Bear has only one. Traffic never interferes with our play!

4. Both courses are maintained to the highest standards. The grounds crew is second to none!

3. Both courses boast the most beautiful natural setting imaginable! The courses meander under ancient live oaks and next to sparkling lakes.

2. The people who we get to play with – from our neighbors to our out-of-town guests – bring the course to life and make it incredibly fun!

1. And the #1 reason WGV golf courses are the best anywhere is our courteous & helpful staff! They welcome us with a big smile and a positive attitude ALWAYS!

Please feel free to add any reasons we missed! And watch for our next Post for Prizes contest in September…

You would have to live under a rock to not know about the “Twilight” mania that is going on in pop culture right now. The series of books by Stephanie Meyer’s were wildly popular, even before they were transformed into movies. As the third movie in the Twilight sage, “Eclipse”, hit theaters the furor hit an all time high! You can enjoy the romantic thriller in its full glory for a limited time at the World Golf IMAX movie theater with a six-story high screen! This makes it the largest IMAX screen in Northeast Florida and a great way to watch all of the action…

For those of you who don’t know, Twilight is a story about an ordinary teenage girl, Bella, who falls in love with an exotic vampire, Edward. Of course, this creates some unique challenges for their relationship. Their love is further complicated by the fact Bella also is in love with Jacob – who is a werewolf! (It should be noted she loves Edward the most though!)

This love triangle has created a rivalry between fans of the movies: Team Edward vs. Team Jacob. After watching Eclipse, I must admit I am on Team Jacob. Personally, I think he is cuter than the skinny and pale Edward. (I have to wonder if I am going to get nasty comments on this blog post now!) But I mostly side with Jacob because he is honest with Bella. Edward tends to “protect” her too much and this leads to controlling behaviour on his part…that is simply unattractive to me. Doesn’t this bother anyone else? And there is the small fact he is eventually going to take her soul away! Although I don’t think the movie will ever be nominated for an Oscar, it is a great way to escape for two hours or so!

Now, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how wonderful it was to simply ride our bikes to see this IMAX movie! When you live in The Neighborhoods of World Golf Village, the theater is practically in your own backyard. For more information about living in the best Jacksonville golf course community, visit Davidson Realty.

Todd Oakes lives with his wife of 40 years, Cathy, in the Cascades at World Golf Village. They were among the first residents when they moved to the St. Augustine golf community in 2006. Although Todd’s favorite quote is, “It is better to keep your mouth shut and be thought stupid than to open your mouth and remove all doubt,” he has graciously agreed to be our featured resident this month! Meet Todd…

1. If you could have front row seats to any concert who would you like to see?

I don’t know if you would call it a concert, but the Blue Collar Comedy Tour. I love to laugh.

2. If you could be brilliant in one subject, which would you choose?

Marital respect. We’ve made it 40 years and have been doing pretty good, but there is always room to improve.

3. Which is more important, the respect of your children or your parents? 

I don’t think you can separate the two.  If I did not have the respect of my parents, I don’t know how you would think your kids would respect you.

4. Should the individual or society be of primary importance? 

Since I am a lifelong conservative, this one is easy. It has to be the individual.

Jock Ochiltree has been selling St. Augustine real estate at Davidson Realty for over three years now. Jock loves learning about the history of St. Augustine, so needless to say he really enjoys the presentations given for St. Augustine’s 450th anniversary celebration. A week or two ago he attended “Flagler’s Age of Opulence,” which shared Henry’s Flagler’s impact on St. Augustine real estate. Although Jock’s highlights were many, here are my favorite five tidbits of knowledge he shared!

1. Flagler first came to St. Augustine in 1878 (to improve his first wife’s health) and he hated it! He called it a “pest hole full of sick people.” They left immediately.

2. When Flagler eventually returned he built the Hotel Alcazar (pictured above), which has an underground pool that is fed by a 78 degree spring. Other Florida springs are only 72 degree.

3. The facade of the Hotel Alcazar – now the Lightner Museum – was never completed.

4. Flagler built the overseas railroad to Key West, which was the largest privately funded construction project in U.S. history.

5. Flagler didn’t make any money on developing Florida. He said he did it to give back to the community!

If you are interested in attending upcoming events for St. Augustine’s 450th anniversary, just ask Jock Ochiltree!

Each month, we feature a WGV neighbor in our Resident Spotlight. This month, we are pleased to introduce you to Dee Fuchs. Dee moved into our St. Augustine golf course community a few months ago with her husband, Ken, and their yellow lab, Buffet. Meet Dee…

1. Would you rather be a great musician, artist or athlete?

Can I say “all of the above”? I love music, both singing and playing the piano, and wish I had continued honing my skills through adulthood. I love art and have dabbled in watercolors, oils, crafts and jewelry making over the years – perhaps I could have developed into a famous designer. I also would have liked to learn golf in my youth because I now love the game and the pleasure it brings to my life.

2. If you could have any view from your back porch what would it be?

I love my serene view of the lake with all its birds from my lanai here in WGV, so perhaps the perfect view for me would be a lake view in a tropical location, perhaps Costa Rica or near Iguazu Falls, with lots of foliage, flowers, birds, animals, with a mountain & waterfall in the background – quiet and peaceful.

3. What event in the past, present or future would you like to witness in person?

I have been blessed to have seen many spectacular events in my lifetime so this is a hard one. Perhaps the first walk on the moon, to be able to see its surface for the first time, look at the heavens and stars and back down at the earth.

4. Would you like a quiet life of safety or a life of great adventure and uncertainty?

I’ll choose adventure anytime!

5. What one goal do you hope to accomplish this year?

To meet people and develop friends in our new home here in WGV.

6. What one question would you ask a psychic about the future?

I’d rather enjoy each day as it comes.

7. Which is more important intelligence or common sense?

Definitely common sense, but having both is the perfect scenario.

8. What do you think is the ideal age?

35

9. What is the most beautiful place you’ve ever seen?

This is a very difficult question because I’ve seen so many wonderful places and they are all so different from each other. From a standpoint of natural beauty, I would say either Alaska, Costa Rica or Rio de Janeiro. From a standpoint of man-made beauty, definitely Machu Pichu or Petra.

10. Would you be likely to survive alone in the wilderness?

Yes, at least for a good amount of time.

Even though I’ve been on the WGV marketing team for almost a decade now, I’m ashamed to say I had never played the putting course at the St. Augustine golf community. So when friends asked me to last Thursday, I jumped at the chance! We met at 4:30 at the World Golf Hall of Fame and as soon as I realized I putt right-handed (even though I write left-handed) I did surprisingly well. This isn’t your average Putt-Putt couse after all!

This putting course is comprised of 18 greens that are maintained to USGA specifications. And the flags are moved daily – at least that’s what I heard! Because we wanted to catch the 6:00 PM “Hubble” IMAX movie, we decided to play “best ball”. The round of 18 took us about an hour, thanks to my friend Candy making a hole in one on the final green! We have a guest blogger writing a review of the movie next week so I won’t mention that the movie was fabulous and everyone should go see it!

If you read this blog on a regular basis, you know many of my blog post ideas come from casual conversations I have with the Davidson Realty team. (Well, conversations I either have or overhear!) This post is no exception. After the sales meeting on Tuesday, a few agents were talking about the ridiculously good deals on houses in St. Augustine, specifically at The Legends at World Golf Village.

Here’s a little background on The Legends…. They are a condominium community at World Golf Village that offers many private amenities for their residents, including a fitness center, putting green, tennis courts, clubhouse and two pools. It has a wonderful location near shopping and restaurants and is an “A rated” school district. Like much of WGV, it is only 20 minutes to the beach. Sounds pretty good, right?

So I wanted to learn more about the “ridiculously good deals” they had. Ashley Wood, one of Davidson’s agents, knows all about condos in St. Augustine and she lives in The Legends so I asked her for the inside scoop. She explained there are two builder closeouts that are available right now for around $50,000 each. Can you believe that? A WGV condominium for $50,000! I’m not a Realtor, but if you do a little quick math and assume you put 20% down and get a 6% rate on a 30-year fixed, your loan payment would be under $240 a month! That’s simply a crazy good deal!

If you want to learn more about The Legends and all of the opportunities they have there, contact Ashley.

I started to work for Jim & Sherry Davidson (pictured below), the master developers of World Golf Village, about 10 years ago. I remember Sherry taking me for a tour of the King & Bear at World Golf Village right after I joined the team. There were two homes in Bearsford, one in Kingsbury and one in Waterbury by the Links. That was it…four total homes. Today, there are almost 700 homes behind the gates of King & Bear. So, I guess you can say I have seen World Golf Village evolve over the years. However, that wasn’t the true beginning of the World Golf Village story. It actually started many years before the first homes were built!

Over the years I worked with Jim & Sherry and the rest of the Davidson team, I have heard bits and pieces of thousands of stories about the early days. Jim recounts making deals on nothing more than a handshake with honorable men and Sherry tells of how exciting it was when a UPS delivery truck bounced down a dirt road and found the construction trailer for the first time. Along the way, they ran into difficult times and colorful personalities. And they found a way to survive both!

Each month, we introduce you to a resident of The Neighborhoods of World Golf Village. For February, we talked to Jason Hill. Jason moved into TuscanWood about two years ago with his wife and children. Meet Jason…
 
1. What is your favorite thing about living in WGV?  

THE AMAZING LANDSCAPING AND WILDLIFE, THE TREES AND FOLIAGE MAKES IT FEEL AS IF THE NEIGHBORHOOD HAS BEEN HERE FOR AT LEAST 50 YEARS.
 
2. What one goal do you hope to accomplish this year?  

I JUST OPENED UP A NEW LAW FIRM HERE IN THE WORLD GOLF VILLAGE AREA, SO MY GOAL IS TO GROW THE LAW OFFICES OF CURTIS & HILL, P.A. INTO ONE OF THE PREMIER LAW FIRMS IN NORTHEAST FLORIDA.
 
3. Is justice or forgiveness more important?

WHILE I BELIEVE STRONGLY IN JUSTICE, FORGIVENESS IS MORE IMPORTANT FOR A LONG AND HEALTHY LIFE.
 

Our next Sneak Peek Saturday Open House will be March 6 from 1 to 4:00 PM at The Neighborhoods of World Golf Village. This time we are doing it a little differently! Instead of touring homes in a neighborhood, we are focusing on homesites in the King & Bear.

There will be five featured homesites. On each of these sites, there will be a tent with refreshments, as well as a knowledgeable professional – including custom homebuilders, lenders, or a Realtor from Davidson Realty. They will share information with you on the advantages of building custom homes in Northeast Florida over buying existing homes. They also will be able to talk about the best ways to position a home on the sites to maximize views and solar efficiency, among other things.

If you visit all five of the featured homesites, you will be entered to win a $100 gift card to Donavan’s Pub – in honor of the upcoming St. Patty’s Day!

We also will provide a map of the neighborhoods so you can visit other golf course and preserve homesites at your leisure. Just let me know if you have any questions or suggestions about our next Sneak Peek Saturday!