Plenty of places to tee it up before the Daytona 500

Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines!

The Sprint Cup Series kicks off this Sunday with the granddaddy of all races, the Daytona 500. Considered by many to be the most prestigious race on the NASCAR calendar, the Daytona 500 is one of just four restrictor plate races on the Cup schedule.

There's already plenty of excitement in and around Daytona Beach, Fla., as people await Sunday's race at Daytona International Speedway. If you're looking for some fun stuff to do before the green flag waves, Daytona Beach is the perfect place.

The Daytona Beach area is loaded with world-class golf courses and is recognized as one of Florida's fastest growing golf destinations. In fact, Golf Digest recently ranked Daytona Beach in the top 15 places to play in the nation.

OK, so where should you tee it up then? Here's a foursome of courses for you to consider:

Indigo Lakes Golf Club

Conveniently located near the Daytona International Speedway, Indigo Lakes Golf Club has been named one of Golfweek Magazine's top-10 golf courses in Florida.

Indigo Lakes

The par-72 course stretches over 7,100 yards from the back tees and presents a challenge to golfers of all skills levels. The course was designed by Lloyd Clifton and opened for play in 1976. You can play Indigo Lakes Golf Club any day of the week for less than $40.

"I've been here a year, but the course has been here since 1977," said Corey Hamlin, the PGA general manager at Indigo Lakes. "The course has hosted LPGA events, Hooters Tour events and various local state events through the years. It was the jewel of town for a long time, but a lot of courses are coming on board now. We have a growing membership and do about 40,000 rounds a year. We're going to rebrand to a motor speedway themed facility a little down the road."

And if you're looking for a course that's really, really close to the speedway, look no further.

"The location is only a driver and a 3-wood away from Turn 1 at the track," Hamlin said. "It's a great location and it's in fantastic shape. Between the 10th and 11th holes we allow people to park on the property during the race so they can walk over."

And in case you were wondering, Corey Hamlin is not related to driver Denny Hamlin.

"But I've got his team jacket, he's my favorite racer and I'll be pulling hard for him when I'm at the race on Sunday," Corey Hamlin laughed.

LPGA International, Champions Course

The Champions Course

Opened in 1994, this signature Rees Jones golf course is a traditional links style 7,088-yard design. According to its description, you'll enjoy the strategic mounding, numerous expanses of sand bunkers, natural marsh areas, beautiful lakes and undulating greens. While extremely playable for all skill levels, the ingenious and inventive player is rewarded with multiple options on nearly every shot.

You can play a round at the Champions Course for $79.

The Club at Pelican Bay, North Course

The course features long, demanding holes and elevated tee boxes. The North Course, designed by Bill Amick is immaculately maintained, winding through waterways, loblolly pines, bayberry and white cedars that escort and maintain the boundaries for the course. The course's website says, "To assign a 'signature' hole to the North Course would be an unfair assessment, since every hole has its own challenge and distinctive layout. Some views can be intimidating, such as the high tiers on the 460 yard fifteen, or the gauntlet effect on the 230 yard eighth."

The North Course

Previously, the Pelican Bay North Course played host to two Champions Tour events. In 1984, Orville Moody made a famous chip-in in a sudden-death playoff to defeat Arnold Palmer.

Check out the course's Web site, www.pelicanbaycc.com, for specials on last-minute tee times.

Daytona Beach Golf Club, South Course

This course, which opened in 1921, is played under the original layout designed by renowned architect Donald Ross. The tee shots are forgiving with expansive fairways, but the approach is demanding if you want to get anywhere close to the holes, which are lined by Florida Oaks and tall pines with little water. You can play this course at a great value too -- it costs only $40 or less, depending on the time of day you decide to play, for 18 holes.

The South Course

"The course is in good shape with an excellent value," said John Cameron, Jr., PGA director of golf at Daytona Beach Golf Club. "We have excellent facilities and everything that a golfer would expect when they come to play and all that at an affordable price. We hang our hat on service and value and we have 36 holes, which means there's plenty of room and we can work golfers in when they walk up."

As you can imagine, Daytona 500 week is a busy time of year, but Cameron still encourages people to stop in.

Bonus round - Ormond Beach

What better way to get into the excitement of the Daytona 500 than a visit to Ormond Beach, which is also known as the, "Birthplace of Speed Park?" The Park commemorates the first automobile race held on the adjacent beach in 1903 and features a picnic area and Dune walkover.

Ormond Beach, circa 1905

Ormond Beach is located just north of Daytona. It's also the site where Lee Bible, a garage operator, attempted to set a new land speed record and lost his life on March 12, 1929.

According to the history of the land-speed attempt, Bible was clocked at 186 mph on his first run and 202 mph on his second, which were well below the record of 207.55 mph set by Ray Keech on April 22, 1928. Shortly after the time trap on the second attempt, Bible's White Triplex -- the name of the car designed for the land-speed record attempt -- swerved out of control, crashing into sand dunes causing a roll over. The vehicle rolled more than 200 feet before coming to a stop.

Bible was thrown from the Triplex and died instantly.

Obviously, Bible's death was tragic, but a trip to Ormond Beach will give you a peak at where the, "need for speed," got its start.

T.J. Auclair is an interactive producer for PGA.com.