1. Mps Group Championships
City: Ponte Vedra, FL
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (800) 486-8366
Address: 10034 Golf Club Dr.
Description: The perennially popular Bausch & Lomb Championships at Amelia Island was recently renamed the MPS Group Championships and relocated to Sawgrass. Tennis fans flock to Sawgrass to witness one of the most prestigious events on the Sony Ericsson Women’s Tennis Association Tour. The match-ups, which are played on green clay, include 32 main-draw and 32 qualifying players, with a 16-team, main-draw doubles competition where players face off for $220,000 in prize money.
2. Lauden Golf Of Ponte Vedra
City: Ponte Vedra, FL
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (904) 543-1433
Address: 330 Hwy. A1A
Description: Serious golfers may already know about Lauden Golf, a national golf products manufacturer headquartered in Jacksonville. Owner Jim Laudenslager is often behind the counter of his Ponte Vedra store, an unassuming place where all the local PGA Tour players come to get their clubs repaired. Laudenslager owns the patent on 108 golf-related products, including a club he calls the No.1 selling golf club in Florida—the Trifecta Plus, touted as the longest and most accurate fairway wood you can buy. Stop by the Ponte Vedra shop in the spring at TPC time when the shop is buzzing and notable pro golfers have been known to drop in. Open six days a week and on Sunday by appointment.
3. Tournament Players Club
City: Ponte Vedra, FL
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (904) 273-3235
Address: 110 TPC Blvd.
Description: Although this is a semiprivate club, the golf shop is open to the public. It has a great selection of golf shirts, many with a little logo that says TPC, which stands for The Players Championship, the annual golf tournament played on the Sawgrass Stadium Course. Anything from the shop is sure to please the golfer in your life. Tell the security guard at the west gate to the Sawgrass Country Club that you want to go to the golf shop, and he or she will let you through.
4. Underwood’S Jewelers
City: Ponte Vedra, FL
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (904) 280-1202
Address: 330 Hwy. A1A North
Description: Underwood’s is Jacksonville’s most traditional and most popular jewelry store, as evidenced by its Best Jewelry Store of 2009 win in Folio Weekly. Underwood’s first opened in 1928 in Palatka, selling watches and diamonds, before expanding to Jacksonville in the 1940s. Today, Underwood’s carries a large selection of jewelry by Judith Ripka, Mikimoto, and David Yurman, as well as a comprehensive selection of fine china, silver, and gifts.
5. Krista Eberle
City: Ponte Vedra, FL
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (904) 280-6944
Address: 240 A1A
Description: Local gal Krista Eberle stocks designer clothing by Nicole Miller, BCBG, Michael Stars, and more in her San Marco store. The San Marco store exudes a rarefied air and has high-end appeal.
6. The Spa At The Ponte Vedra Inn And Club
City: Ponte Vedra, FL
Category: Shopping
Telephone: (904) 273-7700
Address: 200 Ponte Vedra Blvd.
Description: You don’t have to be a guest at the Ponte Vedra Inn and Club to enjoy The Spa. Anyone with an appointment and some extra bucks in his or her pocket can come here and live like a blueblood, if only for a few hours. This popular day spa does it all, from haircuts to facials, nail care, body scrubs, and massages. Most customers choose to schedule more than one beauty treatment. Come early or make time in between or after treatments to sip complimentary mimosas or sparkling water and relax in the garden’s hot pool. You’ll leave feeling like a million bucks.
7. Atp Tennis Courts
City: Ponte Vedra, FL
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (904) 285-6400
Address: 201 ATP Tour Blvd.
Description: The Association of Tennis Professionals is the governing body for men’s professional tennis. At tour headquarters in Ponte Vedra, there are 17 tennis courts of grass, clay, and cushioned hard surface. Tennis fans of all ages can take lessons or clinics from former tour players, then shop for tennis togs in the pro shop. Call in advance for class and clinic schedules or court reservations.