Best courses to play in the Orlando area

[Mcgoo31]

I have been a member of this forum for some time but haven’t posted before, I spend most of my time in the “whats in the bag” and “tour & pre release” section. I am hoping to get more involved in the forum and am using my first post to ask people’s opinion on which are the best courses to play in and around the Orlando area.

 

Me and my brother are visiting Orlando in June/July (12th-3rd) from the UK for a holiday and we are hoping to get around 10 rounds of golf in. We both play to a decent standard and have handicaps of 6 and 3 so don’t mind a challenging golf course. I have visited florida 6 times previously and have taken my golf clubs twice, below are the courses we have played and my overall ratings.

• Shingle Creek played June 2008 rating 8/10 - Condition was excellent, Friendly staff, Good pace of play, Enjoyable layout
  

• Disney Magnolia played July 2012 rating 9/10 - Condition was good after a heavy week of rain, Good pace of play, Challenging off the back tees and good layout, Nice to play a course on the PGA rota (at the time)
  

Revisited the course in 2014 to find the condition had worsened and that the pace of play was dreadful (five and a half hours for 18 holes).

• Falcons Fire played July 2012 rating 5/10 - Condition was poor & slow green, Paired up on arrival without being told beforehand, Pace of play was slow
  

• Grand Cypress New Course played July 2012 ratIng 8/10 - Although nothing like a true links course it was enjoyable, Great condition, Friendly staff, Good pace of play
  

• Orange Lake Legends played July 2012 rating 8/10 - Great layout with lots of sand in play, Good condition, Good pace of play
  

• Orange Lake The Reserve played April 2014 rating 7/10 - Played in the afternoon and was very cheap, Fair condition for the price, Course is bit short
  

• Victoria Hills played April 2014 rating 3/10 - (Surprised by this course considering the reviews) Pace of play terrible (asked to “slow down” by the group in front, playing too quickly), Very poor tee boxes and bare fairway’s, wasn’t impressed by the layout
  

• Southern Dunes played April 2014 rating 8/10 - Great layout with lot’s of sand, Very fast greens, Good overall condition, asked to start on the 10th for pace of play
  

• Mission Inn El Campeón played twice in April 2014 9/10 - Very impressed with the course, Good range, Great layout, Good condition, friendly staff
  

• Bay Hill played twice in April 2012 rating 9.5/10 - Great layout, Surprised by the course conditions (bare fairways and greens), Great range and practice facility.
  

The first day we played there was unscheduled course maintenance with around 15 green keepers working on every green on the back nine, we complained after the round and the course manager refunded the round. We were invited back for another round and all the trimmings free of charge. The customer service was excellent, all of the staff are very friendly, we even enjoyed a drink with the english barman in the locker room. We loved every minute of staying in the lodge.

 

 

The courses we are thinking of playing are -

• Mission Inn El Campeón
  
• Worlds Wood (both courses)
  
• Streamsong (red & Blue)
  
• Pga National
  
• Sawgrass
  

I know the question has been asked a million times but would appreciated any input or suggestions

 

Thanks,

 

Chris……

[OhMyGators]

You are correct that this question has been asked and answered before. I suggest you just refer to the other threads with suggestions. I'm not sure I would be much help to you based on your rankings of the courses you last played. You liked Mission Inn and I think it's extremely overrated. You did not like the layout of Victoria Hills and I think it's the best layout in Central Florida and one of the best I've ever played.

Have a great trip and enjoy the golf wherever you end up playing.

[RichieHunt]

[list]
[*]Mission Inn [color=#565656]El Campeón [/color]
[*]Worlds Wood (both courses)
[*]Streamsong (red & Blue)
[*]Pga National
[*]Sawgrass
[/list]
The big thing I would do is try and see when the courses are aerifying. Some do it twice in the summer, usually in May and then once again in July/August.

[b]El Campeon [/b]is excellent. Usually in great shape. Quite hilly for a Florida course. One of my favorites in the area.

[b]World Woods[/b] - Pine Barrens is designed after Pine Valley and Rolling Oaks is designed after Augusta. Pine Barrens is more about waste bunkers and Rolling Oaks is more traditional. Really like both courses and usually the pace of play is fine in the summer.

[b]Sawgrass[/b] - I would tend to avoid Sawgrass. I had a friend that paid $300 last summer and he showed me a picture of the tee boxes and they were in rough shape. I guess I would play it by ear as far as conditions go.

You may want to try out [b]PGA Village[/b]. I played the Ryder Course and thought it was a nice layout in great condition. I heard the Wannamaker course was a bit more difficulty, but they shut it down to re-do the fairways. The Dye Course there I heard was 'different' (Pete Dye, go figure).

I would also suggest the [b]Golf Club at Eaglebrooke[/b] in Lakeland. One of my favorite designs, especially when you get on the back nine and usually in great condition. The same with the Ritz Carlton and Waldorf Astoria courses, both located in Orlando. You can also try out the [b]Arthur Hills course at LPGA International[/b] in Daytona Beach. Always in great condition and a fantastic design.

There's [b]RedTail[/b] in Sorrento. The [b]International Club[/b] in Deer Island. I really like[b] Juliette Falls [/b]up by Ocala, but they had some issues with the fringes of their greens. But the layout is fantastic.

Over in Tampa I would check out the [b]Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort[/b] or [b]TPC Tampa Bay[/b]. I'm usually not a big fan of TPC courses, but I thought TPC Tampa Bay was really good.





RH

[ilovenewtech]

Mcgoo31, I would strongly advise playing both courses at Orange County National. They used to hold the Qualifying School on both courses (Crooked Cat & Panther Lakes?) and they are cracking courses. Must be 7400 yards from the back tees but they will give you a great challenge playing around 6900/7000 yards.