Golf in Orlando

[Fetch07]

CG CC booked for 8am tomorrow if anyone wants to join.

[bobbo621]

Thanks for all the recc's in this thread, huge help for planning.

Heading down in 2 weeks for a quick 3 day/2 night trip. Hitting 18 at Waldorf, then 36 at OCN Panther/Cat, then 36 at Disney Magnolia/Palm.

Beyond golf, does anyone have any good bar or restaurant recommendations? We're 4 guys in mid-30's. Looking for a cool sports bar or cant-miss restaurant.

Thanks!

[Fetch07]

Champions Gate CC was great. Conditions were good, facility is nice, pace was good, lots of construction is the only con. Shorter course, golfed well.

[wagsgt]

Headed down in a couple weeks, these are the courses we are playing any insight? Saw @RichieHunt liked Providence
January 18th Providence
January 19th St Cloud
January 20th Champions Gate CC
January 21st Winter Haven CC

[Z1ggy16]

I'll be playing OCN next Sat, then playing Streamsong Blue and Red on Sunday.

[RichieHunt]

I'm not really into the bar scene...I'm old now.

 

For sports bars I would check out International Drive and the Disney area.

 

For regular bars, I would check out Disney and the Lake Eola (Thornton Park) area). Best restaurants are in all 3 areas as well as the Dr. Phillips area.

 

 

 

RH

[RichieHunt]

Providence is a good value. ChampionsGate CC is really good. Never played Winter Haven or St. Cloud. I've usually heard good things about Royal St. Cloud.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RH

[third-times-a-charm]

The best 'bar scene' if you want to get crazy is downtown Orlando on orange Ave or Church st - but its a very young crowd from 21-35

 

Closer to those courses is Sand Lake Rd aka 'Restaurant Row' which has bars and restaurant/bars. TONS of restaurants in the area not to mention I-Drive. International drive (I-drive) has lots to eat/drink as well.

 

Disney Springs is also an option.

[hanetrob]

Is Winter Haven CC private? My mother-in-law's house is across the lake from it so I see it whenever I visit. I will actually be visiting again in mid February. Is it difficult to get on?

 

[wagsgt]

I’m really not sure. Our pro sets it up. We have a group of 30 going

[pearls24]

Leaving Sat. and playing Hawks Landing, 36 at Championsgate, 36 at Championsgate CC, and 18 at Ritz. Anyone confirm conditions at these places?

[RichieHunt]

Ritz will be in great shape. I talked to somebody who played ChampionsGate CC recently and they said it was in excellent condition. Unless something happened (i.e. grass disease), Hawks Landing should be in great shape.

 

 

 

 

RH

[bobbo621]

Just got back from an Orlando golf trip - here's my quick review:

Waldorf Astoria - a LOT of construction going on at the moment. The range only had about 8-10 bays (which were all filled, there was a waiting line to hit balls), and their putting green was completely shut down. 2 holes were under construction (it appears they're breaking up 2 of their par5's - greens were being built right smack in the middle of the fairways on both holes). We paid about $145/guy to play - I'm not sure if this is a reduced rate from what they normally charge. The course itself is moderately fun and challenging. Greens were pure. But overall we all came away a bit disappointed.

Orange County National - played both courses on the same day, and I can't say enough good things about either of them. The layouts are terrific. Never did I feel like a hole was too difficult, but they make you execute shots. Greens were great. World class practice facility. Pace of play was never a major issue (bit slow on the afternoon round). We liked Crooked Cat a bit more than Panther Lake, but certainly still enjoyed both. Definitely will be going back there again. I would fully recommend OCN to anyone.

Disney Magnolia and Palm - also played both courses same day. I really enjoyed the Magnolia course. Fun holes, great greens. Saw TONS of nature (a hawk feeding on a live snake next to the 11th tee box, more deer then we could count, turkeys, etc). We played the Palm in the afternoon, and it wasn't a good experience at all. The pace of play was horrendous - 5hours35min. No halfway house - the starter told us not to go drive back to the main snackshop because we'd lose our place on the 10th tee box. On top of that they only had 1 cart girl working the whole course, so we only saw her twice. Palm is in desperate need of a revamp. There are soda machines at some of the bathrooms, and some nasty looking water fountains on a few other tee boxes. But we all felt Palm left a lot to be desired. A sidenote about the whole Disney golf complex was that we were leaving straight from there to the airport, so we wanted to shower quickly after our round. Their lockeroom was utterly filthy when we went in there. Toilet stalls completely out of toilet paper, had to ask proshop for towels, etc. I was surprised a Disney property would let that happen. Overall I don't think we'd go back there.

 

 

 

[gripandrip]

Nice to hear about OCN. Heading down there in a couple of weeks. Thanks for the review....

[Togatown22]

Thanks for the write-up bobbo. I'm heading down this Wednesday with a group of guys for our annual Orlando trip, and we are playing Waldorf on Saturday. I'm kind of surprised no one mentioned construction to us or you; sounds like you should've been getting some sort of discount. That's too bad about the practice area; as it's actually a nice area usually. Do you happen to remember what holes the on-course construction is taking place on? I'm wondering if I should inquire about a discount before we get there... we have tee times to play Saturday morning with a replay Saturday afternoon...

[bobbo621]

No prob. It was hole #18 and either 8 or 12 (cant remember which). The holes are both still playable, but there are big green complexes being installed in the middle of each fairway that are both being played as ground under repair. Also the 2 back tee boxes on the 1st hole are totally shutdown as well, so the hole was playing 289yds total for us when we were there. In my own opinion, the practice putting green being shutdown as well as half the range were the biggest offenses. I would definitely call and ask if there's any sort of construction discounts they're offering. Have fun!

[outgolfing]

My group is headed back at the beginning of May for our spring trip. They’ll be 8 of us this time and I’ve arranged this set up:

Friday: Noon-ish round at Four Seasons.

Saturday: Disney Magnolia with a replay on Palms.

Sunday: Morning round at OCN Panther Lake.

 

I am most excited for four seasons but I have also not played OCN before so this years trip is shaping up to be a good one

 

[RichieHunt]

This is a really good plan provided the pace of play at Disney doesn't get too bad. Usually pace of play at OCN moves along. It's not super fast, but usually not super slow either.

 

 

 

RH

[jimmyjames008]

Heading to Orlando end of this month, playing Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Looking at playing 36 once or twice while there. Any courses offer cheep afternoon replays?

[jimmyjames008]

Heading to Orlando end of this month, playing Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Looking at playing 36 once or twice while there. Any courses offer cheep afternoon replays?

*Sorry for the double post, can't figure out how to delete this one

[outgolfing]

Had to make a change since Four Seasons would not honor the times booked through TeeTimesUSA. We moved our Friday round to Mission Inn El Campeon.

[outgolfing]

call around to some of the courses that have 36 holes on site to see their replay rates. Disney set us up with a cheap afternoon replay on Palms after our morning round on Magnolia. Other courses to try are Orange County National or Mission Inn (hour drive).

[RichieHunt]

Well, that sucks.

 

Mission Inn is a good replacement (outside of that stupid 17th hole).

 

 

 

RH

[MillerLowLife]

Any opinions on ideal spots to stay n' play in Orlando area in September? I know it's super hot but taking the family on vacation and taking my opportunity to play top courses that I can. Bay Hill is one option so that I can actually play the course. I'm going from 9/5 - 9/8 so basically all day golf on 6th/7th and possible morning round on the 8th. Not concerned about price of rounds but want fun/nice courses to play. The Ritz course mention in this thread looks fun but any advice for courses to play? Also not sure if Bay Hill is worth play 36 on? Or somewhere else.

Appreciate any advice. I just found out that Streamsong Red/Blue will be closed all summer because of new grass on greens. On top of that, the lodge/black course is closed on the 6th/7th so could possibly play on the 8th but would be pretty tough so it's probably not ideal to even stay in Tampa at this point.

[RichieHunt]

Biggest issue with September is you're right in the middle of hurricane season. Just be forewarned. Usually it's hot in September (more like very humid), but sometimes it can be beautiful in September.

 

Bay Hill is great. Not sure I'd want to play 36 holes with other options available. Bay Hill is only a couple of miles form International Drive which is a busy area. You're within short driving distances of great courses like Ritz Carlton, Waldorf Astoria and others. .

 

So Bay Hill one day, maybe Waldorf or Ritz and then go out to Orange County National and get on Panther Lake. That's 3 good days of golf right there.

 

The only other place to stay to look at would be Reunion resorts. Basically it's a bunch of nice townhomes that you rent out. Not too far from Disney. They have 3 really good courses there.

 

 

 

RH

[MillerLowLife]

Yeah, the wife planned a family trip with some of her sibling families so I took it as an opportunity to get a bit of golf in with my brother in the beginning of the trip. Which course do you like more between Waldorf or Ritz? I'll definitely look into Panther Lakes as I haven't seen that course yet. Here's to hoping for some good weather on the trip!

[RichieHunt]

I prefer Waldorf over Ritz. It's close though.

 

 

 

RH

[markheardjr]

I played Waldorf yesterday for $80. Course was in fantastic shape. Range and putting green were open, no construction, wanted to update that status. We had the 1st tee time of the day, played as a 3some and finished in 3hrs. We played the blue tees since it was 6600 yards, in hindsight probably should have moved up to whites. Course is a bit narrow in spots caused by treelines and well placed fairway bunkering. Found myself hitting 3i, 4i and 5W into maybe 5 par 4s and 2 par 3s. So the length is there. Green complexes were fairly difficult with deep bunkering, and sadly little sand to be found. (one of my few complaints.) green speeds were not lightning fast but rolled true. didn't really notice grain being an issue that much. Design was ok. Thought there were too many dead straight holes. We got a B1G1 coupon so we'll probably go back and try it again teeing it forward.

[Jungleland]

Played the Ritz Carlton course today - pristine shape, greens were flawless and running true and fast.

Also played Falcon’s Fire in the late morning, a tale of two cities. The course is in pretty rough shape right now from tee to green. The rates reflect it, only paid $32. It’s a shame, nice layout but in really poor shape.

[RichieHunt]

Orange Tree (private) is in pretty good shape, but very very dry.

 

Water levels are extremely low. Water on #1 is the lowest I've ever seen it. Course isn't crusty though. Not sure how long that will last if we don't get some rain, soon.

 

 

 

 

RH