Welcome to the Golf Club Atlas Discussion Group!Each user is approved by the Golf Club Atlas editorial staff. For any new inquiries, please contact us.
Quote from: J Cabarcos on October 23, 2012, 10:40:49 AMApparently things have gone downhill at Sugarloaf Mountain- Golf Operations have CLOSED and the place is now DEFUNCT. I was reading through the boards in search of decent Orlando Golf options amongst the multitudes and quickly spotted the Crenshaw and Coore's design. After trying to get a tee time only to encounter a disconnected number, I called their management company Hampton Golf and was told the news.This is pretty sad information in light of the fact that there are so many mediocre golfing options in Orlando. But, hey I guess those courses are strategically close to I-4 corridor where Mickey resides.I think I am going to have to shlep up to World Woods, after all.Hi Everybody - As usual with these situations it is complicated (Note: I am a member of the course but otherwise not affiliated). Golf Operations are closed for the foreseeable future (through at least the end of the year), but it is due to the ownership structure and may or may not be permanent. The land and development has been in bankruptcy for some time but the golf operations had been funded by a potential buyer of the property. The main contribution was to cover the insurance on the land to allow the golf course to operate. That buyer has pulled out but there are other negotiations taking place. The operating and maintenance budget were extremely small since nobody actually owned the golf course. Hampton is just the management company. As a side note the course is still being maintained; but golfers are not allowed due to the insurance gap. The course needs to draw the local market as well as snowbirds to be successful. It is pretty remote and the conditioning challenges are well documented. Ultimately though there were a few design features built in that the land could not support which lead to the course's decline. This was a combination of the general shape of the land and soil properties combined with the severe rainy climate. As an example the course opened with a lot of open sandy areas, most notably in front of 15 tee. The slope from 15 down to 14 fairway is severe, and when summer rains dumped 6 inches in two hours, a lot of the sand slid onto 14 fairway. This caused some asthetic issues to 15 (grassed over with grass that doesn't match) and major conditioing issues to 14, which has never recovered. Many of the C&C bunker faces have fallen in as well which were subsequently dumbed down for the worse.Pete
Apparently things have gone downhill at Sugarloaf Mountain- Golf Operations have CLOSED and the place is now DEFUNCT. I was reading through the boards in search of decent Orlando Golf options amongst the multitudes and quickly spotted the Crenshaw and Coore's design. After trying to get a tee time only to encounter a disconnected number, I called their management company Hampton Golf and was told the news.This is pretty sad information in light of the fact that there are so many mediocre golfing options in Orlando. But, hey I guess those courses are strategically close to I-4 corridor where Mickey resides.I think I am going to have to shlep up to World Woods, after all.