The
city of Orlando is located in the state of Florida on the South
East Coast of the United States. Florida is bordered on three
sides by water. It has the Atlantic Ocean to the East, the Gulf
of Mexico to the West, and the Caribbean Sea to the South. The
city of Orlando is as close to “Central” Florida as you can
get. It is about four hours North of Miami and about three hours
South of Jacksonville.
It
is only about an hour from Tampa on the West Coast and Daytona
on the East Coast.
Probably
the number one reason to golf in Orlando is the weather. Its perfect
location with respect to its latitude and surrounding water allow
golf to be played here all year round, without interruption for
winter weather. Orlando is also the number one vacation destination
in the world for the very same reason (although Disney helps!!).
The
fact that there are close to two hundred golf courses and related
facilities within about an hour’s radius of Orlando make the possibilities
for golf oriented vacations almost limitless. There are also plenty
of things to do for the non-golfing family members while you are
out sampling the great variety of local golf courses. In fact,
there are five courses on the Disney Land property alone!
All
that being said, how do you go about choosing a suitable golf
course for your level of play and your budget? Paying a lot of
money does not guarantee the ultimate golfing experience. You
need to have a pretty good idea where you stand in terms of your
handicap and what kind of courses you should be playing. For example,
most of the higher priced courses are geared to the better golfer
and may be less tolerant of slow play and breaches in etiquette.
There are, however, plenty of really nice “budget” type courses
that are easier to play and more suited for the high handicappers.
Some
of my “Top Ten” favorite courses are listed below. They are not
the most expensive courses but they are ones that I most enjoy
playing, for a variety of reasons. The most important point about
a course must be that it’s fun to play and should have an interesting
layout. If a course is too difficult and too penal – even if it
is always in mint condition – it is no fun to play. The course
must be in good shape most of the time. The greens are the most
important, but it is difficult to keep them in good shape all
year long. Variation in rainfall and transitional winter grasses
add to the difficulties of maintaining good greens. Most courses
do a good job on the maintenance so it is not difficult to find
them in nice shape.
Deer
Island, Lake County
My
all time favorite course is Deer Island, which is located
in Lake County. In fact, the entire course is on an island in a
body of water called Lake Dora. It was designed by Joe Lee, who
was the architect for The Blue Monster at Doral, and Disney’s Magnolia
course. Deer Island is not a particularly long course but has beautiful
well sculpted holes. There is a lot of water in play here, not in
the way of forced carries but wild shots will find the water. I
found this to be one of the prettiest and most fun courses I have
ever played. The price is in the middle of the range for this area,
about $25 to $35.
Putting
the rest of the courses in order is a difficult task because there
are very few that I do not like. Almost all courses have something
to offer and should be played at least once, if for no other reason
than to give you perspective on the courses you do favor. So while
on vacation, sample as many different golf courses as you possibly
can.
Palisades,
Lake County
The
second golf course I have to mention is Palisades. It is
also located in Lake County and was designed by Joe Lee, who is
my favorite course architect. Palisades golf club might be the best
golf course in Orlando that no one knows about. The greens are always
in excellent condition and are usually quite fast. There are no
bad holes and every one has at least one outstanding feature. There
are just enough elevation changes and water on this course to make
it interesting without being too difficult to play. The price is
in the middle of the range for this area, about $25 to $35.
DeBary Country Club
The
next course on my list of favorites is one called the DeBary
Country Club in Volusia County. This is probably the best overall
course for the money in the Orlando area. The course conditioning
is top notch all year round. The layout is really nice and they
have a wonderful practice facility as well. DeBary is only a little
more expensive than some courses in this area, usually $30 to $50
but it is worth it.
Zellwood
Station is my favorite “bargain” golf course. It is a short
course with some very interesting features. There are a lot of elevation
changes, blind approach shots, and even a hole with a flag that
you must raise to let the next group know that the fairway is clear.
The most outstanding feature of this course is their greens. They
are amazing for a course that is so reasonably priced at about $20
to $30. Give this Orange County golf course a play if you get a
chance.
Another
outstanding but reasonably priced golf course is Eagle Ridge
in Marion County. It was designed by Terry Doss who also designed
a course called Spruce Creek Preserve. It also has a lot of elevation
changes but has a lot of pine trees mixed in as well. The layout
is really fantastic, as are the overall conditions. This one is
well worth the ride a bit North on Orlando. The price is in the
$30 to $40 range.
The
next group of golf courses are the more expensive ones. I saved
them for last because at these prices they should be really good.
To some extent you do get what you pay for but the challenge is
getting the most for your money. If you have it in your budget,
by all means go for this next group of courses. You will not be
disappointed.
Leading
off is one called Panther Lake at Orange County National
Golf and Learning Center. There is also a course at the same facility
called the Crooked Cat. Panther lake is a parkland style
course with lots of trees, water and large white sandy bunkers.
The Crooked Cat course is more of a links style course with wide
undulating fairways, perimeter mounding, and pot bunkers. Both of
these courses are in immaculate condition all the time and well
worth the price. These courses are in the $50 to $100 range. Southern
Dunes, located in Polk County is next on my list of must play
high end golf courses. It was designed by Steve Smyers and features
huge greens, large elevation changes, and over 170 bunkers. This
is not your typical Florida golf course. It is more reminiscent
of some British links style courses, and is only a twenty five minute
drive from Disney Land, so well worth the trip. This course is also
in the $50 to $75 range.
Diamondback
Golf Club
Diamondback
Golf Club is also located in Polk County and is only about ten
miles from Southern Dunes. It was designed by Joe Lee and is more
of a prototypical Florida golf course. The nicest part about Diamondback
is the fact that there are no houses anywhere on the course. Just
wildlife preserves, trees, and a little water surround this gem
of a golf course. This one gets a little expensive in the peak season
but gets very reasonable during the summer, $25 to $55 range. The
Majors Golf Club in Brevard County is a new Arnold Palmer signature
course. It was designed and built to celebrate the worldwide game
of golf. You will find features on the holes here which are typical
of some of the great courses around the world where Arnold Palmer
has won a championship. This is a relatively new course so it is
not completely matured. It is really nice now, but in a couple of
years this one will be amazing. It is also in the $25 to $55 price
range.
All
of the courses I have listed above can be seen on our website orlandosbestgolf.com.
There are ten pictures of each course, plus lists of amenities,
local directions, statistics and links to each course’s home page,
if they have one.
Once
you have chosen a suitable golf course based on the above information
there are some things you need to know about setting up your game
and getting the most out of it. Things like tee times, prices, equipment
rentals, and local rules are easy to find out by just calling each
course and inquiring about any item of concern.
Although
cost is not the over-riding factor in choosing a place to play,
it is nice to know ahead of time what the prices are. There are
two additional factors to consider that will affect the basic price
of the rounds. The time of year and the time of day greatly influence
the cost of golf in Orlando. The “peak” season for us is from October
to April when the rates are at their highest, and the “off” season
is from May until September when the rates are at their lowest.
Prices gradually rise and fall along those lines and can easily
triple from minimum to maximum throughout the year according to
season. There are also discounts for playing later during the day,
usually after 12 noon when the temperature starts to hit its peak.
Rates can easily be reduced by as much as fifty percent during this
so called “twilight” period.
Setting
up tee times is as easy as making a phone call and then showing
up at the golf course. However, there is no guarantee that you will
always get the exact day and time you want. You must call with enough
time in advance to increase your chances of getting exactly what
you want. The closer you call to the day you want to play the harder
it will be to get a tee time for that day. Most courses accept tee
times up to two weeks in advance, but you must call to find out
the individual policies and current prices.
Most courses have golf club rentals available at a reasonable price.
It is typically around twenty five percent of the cost of a round
of golf for club rentals. The more expensive courses have a little
better equipment to rent and, therefore, charge a little more. In
some cases the rental equipment is better than you might ordinarily
use, so it is a nice treat to use the rental clubs instead of transporting
your own while on vacation.
Most
golf courses are not set up for players to walk their round. The
green to tee distances on some are just too far to make walking
an option. In which case cart fees are included in the basic price.
However, you must watch out for specials that advertise 2 for 1
green fees which is not really half price golf due to the separate
cart fees. The courses that do allow walking will usually have pull
cart rentals so you don’t have to carry your clubs if you don’t
want to.
Another
nice thing about the courses in Orlando is the variety of tee boxes
at each of the courses. Each set of tees is at a different length
or distance from the greens. There could be as much as 2000 yards
difference from the back tees to the forward tees. You can easily
find a distance that suits your game. There is no point in playing
any further back than you have to.
Etiquette,
local rules, and rules of play are usually printed on the scorecards.
Some examples of good etiquette would be letting faster players
play through, not taking extra shots or mulligans, and always fill
more divots than you make. Local rules consist of things like lift
clean and place in waste areas, free drop off cart paths, 90 degree
cart rule during wet conditions. Rules of play are mostly USGA governed,
in addition, white stakes are out of bounds, red stakes define lateral
hazards, and yellow stakes usually define water hazards. Most courses
have dress codes, which consist of wearing collared shirts, no cut
off shorts, and soft spikes only policies.
Now
that you know how great the weather is and how easy it is to find
great golf in Orlando, there is no excuse for not coming here on
vacation. With literally hundreds of courses to choose from, Orlando
is the obvious choice for a golfing vacation.
About
the author
I
am around forty years old and have been playing golf for almost
ten years. I continue to improve at an increasingly slower rate,
however. I think what happens is that you can’t just play golf,
you must become a golfer in order to succeed and I might not have
done that yet. I still enjoy the game a great deal regardless of
my scores.
I
came up with the idea for www.orlandosbestgolf.com
about a year or so ago after I took some pictures of a company golf
scramble that I played in at Palisades Golf Club. My co-workers
enjoyed the pictures so much that someone said “Why don’t you post
them on the internet?” I started contacting the golf courses, we
got good responses from them and one by one we played them, photographed
them, and added them to the website. Orlandosbestgolf.com continues
to grow with the help of my webmaster and the rest of my team.
Web Site
