Orlando

[John_Conley]

Cary:

One of my faves.  It is pretty far from Orlando (55 minutes).  Worthwhile, though.  You're right.

[John Foley]

Any comments on the courses at the Reunion resort? May be there in October. What about Highland Reserve?

[tlavin]

Ditto on Country Club of Orlando.  I played it this spring and was very impressed by the Silva restoration.  There are still a couple silly holes, but overall a very worthy track.  Paul, if you want to get on, let me know, I have a good friend who is a member.

[John_Conley]

John:

Highlands is nice.  Not great.  My theory is that the target is a retiree so the back tees seemed forced (you kind of have to hit past other golfers) and that the challenge is around the hole (and not tee to green).  

Mike Dasher has done three good courses for us in Orlando.  This is his first, and probably "worst", but not bad at all.

Reunion's Watson is very good.  The Palmer course is pretty and in nice shape, but really has some poorly designed holes.  9 and 18 come to mind.

[Russell Lo]

I'm going to Orlando at the end of October and have two days to play. 10/26 aftenoon and Saturday 10/29. I'm thinking about Mystic Dunes or Palm at Disney on Wed. PM since I'm staying at the Coronado Springs Hotel and I've been told that the proximity is very close.

I'm also trying to decide between Panther Lake and the International Course at Champion's Gate for Saturday.

I'll be taking a taxi to these courses as I've been told they're around 10 miles out from the hotel, tops.

Any recommendations or other suggestions?

Thanks

[John_Conley]

Russell:

I like all those choices.  Palm is far more interesting than Magnolia, so you've got a good Disney course.  Osprey Ridge is my fave.  Mystic is very good.

Panther Lake is a lot of fun to play, but I consider it far too wide to be a great course and one architecture critic hates the confusing routing on the front.  Q-school will be there and it is a very good venue for that.

International at Champions Gate is okay, but it will disappoint you if you think you are playing one of America's great golf courses.

Suggestions?

The Watson course at Reunion and Southern Dunes.  For someone staying there that doesn't want to drop $100 I wholeheartedly endorse Highlands Reserve or ANY of the lower end far in Clermont.  Diamond Players Club, Green Valley, Swiss Fairways, Palisades, and the Legends are decent.

Not sure now if the days work for me, but if you wouldn't mind a tag along I can join you for a game.  Send me a private message if interested.

Now for the good news.... October 15th through December 15 are sixty days of PERFECT weather.  You are coming at a great time.  Enjoy!

[Pete Buczkowski]

Russell,

I'd be happy to set you up at Disney if you'd like...send me an IM as the date gets closer.  The PGA tournament is here the previous week so the course will likely be in prime condition.

Hey John - I played Panther Lake during an evening round about a month back.  They have significantly narrowed the fairways and grown the rough in prep. for Q-school in December.  It was not a lot of fun for this out-of-practice hack.  Also, they added some circular bunkers up the right hand side of 18 - I usually don't criticize but they look atrocious and are out of play for the good player - yuck.  You should play a round just to see the difference.  But, if Russell wants a challenge he would enjoy his round there.

Pete

[Keith Williams]

Eagle Dunes looks like a really interesting, neat course.

I am going to be on property at the Big Mouse over Thanksgiving and some of the week following.  I don't even know if I am going to have time to play any, but had assumed that if I did it would probably be at Osprey Ridge (having played it and Eagle Pines before). I like Osprey a lot and feel that it has some really good holes in its lineup.  I think that Eagle Pines might have been genius, though, in its original set-up, just judging from what I have seen and read; but obviously it no longer plays the way I imagine it once did.

John, though, now has my interest piqued with both the Palm and Eagle Dunes.  I will have to plead guilty to being a party just as John describes in lumping the Palm and Magnolia together, shows what I get for assuming that I have seen enough Joe Lee courses.  I found a little photo tour of Eagle Dunes online at www.golfholes.com and the course appears really neat with some cool holes and nice vistas.  For anyone who has been there recently; I was wondering if those views still exist, or has the housing development started to encroach?  It also appears to be a sizeable distance from WDW, any idea on the drive time to get up to Sorrento?

Thanks,

Keith

[John_Conley]

Sorrento is more than an hour from Disney.

No idea about the status of the housing project.

[Adam_Messix]

Keith--

I played Eagle Dunes in late March and there were no homes at all on the 2nd nine.  There are a few homes on the front, but there are still some really good vistas there.  Eagle Dunes is a fun course to play and I think it will be even after it's developed out.  I agree with John that I like all of Mike Dasher's work in the Orlando area and hope he get's to do more courses.

Swiss Fairways was in rough shape when I saw it in March.  The design is good, particularly the front nine.  The land was good enough to do a super course though, and I think you'll be disappointed once you've finished.  It is a real bargain, something like 25 dollars to play, it's a you get what you pay for kind of place.  

If your looking for a solid course with excellent course conditioning, than Orange County National is it.  Both courses are solid.  I may be in the minority, but was partial to Crooked Cat of the two courses.