Repeat Golfer to Orlando and Ft Lauderdale

[Fetch07]

Coming to our rental properties in Orlando and Ft lauderdale first 2 weeks of March. Only have time for 4 rounds, 2 in each place. Which courses should i play?

 

Want to play something i havn't played yet.

 

Goal is to play them all at least once in next 5 years.

 

Wanna keep it to $100ish a round or less.

 

Played the following:

Orlando

-Shingle creek

-Southern Dunes

-OCN(both)

-Grand Cypress(all)

-OL-legend

-Highlands reserve

 

Ft lauderdale

-Jacaranda(all)

-Hillcrest

 

Interested in playing

 

Orlando

-Celebration

-Champions Gate

-Bella

-Waldorf

-Harmony

-Eagle Ck

-Falcon's Fire

-Providence

-Mystic Dunes

-Metrowest

-Grand Pines

-Hawks Landing

-Redtail

 

Ft Lauderdale

-Diplomat

-Crandon

-Plantation

-Heron Bay

-Carolina Club

-Palm Aire

-Club at Emerald Hills

-Grand Oaks

-Eagle Trace

-Deer creek

[RichieHunt]

[quote name='Fetch07' timestamp='1389586741' post='8450247']
[b]Interested[/b] in playing

Orlando
-Celebration
-Champions Gate
-Bella
-Waldorf
-Harmony
-Eagle Ck
-Falcon's Fire
-Providence
-Mystic Dunes
-Metrowest
-Grand Pines
-Hawks Landing
-Redtail[/quote]

I would rank these as follows:

1. Waldorf
2. Redtail
3. Harmon Golf Preserve
4 Metrowest
5. Grand Pines
6. Celebration
7. Bella Collina
8. Champion's Gate (International)
9. Falcon's Fire
10. Eagle Creek
11. Hawk's Landing
12. Mystic Dunes
13. Champions Gate (national)
14. Providence Club






RH

[Fetch07]

[quote name='RichieHunt' timestamp='1389647450' post='8453815']
[quote name='Fetch07' timestamp='1389586741' post='8450247']
[b]Interested[/b] in playing

Orlando
-Celebration
-Champions Gate
-Bella
-Waldorf
-Harmony
-Eagle Ck
-Falcon's Fire
-Providence
-Mystic Dunes
-Metrowest
-Grand Pines
-Hawks Landing
-Redtail[/quote]

I would rank these as follows:

1. Waldorf [color=#ff0000]$146! ouch[/color]
2. Redtail [color=#ff0000]$72[/color] [color=#ff0000]decent[/color]
3. Harmon Golf Preserve [color=#ff0000]$87 decent[/color]
4 Metrowest [color=#ff0000]$84 decent[/color]
5. Grand Pines [color=#ff0000]$120 eek[/color]
6. Celebration [color=#ff0000]$125 ouchy[/color]
7. Bella Collina [color=#ff0000]$103 fair[/color]
8. Champion's Gate (International) [color=#ff0000]$116 blah[/color]
9. Falcon's Fire [color=#ff0000]$104 ok[/color]
10. Eagle Creek [color=#ff0000]$100 ok[/color]
11. Hawk's Landing [color=#ff0000]$115 blah[/color]
12. Mystic Dunes [color=#ff0000]$118 ugh[/color]
13. Champions Gate (national) [color=#ff0000]$116 blah[/color]
14. Providence Club [color=#ff0000]$63 decent[/color]






RH
[/quote]

Prices above.

I realize im going at a busy time and want early rounds and will pay a premium, but some of them are a bit too much money.

Might give harmony and metrowest a try. We stay near davenport, so not to bad of drives.

[floycota]

[quote name='RichieHunt' timestamp='1389647450' post='8453815']
[quote name='Fetch07' timestamp='1389586741' post='8450247']
[b]Interested[/b] in playing

Orlando
-Celebration
-Champions Gate
-Bella
-Waldorf
-Harmony
-Eagle Ck
-Falcon's Fire
-Providence
-Mystic Dunes
-Metrowest
-Grand Pines
-Hawks Landing
-Redtail[/quote]

I would rank these as follows:

1. Waldorf
2. Redtail
3. Harmon Golf Preserve
4 Metrowest
5. Grand Pines
6. Celebration
7. Bella Collina
8. Champion's Gate (International)
9. Falcon's Fire
10. Eagle Creek
11. Hawk's Landing
12. Mystic Dunes
13. Champions Gate (national)
14. Providence Club






RH
[/quote]

I like the list but ChampionsGate International shouldn't be in front of the National. I don't get the appeal of the International. They played the Father-Son there years ago but that is about it. If the conditions are the same I much prefer the National. The International does not play like a links style course. It's never fast and hard (it does have some great views of the water treatment plant though).

The pro at our course was previously at ChampionsGate. He says the staff preferred to play the National. Usually better conditions (less play) and a better layout comparatively. I would never pay there peak rates to play either. There are too many course in the area that are better than these.

[RichieHunt]

I played the National this summer. It's more of a 'dunes' course (I wouldn't really call it parkland). I don't think either course is bad, although I would never pay $116 to play there I just felt that the International course had some more exotic hole designs and was in much better condition. Even Mystic Dunes is not a bad course, although I think they need to junk every single green and re-design it.

If you're trying to keep it under $90 for a course that you haven't played and are willing to travel I would recommend:

World Woods (Pine Barrens)
World Woods (Rolling Oaks)
Juliette Falls (near Ocala)
RedTail
Metrowest (newly renovated, entirely better course)
Harmony Golf Preserve
Rio Pinar (newly renovated, much better course)
North Shore
Timacuan
Victoria Hills
Deer Island
LPGA International




RH

[RichieHunt]

Oh, I forgot one that is excellent and very cheap....Stonegate. It's in Kissimmee. It's in a 55-year old + community. Has 36 holes and both are darn good. I played there twice in the past month and my greens fees were only $25 on GolfNow.





RH

[Fetch07]

Thanks for the suggestions guy! Greatly appreciated.

[mcadenhead]

I am going down to Orlando in February. Tampa native, but have not played much in Orlando. Played Bella Collina last year. Great course, but we had 40 mph wind gusts which took away the fun. We played another course in Clermont that was only 5-10 minutes from Bella, but I cannot remember the name. Price was right on it as it was only around $50 last February. This year we are playing Orange County National, which hosted final stage of Q-School. Two courses, and I have heard good things about both. They are running a special right now for $54.95, including lunch, with $15 replays.

[floycota]

[quote name='RichieHunt' timestamp='1389735019' post='8460713']
Even Mystic Dunes is not a bad course, although I think they need to junk every single green and re-design it.
[/quote]

I love this course. I play Mystic everytime I go to Orlando. The design is weird. I think it has more memorable holes than almost any course in the area. I never expect to play well when I'm there though. The greens are crazy. I like playing it early in my trip to Orlando. I know that if I can come close to hitting putts on the right line at Mystic I should be ok on any other course I play. I've only been disappointed in Mystic about 2-years ago when they had a terrible time with the greens. The greens had a disease and we were basically putting on green colored sand. I believe that they fixed this since. Once you have played Mystic a couple of times, it's a great course to play against someone who has never played it. You can have a major advantage.

Does anyone have an update on the conditions at Mystic?

[Paulw007]

I use this website to look up course conditions around central florida, so far it has been very accurate.

[url="http://www.orlandogolfconditions.com/"]http://www.orlandogolfconditions.com/[/url]

[floycota]

[quote name='Paulw007' timestamp='1389806833' post='8465723']
I use this website to look up course conditions around central florida, so far it has been very accurate.

[url="http://www.orlandogolfconditions.com/"]http://www.orlandogolfconditions.com/[/url]
[/quote]
Nice, I wish they had Mystic though. I don't see it listed.

[RichieHunt]

[quote name='mcadenhead' timestamp='1389751876' post='8462413']
I am going down to Orlando in February. Tampa native, but have not played much in Orlando. Played Bella Collina last year. Great course, but we had 40 mph wind gusts which took away the fun. We played another course in Clermont that was only 5-10 minutes from Bella, but I cannot remember the name. Price was right on it as it was only around $50 last February. This year we are playing Orange County National, which hosted final stage of Q-School. Two courses, and I have heard good things about both. They are running a special right now for $54.95, including lunch, with $15 replays.
[/quote]

OCN is much better than Bella Collina. Better condition, more reasonable course design. It's just that Bella has a $50 million club house. But, OCN has the largest driving range in North America. Easy to guess what I would prefer. Lunch is usually very good there as well. I prefer Panther Lake over Crooked Cat, but Crooked Cat is a solid golf course. Played there on Xmas Eve, course was in great condition.




RH

[RichieHunt]

[quote name='floycota' timestamp='1389806178' post='8465633']
[quote name='RichieHunt' timestamp='1389735019' post='8460713']
Even Mystic Dunes is not a bad course, although I think they need to junk every single green and re-design it.
[/quote]

I love this course. I play Mystic everytime I go to Orlando. The design is weird. I think it has more memorable holes than almost any course in the area. I never expect to play well when I'm there though. The greens are crazy. I like playing it early in my trip to Orlando. I know that if I can come close to hitting putts on the right line at Mystic I should be ok on any other course I play. I've only been disappointed in Mystic about 2-years ago when they had a terrible time with the greens. The greens had a disease and we were basically putting on green colored sand. I believe that they fixed this since. Once you have played Mystic a couple of times, it's a great course to play against someone who has never played it. You can have a major advantage.

Does anyone have an update on the conditions at Mystic?
[/quote]

I like the course outside of the green design. I think it makes the course less fun and unreasonable. Also slows up play. I say junk the greens, re-design more reasonably with TifEagle and now you have a course that instantly is one of the best in the area and much more popular.







RH

[RichieHunt]

[quote name='floycota' timestamp='1389819518' post='8467087']
[quote name='Paulw007' timestamp='1389806833' post='8465723']
I use this website to look up course conditions around central florida, so far it has been very accurate.

[url="http://www.orlandogolfconditions.com/"]http://www.orlandogolfconditions.com/[/url]
[/quote]
Nice, I wish they had Mystic though. I don't see it listed.
[/quote]

Friend of mine played there a couple of weeks ago, said it was in very good condition.




RH

[floycota]

Even Mystic Dunes is not a bad course, although I think they need to junk every single green and re-design it.

 

I love this course. I play Mystic everytime I go to Orlando. The design is weird. I think it has more memorable holes than almost any course in the area. I never expect to play well when I'm there though. The greens are crazy. I like playing it early in my trip to Orlando. I know that if I can come close to hitting putts on the right line at Mystic I should be ok on any other course I play. I've only been disappointed in Mystic about 2-years ago when they had a terrible time with the greens. The greens had a disease and we were basically putting on green colored sand. I believe that they fixed this since. Once you have played Mystic a couple of times, it's a great course to play against someone who has never played it. You can have a major advantage.

 

Does anyone have an update on the conditions at Mystic?

 

I like the course outside of the green design. I think it makes the course less fun and unreasonable. Also slows up play. I say junk the greens, re-design more reasonably with TifEagle and now you have a course that instantly is one of the best in the area and much more popular.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RH

 

What the 6th green and it's 6 or 7-foot slope isn't appealing to you? :taunt:

 

[jnier75]

[quote name='mcadenhead' timestamp='1389751876' post='8462413']
I am going down to Orlando in February. Tampa native, but have not played much in Orlando. Played Bella Collina last year. Great course, but we had 40 mph wind gusts which took away the fun. We played another course in Clermont that was only 5-10 minutes from Bella, but I cannot remember the name. Price was right on it as it was only around $50 last February. This year we are playing Orange County National, which hosted final stage of Q-School. Two courses, and I have heard good things about both. They are running a special right now for $54.95, including lunch, with $15 replays.
[/quote]

Do you have a link to this special?

[Fetch07]

[quote name='RichieHunt' timestamp='1389735244' post='8460745']
Oh, I forgot one that is excellent and very cheap....Stonegate. It's in Kissimmee. It's in a 55-year old + community. Has 36 holes and both are darn good. I played there twice in the past month and my greens fees were only $25 on GolfNow.





RH
[/quote]

Cypress or oaks if you could only do one?

[skylargolf]

[quote name='Fetch07' timestamp='1389586741' post='8450247']
Coming to our rental properties in Orlando and Ft lauderdale first 2 weeks of March. Only have time for 4 rounds, 2 in each place. Which courses should i play?

Want to play something i havn't played yet.

Goal is to play them all at least once in next 5 years.

Wanna keep it to $100ish a round or less.

[b]Played[/b] the following:
Orlando
-Shingle creek
-Southern Dunes
-OCN(both)
-Grand Cypress(all)
-OL-legend
-Highlands reserve

Ft lauderdale
-Jacaranda(all)
-Hillcrest

[b]Interested[/b] in playing

Orlando
-Celebration
-Champions Gate
-Bella
-Waldorf
-Harmony
-Eagle Ck
-Falcon's Fire
-Providence
-Mystic Dunes
-Metrowest
-Grand Pines
-Hawks Landing
-Redtail

Ft Lauderdale
-Diplomat
-Crandon
-Plantation
-Heron Bay
-Carolina Club
-Palm Aire
-Club at Emerald Hills
-Grand Oaks
-Eagle Trace
-Deer creek
[/quote]I've played almost all of the Fort Lauderdale courses you have on your list. Some of the ones you listed are private so I'm not sure if you have a connection to play them.
Diplomat- never played
Crandon- I saw all the commercials and had high expectations but I was disappointed. There are a ton of mosquitoes out there. Not worth the drive.
Plantation perserve- It's really nice. It is all Paspalum grass though so I'm not sure if you like that.
Heron Bay- Has gone down hill over the past few years. The layout is really boring. Just a lot of bunkers and it's really easy.
Carolina Club- Its always in pretty nice shape. Not that long but there is a lot of water.
Palm Aire- They have 3 different courses. Stay away from the palms course. Oaks and Cypress are both decent.
Club at Emerald Hills- My favorite on the list. Very challenging and is always in great shape. A lot of cool holes and the greens are fast and undulating.
Grande Oaks- Cool old school course. Its in nice shape but the greens are usually pretty slow. A lot of history though with Caddy Shack being filmed there.
Eagle Trace- My second favorite on the list. Course is in nice shape and the layout is awesome. You may also see Lexi Thompson out there too.
Deer Creek- Always in nice condition. Decent layout. Greens are always fast and smooth.
If I had to pick 2 it would be Emerald HIlls and Eagle Trace. Followed by plantation preserve and deer creek. Hope this helps.

[ZBigStick]

[color=#282828]-[b]Celebration[/b] Nice course, slow play, poor service, usually too expensive.[/color]
[color="#282828"]-[b]Champions Gate[/b] Over rated. I also prefer the National. The course plays as it is designed. International is wide and narrow in all of the wrong areas. As said if there was a content wind direction and firm conditions it would be great.[/color]
[color=#282828]-[b]Bella[/b] Fun course. A must play. Better if you can play with someone with knowledge of layout. Can be frustrating playing it blind. Faldo is part genius, part idiot.[/color]
[color=#282828]-[b]Waldorf[/b] Great conditions, nice service. Course should have been more challenging. The course was declawed for resort guests. Pricey. You must valet, and my Oakleys were missing from my car when I got my car back. Pro shop could care less.[/color]
[color=#282828]-[b]Harmony[/b] Great layout. Factor in tolls and time of travel into value calculation. Conditions vary.[/color]
[color=#282828]-[b]Eagle Ck [/b] Good value, fun layout. Slower greens.[/color]
[color=#282828]-[b]Falcon's Fire[/b] Good conditions. Back nine is far superior to the front which almost puts you to sleep. Fantastic finishing 3 holes![/color]
[color=#282828]-[b]Providence[/b] Fun course, good value. Depending on how much revenue they have generated, dictates course conditions.[/color]
[color=#282828]-[b]Mystic Dunes[/b] Dramatic layout. Some holes condo are too close. If priced right, a superb value. 1/3-1/2 of greens were unplayable a year or so ago. Brian Gay hosted his charity tournament there, so are conditions better now? If greens had less crazy drop offs, the water would stay on them and grass would grow. As stated, if the green complexes were redone and smoothed out this course would host a lot of State Tournaments.[/color]
[color=#282828]-[b]Metrowest[/b] Because of its proximity to Universal and International drive, it is usually over priced. With new greens it may now be worth it. A solid course with older roots. Only Robert Trent Jones course in Orlando.[/color]
[color=#282828]-[b]Grand Pines[/b] Good conditions, challenging green complexes. The course was better before they removed all of the bunkers. Again Faldo's genius and idiocy collide.[/color]
[color=#282828]-[b]Hawks Landing[/b] Over priced. Only a few solid holes.[/color]
[color=#282828]-[b]Redtail[/b] A bit of a drive, but a fun course that is a bit different from the rest in Orlando. A good change of pace.[/color]

[RichieHunt]

I wrote about the renovations at Metrowest a while ago. The course is entirely better now. They reduced the bunkering from 73 bunkers to 42 bunkers. And many of the bunkers left over were reduced in size. It was a much needed renovation because you would often be left with treacherous plugged lies which are not fun. It also slowed play considerably. Now the pace of play is faster. The greens went to TifEagle which for my money is the best type of Bermuda. Many courses are afraid to use TifEagle because of the initial startup costs and they really cannot feasibly make the greens higher than 11 on the stimp. But, they roll smooth and they have incredible endurance, particularly to foot traffic, that I prefer it over anything else. I'll be waiting for the prices to go down again in the late Spring and summer, but I look forward to playing Metrowest a lot in 2014.





RH

[Fetch07]

Well then that settles it, gonna play metrowest and stonegate in orlando and club at emerald and plantation preserve in ft lauderdale. Ill post dates and times if anyone wants to join, 3 of 4 rounds ill be by myself.

[geauxWRX]

played metrowest two weeks ago and the new greens are so firm anything you landed on the surface rolled through. Greens had great speed but we were having to bounce balls into greens to get them to stay on.

[Fetch07]

DATE: DAY: TIME: GOLF COURSE: PLAYERS:
02/28/14 FRI 7.43 AM METROWEST GOLF CLUB 1
03/02/14 SUN 8.04 AM STONEGATE GC CYPRESS 3
03/10/14 MON 7.59 AM PLANTATION PRESERVE 1
03/11/14 TUE 7.56 AM CLUB AT EMERALD HILLS 1

For anyone who wants to join, here are my tee times

[Fetch07]

[quote name='Fetch07' timestamp='1392081770' post='8640689']
DATE: DAY: TIME: GOLF COURSE: PLAYERS:
02/28/14 FRI 7.43 AM METROWEST GOLF CLUB 1
03/02/14 SUN 8.04 AM STONEGATE GC CYPRESS 3
03/10/14 MON 7.59 AM PLANTATION PRESERVE 1
03/11/14 TUE 7.56 AM CLUB AT EMERALD HILLS 1

For anyone who wants to join, here are my tee times
[/quote]

Just got back home.
Metrowest 4.2 out of 5, nice track, greens need another 4-6 months and will be best in area.
Stonegate 3.5 out of 5, enjoyed this track, affordable
Plantation 3.8 out of 5, played with a slow group, no golf sense, got frustrating at times, kind of ruined my experience, but nice course, will play again.
Emerald 4.7 out of 5, my favorite of the trip, everything mint, nice track, long!! Played tips at 7300+ yards! Only hit one house, haha. (bad swing off tee)

[skylargolf]

[quote name='Fetch07' timestamp='1394912698' post='8878095']
[quote name='Fetch07' timestamp='1392081770' post='8640689']
DATE: DAY: TIME: GOLF COURSE: PLAYERS:
02/28/14 FRI 7.43 AM METROWEST GOLF CLUB 1
03/02/14 SUN 8.04 AM STONEGATE GC CYPRESS 3
03/10/14 MON 7.59 AM PLANTATION PRESERVE 1
03/11/14 TUE 7.56 AM CLUB AT EMERALD HILLS 1

For anyone who wants to join, here are my tee times
[/quote]

Just got back home.
Metrowest 4.2 out of 5, nice track, greens need another 4-6 months and will be best in area.
Stonegate 3.5 out of 5, enjoyed this track, affordable
Plantation 3.8 out of 5, played with a slow group, no golf sense, got frustrating at times, kind of ruined my experience, but nice course, will play again.
Emerald 4.7 out of 5, my favorite of the trip, everything mint, nice track, long!! Played tips at 7300+ yards! Only hit one house, haha. (bad swing off tee)
[/quote]Nice! Emerald Hills is awesome. What did you think of the short par 4 with the green that is elevated about 30 feet?

[Fetch07]

Driver, half a 60 degree to pin high at back of green(thank you Leupold) First birdie of the day!

So many nice holes, I also birdied the par 3 over water, pin was front, i hit at the back left of green and spun it back at least 30' down the hill to 6'.

Chickened out and laid up to the par 5 with green over water haha.

Ended up with 76 from the tips, didn't think was to bad for first time at course. I played with a local who was of great help.

edit. I actually shot 76 at all 4 courses, very consistent, not like me haha

[skylargolf]

Nice! 76 from the tips on that course is really solid. They have a US Open and a US Am Qualifier there and 72 or 73 usually makes it. You were pretty close! I always put up a couple high numbers there which always kills me. My best there out of playing 5 times is 77 and it was from one tee up so you already beat me.

[Fetch07]

[quote name='skylargolf' timestamp='1395000147' post='8884271']
Nice! 76 from the tips on that course is really solid. They have a US Open and a US Am Qualifier there and 72 or 73 usually makes it. You were pretty close! I always put up a couple high numbers there which always kills me. My best there out of playing 5 times is 77 and it was from one tee up so you already beat me.
[/quote]

Yah the one older gentleman repairing divots on one tee box was filling me in on the qualifying rounds played there, he looked at me kind of funny while i walked back to the golds, then after i hit my ball to 6' on that par 3 he just kind of gave me the ol head nod of approval. haha

Greens there were quick and I was the first tee time in the morning! We had to wait on all the holes on back nine because crews were cutting and rolling greens still, couldn't imagine how fast they would be mid afternoon.

[moose557]

[quote name='Fetch07' timestamp='1394912698' post='8878095']
[quote name='Fetch07' timestamp='1392081770' post='8640689']
DATE: DAY: TIME: GOLF COURSE: PLAYERS:
02/28/14 FRI 7.43 AM METROWEST GOLF CLUB 1
03/02/14 SUN 8.04 AM STONEGATE GC CYPRESS 3
03/10/14 MON 7.59 AM PLANTATION PRESERVE 1
03/11/14 TUE 7.56 AM CLUB AT EMERALD HILLS 1

For anyone who wants to join, here are my tee times
[/quote]

Just got back home.
Metrowest 4.2 out of 5, nice track, greens need another 4-6 months and will be best in area.
Stonegate 3.5 out of 5, enjoyed this track, affordable
Plantation 3.8 out of 5, played with a slow group, no golf sense, got frustrating at times, kind of ruined my experience, but nice course, will play again.
Emerald 4.7 out of 5, my favorite of the trip, everything mint, nice track, long!! Played tips at 7300+ yards! Only hit one house, haha. (bad swing off tee)
[/quote]

Agreed about the greens on Metrowest. There going to be great but they need some time. Starter told us it will be a few months before there where they want them to be. They were like concrete.