Orlando

[Paul Richards]

What public and private courses in the Orlando area do y'all recommend?


Cheers

[DTaylor18]

Paul, many on here will probably chime in, but my favorite on the private side is Mountain Lake and on the public side, of the ones that i have played, it is the controversial Grand Cypress - New.  Also, depending on your definition of Orlando "area", World Woods is a healthy drive from there but a wonderful course.

[John_Conley]

Paul:

the Watson Course at Reunion, Mystic Dunes, and Victoria Hills are probably the best of the newer courses.  A lesser-known gem is Eagle Dunes - very low key prairie course designed by Mike Dasher.  (He's 3 for 3 in our town.)

Older (more than 5 years) stuff includes Southern Dunes, Panther Lake at Orange County National, and the N/S at Grand Cypress (site of the '84 World Cup).  

I'm not a fan of the New at Grand Cypress (sorry Dan), Lake Nona (site of a World Cup in the 90s won by Love & Couples), Bay Hill, or the Magnolia at Disney.  Surprisingly, Palm at Disney is a blast to play.  People locally say "palmandmagnolia" all in one breath so they are usually treated as one.

Dan's Mountain Lake is an hour south of Orlando and quite private.  (He's a member.)  It has been widely discussed on this board so you may be familiar.  Any trip inside the gates is even better than the golf.  A VERY unusual place.  FWIW, Amare is from Lake Wales.  I don't think he plays there.

As Dan mentions, it depends what your definition of Orlando is.  Time for a round at the airport?  North Shore, not Lake Nona, is my suggestion.  Able to drive a ways?  That opens up all the possibilities I mentioned.  Interested in driving two hours?  Whoa, the possibilities!!

* Creek Course at Hammock Dunes and Ocean Hammock in Palm Coast.
* Redtail and John's Island West (for me, a Top 5 in Florida track) if you can make it to Vero.
* Golden Hills (COMPLETELY unknown Ress Jones re-do that was pretty dang good to start with) and Golden Ocala literally across the street from each other just off I-75.
* the Dunes at Seville and El Diablo if you want to sample great, dirt cheap golf.
* Of course, World Woods.

Feel free to call me if you need more specifics.  (407) 718-8390.

[Paul Richards]

Dan

Maybe I should add a bit more info.

This will be a 'family' vacation, so I hope to get out for one round, maybe two, based on proximity to Disney and to each other.

As I have been to the area before, I have played much of what is offered:
World Woods
Mountain Lake
Grand Cypress
Disney
Southern Dunes
Lake Nona

John
Two hours is not in the equation, unfortunately.
It sounds like Eagle Dunes
Watson at Reunion
Mystic Dunes
Victoria Hills are possibilities?

Is Isleworth 'worth' it?

Thanks

[John_Conley]

John
Two hours is not in the equation, unfortunately.
It sounds like Eagle Dunes
Watson at Reunion
Mystic Dunes
Victoria Hills are possibilities?

Is Isleworth 'worth' it?

I haven't seen Isleworth since the re-do.  I liked it a lot.

Proximity to Disney?  Victoria Hills is an hour and Eagle Dunes might be even more.  (Disney is actually a good bit south of Orlando, I was using Orlando as a center.)  Highlands Reserve is also by Mike Dasher and makes nice use of the land.  Not a "name" course that garners attention like the others.

I really like Mystic Dunes, but not everyone does.

[Steve_Lovett]

Paul,

I think the Smyers re-do at Isleworth is "worth it" from what I hear from others (I haven't played it myself).  And, it is close proximity...

[Steve Hyden]

I would avoid Grand Cypress New - It is to links golf as the NYC skyline in Las Vegas is to Manhattan.

The public courses I would recommend include Southern Dunes, Victoria Hills, World Woods Pine Barrens and El Diablo.  None of these are in Orlando per se and the latter two are a far piece.  Also I have heard good things about MetroWest.

[Jfaspen]

I am flying in tomorrow.. I plan to make the drive to play World Woods, but I thought it was only an hour or so.
I am staying at a resort with a course named Grande Pines, a Nick Faldo design.  The pictures make it look quite nice and challenging + I can play for $45 or so.
Transportation could be an issue because of the family vacation theme.

[John_Conley]

Jeff:

World Woods is 90 minutes with no traffic for me, absolutely flying, at 6:00 am.  Always takes me AT LEAST 100 to get back.  It is "two hours" from Winter Park.

If you are staying at Grande Pines it will be about 95 minutes, and that assumes you don't get lost.  Nearly two hours from the airport.

Grande Pines is the old International.  Steve Smyers adhered to the same routing and improved the course tenfold by stripping out some of the clutter (same formula used by Marriott at Hawk's Landing, the old Marriott World Center course) and getting crazy with the green complexes.  One Tour pro described it as "a great second shot course".  It is interesting around the hole.  

One golf architecture critic blasted the routing.  Well, that's all Smyers had to work with.  Not ideal, but nowhere near as bad as he thought.  (Expectations were the culprit here.  He'd never seen the course before and was reading all the marketing hype.)

$45 isn't a terrible rate and you are staying right there.  I'd dissuade you from trying to get to the other Orlando courses since your family is in tow.

Faldo is one of the world's great practice facilities.  Never played the 9, but I often drive the 35 minutes to use the range.  It is great.  (So is WW, by the way.)

It is still hot here.  You must be theme parking.  Enjoy.

[Jfaspen]

John, we're flying in tomorrow and it is the only day I have full use of the car.  Do you have any suggestions for a substitute for world woods.  I really want to play it.. but I'm starting to think that if I can't leave the resort until 2 or 3, it might have to be on a different trip.

I read your post above, which one course do you suggest for afternoon play tomorrow?


Thanks,

Jeff

[John_Conley]

I like Mystic Dunes.  Southern Dunes is terrific as well.  Squeezing a round in tomorrow night?  Seriously, you may just want to stay close to home and tee it up at Grande Pines or Grande Lakes (expensive Norman design at the Ritz-Carlton).

Avoid Shingle Creek.  North Shore is good and close to the airport.

Good luck.

[Jfaspen]

Thanks, I think we are going to go with Southern Dunes.. Reasonable twilight rate.. Closer to the hotel than WW and still looks like a good track.. I appreciate the advice and when I return, i'll pm you my thoughts on it

Jeff

[Top100Guru]

I guess you guys have never been to the "Very Private" and totally re-done CC of Orlando??

I pretty darn good Ross course that re-opened last fall, after taking out some 500 trees.

[John_Conley]

I have played CCO once and found it to be nothing special.  "Very private"?  It is private.  I don't know about "very private".  Not like Mountain Lake or Isleworth where you can't get inside the gate without a member.  I would have guessed that a member of another club would gain access through reciprocity - not so at Everglades Club or Palm Beach of Jupiter.

[DTaylor18]

John was nice enough to take me to Isleworth and it was definitely worth it for me.  Definitely a unique place.

On the public side, John recommended Mystic Dunes to me and, depsite some mixed reviews on GCA, i really enjoyed it. there are one or two questionable holes, but it definitely has a nice diversity of holes and is close to Disney. SOuthern Dunes many on here like, but i hope you're not afraid of a few houses!

Eagle Creek is very close to the airport.  The front nine is uninspiring but the back nine is very good.

[A_Clay_Man]

Paul,
Smeyer's re-do at Grande Pines is worth a look. And the New course is worth seeing, at least once. I couldn't believe it's been around since 87' and the turf is magnificiantly maintained.

[Joel_Stewart]

Looks like I'm going to Orlando in November for the Golf Digest panelist meeting.  

I was thinking about playing Old Memorial in Tampa and Mountain Lake.   How far is Moutain Lake from Disneyworld?

[DTaylor18]

Joel, about 45 minutes.

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

Paul, You have already played the best the area has to offer. I am curious how you liked Mountain Lake for I played with Mike Sweeney today and he spoke highly of it but noted it was not the top of the Raynor pole.  I like Lake Nona as much as any of the local courses you noted. John

[Paul Richards]

Tiger

Mountain Lake is, indeed, very special and I loved it.  What a wonderful place to play and the greens are amazing, especially given the topography of Florida.

I've played Lake Nona twice on different trips and have found its fall from the lists to be disheartening.  I think it's a pretty solid course.

 

[Mike_Sweeney]

I played with Mike Sweeney today and he spoke highly of it but noted it was not the top of the Raynor pole.

Tiger,

Reminder, I did say it was the #1 Raynor in the world during the months of December to March.  

[Top100Guru]

John;

CC of Orlando has been restored........so go play it again, minus 500 trees, and with missing "Ross" bunkering, and you will find a delightful experience.

[John_Conley]

McConk:

I'll make an effort to do that.  Thanks for the suggestion.  I remember a pretty bland site compared to the work of Ross in the Twin Cities where I grew up.

Is it in the league with Timuquana?

Be good.

[Top100Guru]

Never played Timuquana.......so cannot compare, but it would be on par with Augusta CC, Highlands CC, and Biltmore Forest.

Not as good as Wannamoisett or Oakland Hills

[cary lichtenstein]

How come no one mentioned Mission Inn in HOwey=In-the Hills?

The old course there is really worth playing. Terrific topograhy for FLorida or anywhere