At first it seemed like a local cultural thing, or maybe a benign inside joke. Nearly every time an Orlando resident was questioned about the driving time from one golf course to the next— between almost any two points of interest, really— the response was the same: twenty minutes. True, this sort of question-and-answer process, like anything redundant, tends to create inertia of its own. Even so, the experience produced a comforting sensation of community as it became apparent they weren't kidding. Got twenty minutes? Then you can get to a good, sometimes great golf course.
Indeed, an astonishing 150 courses reside within a forty-five-minute drive of downtown Orlando. That's more golf than Myrtle Beach, the Monterey Peninsula and Hilton Head combined. Were it not so hackneyed, one might even call Orlando a golf mecca.
It follows that Orlando is de rigueur for marquee golf course architects, offering designs by Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Pete Dye, the Robert Trent Joneses, Greg Norman, Rees Jones, Arthur Hills, Ron Garl, Bobby Weed, Steve Smyers and many more. The area exerts similar magnetic pull on golf instructors, with schools run by such luminaries as Nick Faldo, David Leadbetter, Phil Ritson, Gary Irby, Fred Griffin, Bill Skelley, Rick McCord and Simon Holmes.
But Orlando is no longer just strip malls and strips of fairway. In fact, the city's other new headline names—Emeril, Yamaguchi and Van Aken—evidence a recent restaurant boom. Add new first-rate accommodations, a lively mix of downtown neighborhoods and an ever-expanding stock of courses, and it's clear why more than three dozen Tour pros call Orlando home. Let's just say it's not Disney World that lured a certain former number-one golfer in the world to Orlando.
The Orlando area was a two-time loser during this past fall's hurricane season, hammered first by the high winds of Charley and then biblically drenched by Frances. Thankfully, the courses survived relatively unscathed, save for a loss of some trees. Currently there's little sense that this area's golf riches were so recently battered.
BAY HILL CLUB & LODGE, CHAMPIONSHIP
9000 Bay Hill Boulevard, Orlando; 407-876-2429, bayhill.com. YARDAGE: 7,267. PAR: 72. SLOPE: 140. ARCHITECT: Arnold Palmer, 1961. GREENS FEES: $207-$378. T+L GOLF Rating: *****
Paying homage to the guy who put professional golf on the map is part of the reason Tour players want to compete in the Bay Hill Invitational every March, but it is more than mere obligation. Like the King, the place exudes a genuine bonhomie. In a similar vein, most of us amateurs will get a kick out of playing holes we have seen the pros play on television—for example, the croissant-shaped sixth, a 558- yard par five ringing a lake, or the eighteenth, a 441-yard par four with water impinging on the right—while forgetting that the Championship eighteen, played from the appropriate set of tees, also doubles as a very enjoyable resort course. The place says golf, right down to the forecaddies required for any group of three or more lodge guests.
ORANGE COUNTY NATIONAL GOLF CENTER AND LODGE, PANTHER LAKE
Phil Ritson Way, Winter Garden; 888-727-3672, ocngolf.com. YARDAGE: 7,295. PAR: 72. SLOPE: 137. ARCHITECTS: Phil Ritson, David Harman and Isao Aoki, 1997. GREENS FEES: $65-$140. T+L GOLF Rating: ****1/2
The word "pure" figures prominently in the promotional materials for Orange County National, and although the analogy isn't mentioned, the property exudes a golf-first-and-last ambience not unlike that of Oregon's Bandon Dunes. There's even a lighted putting green outside the lodge, "for those players who just can't get enough." Hardly as isolated as Bandon, it is still comparably and mercifully free of surrounding homes. There are forty-five holes in all at Orange County, including the well-regarded Crooked Cat, plus the Phil Ritson golf school and a practice facility billed as the continent's largest. But the original Panther Lake eighteen endures as the most popular layout, with its thirteen freshwater lakes, scenic use of wetlands, stunning oak hammocks and pine forests, and elevation changes up to sixty-five feet.
THE RITZ-CARLTON GOLF CLUB, ORLANDO, GRANDE LAKES
4048 Central Florida Parkway, Orlando; 407-393-4900, ritzcarlton.com. YARDAGE: 7,122. PAR: 72. SLOPE: 139. ARCHITECT: Greg Norman, 2003. GREENS FEES: $59-$185. T+L GOLF Rating: ****1/2
With the gargantuan Ritz-Carlton and its even bigger sister hotel, the JW Marriott, looming over many views on the course, it is unlikely you will forget you're not really in the Everglades. But Norman has done a good job with the illusion nonetheless, incorporating mature oaks, cypress heads and various water features into the layout. Most greens are fronted by a bunker or two, but they are not severely sloped and are usually ringed by large chipping aprons. Expansive waste bunkers filled with pinkish crushed coquina sand add a trademark Norman touch. Unlike at most resort courses, players can walk, using a "Caddie Concierge," a Ritz-Carlton invention. As advertised, ours knew the course, the game and the surrounding area.
EAGLE CREEK GOLF CLUB
Emerson Lake Boulevard (off Narcoossee Road), Orlando; 407-273-4653, eaglecreekgolf.info. YARDAGE: 7,198. PAR: 73. SLOPE: 130. ARCHITECTS: Ron Garland Howard Swan, 2004. GREENS FEES: $60-$110. T+L GOLF Rating: ****
Garl's prolific career exceeds his reputation among the general golfing public. Here the Floridian collaborated with Howard Swan, whose work includes another course for the same developer in Portugal. The "European flair" attributed to the result includes such design elements as pot bunkers with revetted faces, but, whatever the cross-cultural influences involved, Eagle Creek is a delightful play with a number of excellent holes. The eleventh, a par three of 217 yards, makes especially picturesque use of native grasses and wildflowers. The eighteenth, originally a long par four, is now a risk-reward par five, though water in front and to both sides of the green puts it in the risk-risk category for most of us. Eagle Creek is also the first course in Florida to use Mini-Verde turf on the greens, intended to withstand extreme heat while minimizing grain. The putting surfaces were in great shape for our visit.
GRAND CYPRESS GOLF CLUB, NORTH-SOUTH
One N. Jacaranda, Orlando; 407-239-4700, grandcypress.com. YARDAGE: 7,021. PAR: 72. SLOPE: 136. ARCHITECT: Jack Nicklaus, 1984. GREENS FEES: $115-$250. T+L GOLF Rating: ****
Part of a Hyatt resort that became a fixture when it opened in the mid-1980s, Grand Cypress has forty-five holes that altogether pack quite a wallop within a fairly discreet site. The New course is a passable "links" course, while the East nine is more wooded and a bit more forgiving, with less bunkering and fewer forced carries. But the best eighteen is still found in the original North-South combination. With elevated greens canted at angles to fairway approaches framed by fescue-covered mounding, it is instantly recognizable as a Nicklaus target-golf track.
THE LEGACY CLUB AT ALAQUA LAKES
1700 Alaqua Lakes Boulevard, Longwood; 407-444-9995, legacyclubalaqualakes.com. YARDAGE: 7,160. PAR: 72. SLOPE: 132. ARCHITECT: Tom Fazio, 1998. GREENS FEES: $49-$109. T+L GOLF Rating: ****
If there is such a thing as a golf course architect whose style seems suited to the generally flat topography of Florida, it would be Tom Fazio. Or so it appears from the immense body of work he has racked up in the state. At Legacy, said to be a favorite among local pros, his signature elements are on display, including spacious landing areas, bunkering deployed to snare wayward shots rather than to force carries, and large, gently contoured greens that nonetheless remain tricky. Tall native pines help to segregate holes from one another and from the housing that borders parts of the course.
REUNION RESORT AND CLUB OF ORLANDO, INDEPENDENCE
7599 Gathering Drive, Reunion; 877-738-6466, reunionresort.com. YARDAGE: 7,175. PAR: 72. SLOPE: N/A. ARCHITECT: Tom Watson, 2004. GREENS FEES: $150-$200. T+L GOLF Rating: ****
Part of a "new breed of family resort towns," the 2,300-acre complex here also includes the Legacy course, by Arnold Palmer, and will eventually include another eighteen-hole layout, the Tradition, a Jack Nicklaus project currently under construction. But Watson's course is the best to date. Situated south of Orlando and nearby architectural soul mate Celebration, Reunion is blessed with rolling terrain and changes in elevation of up to forty-five feet. Independence, Watson's first work in Florida, makes especially good use of the topography—including as a buffer against the condominiums and other housing without which there would be no golf—and the oak and palm trees add a sense of maturity that transcends the property's actual age.
SOUTHERN DUNES GOLF AND COUNTRY CLUB
2888 Southern Dunes Boulevard, Haines City; 800-632-6400, southerndunes.com. YARDAGE: 7,227. PAR: 72. SLOPE: 135. ARCHITECT: Steve Smyers, 1993. GREENS FEES: $51-$104. T+L GOLF Rating: ****
Those familiar with the work of Smyers—another golf-course architect with a considerable body of work but not a household name— know that the man likes sand (see page 60). The official bunker count at Southern Dunes is 183, though it is sometimes difficult to ascertain where one ends and the next begins. They are not superfluously used, however, either as hazards or as primarily visual points of interest. Steeply undulating greens, another Smyers trademark, are tempered by apparent moderation in mowing and rolling. One cautionary note: As good as the course is, if you find the presence of residential real estate distracting, you may feel claustrophobic here, since a couple green-to-tee commutes traverse subdivision streets, while several tee boxes are within gimme distance of someone's sundeck.
WALT DISNEY WORLD RESORT, EAGLE PINES
3451 Golf View Drive, Lake Buena Vista; 407-824-2616, disney.go.com/disneyworld. YARDAGE: 6,772. PAR: 72. SLOPE: 135. ARCHITECT: Pete Dye, 1992. GREENS FEES: $100-$155. T+L GOLF Rating: ****
Let's get it over with: The only thing Mickey Mouse about the resort's golf alternatives is the outline of the Disney rodent in the shape of a bunker on the Magnolia course. In fact, part of the fun of playing any of the half-dozen layouts here—all eighteen-holers except for a ninehole walking special designed by Ron Garl and Larry Kanphaus—is the ensuing debate about which layout is the best, and why. Eagle Pines is notable both as one of the resort's new-generation layouts— the other is the Fazio contribution described below—and as one of Dye's less-punishing designs. The staff runs the bustling golf operation like clockwork; and of course, if the kids are along, the convenience is tough to match elsewhere.
WALT DISNEY WORLD RESORT, MAGNOLIA
1950 W. Magnolia Palm Drive, Lake Buena Vista; 407-824-3386, disney.go.com/disneyworld. YARDAGE: 7,200. PAR: 72. SLOPE: 136. ARCHITECT: Joe Lee, 1971. GREENS FEES: $90-$124. T+L GOLF Rating: ****
You could hardly find a better object lesson on the principles of Florida resort golf and its maestro, Joe Lee, than at Disney's Magnolia course—although Lee's other two Disney tracks, Lake Buena Vista and the Palm, would do fine, too. As the longest of the resort's courses, there is plenty of water, sand and yardage to be covered on the Magnolia. It remains, however, an understated and downright pretty layout, aided by the presence of the more than 150 eponymous magnolia trees.
SHINGLE CREEK GOLF CLUB
9939 Universal Boulevard, Orlando; 866-996-9933, shinglecreekgolf.com. YARDAGE: 7,228. PAR: 72. SLOPE: 139. ARCHITECT: David Harman, 2003. GREENS FEES: $69-$124. T+L GOLF Rating: ***1/2
The ease of getting to most of Orlando's courses notwithstanding, Shingle Creek's location, which is practically in walking distance from the Orange County Convention Center, virtually assures heavy traffic. Harman, who spent a couple of decades constructing layouts by the likes of Dye and Nicklaus, has designed a course that is meant to play fast and firm, especially the greens. Water, though not always a serious threat, appears on all but two holes. Commissioned by Harris Rosen of nearby Rosen Centre and Rosen Plaza hotels fame, Shingle Creek—the name derives from the headwaters of the Everglades—will eventually be part of a 1,500-room resort currently under construction.
PRIVATE GEMS
The Country Club of Orlando, Orlando (1911). What's a golf trip
without a round on a Donald Ross course? This one underwent an update by RTJ Sr. in 1959, one by Geoffrey Cornish and Brian Silva in 1990, and another ongoing Silva renovation. Throughout, it has maintained the genteel atmosphere of old Orlando.
The Golden Bear Club at Keene's Pointe, Windermere (1999). At 7,173 yards and a slope of 138, this Jack Nicklaus design is a residential layout with enormous greens and a surfeit of sand.
Interlachen Country Club, Winter Park (1984). A private example of Florida legend Joe Lee's deft touch, Interlachen's 6,893 yards from the back tees slope out at 138, a reminder that challenging golf is possible without dizzying length or stupefying bells and whistles.
Isleworth Country Club, Windermere (1986). Widely known as the home course of Tiger Woods, Mark O'Meara and other notables, the toughest part of this Arnold Palmer-Ed Seay design, which was renovated by Steve Smyers in 2003, is not the 142 slope from the back tees, it's trying to get your way inside those gates.
Lake Nona Golf & Country Club, Orlando (1986). Designed by Tom Fazio, this course, also within a gated community, hosted the first Solheim Cup and has since become a sort of sister course to Isleworth, with pros from each club staging an annual competition.
Mountain Lake, Lake Wales (1916). True, you have to travel a bit farther to get there, but this Seth Raynor design, restored by Brian Silva a couple years ago, is worth the effort. The stately elegance of the clubhouse and surrounding property convey a completely different notion of central Florida than Orlando, as does the 316-foot elevation—the highest in the state.
Orange Tree Golf Club, Orlando (1972). This Bill Lee design is, at 7,036 yards from the tips, not long by modern standards. Still, eight holes have water, landing areas are tight, and greens, though ample, are quick. Local lore has it that the late Payne Stewart played here in preparation for similarly constrained U.S. Open setups.
BEST OF THE REST
The thirty-six holes at ChampionsGate Golf Resort ($40-$150; 407- 787-4653) may all be designed by Greg Norman, but its two tracks constitute distinct golf experiences: The National is a parkland course with plenty of trees. The International incorporates dunes, pot bunkers and the firm, fast conditions of links courses. The New Course at Grand Cypress Golf Club ($115-$250; 407-239-1904) is Nicklaus's homage to the Old Course at St. Andrews; and while unlikely to induce flashbacks to the birthplace of golf—you are still playing on Bermuda grass, after all—it's fun nonetheless. Osprey Ridge Golf Club at Walt Disney World ($100-$179; 407-824-2616), Tom Fazio's 7,101-yard layout, boasts dramatic elevation changes and a slope of 131. The Marriott Grande Pines Golf Club ($57-$130; 407- 239-6108), formerly known as International Golf Club, is Grande Oaks' companion facility, though any similarity ends there. The name change coincides with a recent total renovation by Steve Smyers, whose imaginative bunkering is evident. Located at the Wyndham Palms Resort & Country Club in Celebration, Mystic Dunes Golf Club ($65-$125; 866-311-1234) is the work of Gary Koch and is noteworthy particularly for its strong finishing holes. Victoria Hills Golf Club ($35-$95; 866-295-4385) is another Ron Garl contribution, the closest thing to a hilly Carolina course you will find in Florida. Located in Kissimee, Falcon's Fire Golf Club ($75-$130; 407-239-5445) has a reputation for excellent conditioning and features characteristic Rees Jones mounding and waste bunkering.
ORIENTATION
Asked what he liked about living in Orlando, one touring pro famously replied, "the airport." Until recently, it has always been the assumption here that this comment constituted a sly sort of rebuke: The best thing about the town, in other words, is the ease in getting out of it. But after multiple visits to Orlando, viewed within the context of the vicissitudes of frequent modern travel, I came away, as Johnny Cash once put it, with a different point of view.
Orlando International Airport, like the city itself—which handles twenty-nine million visitors annually and is second in supply of hotel rooms only to Las Vegas—just seems to have the drill down pat. There is also Orlando Sanford International Airport, which provides mostly charter service and a few overseas connections. It is roughly a twenty-minute drive from downtown, thirty-five minutes to its larger sister airport. Between the two, literally downtown, is Orlando Executive Airport, which, as the name implies, is used for smaller, commuter aircraft.
Traffic at key congregating spots—the Orange County Convention Center comes to mind—can be daunting, as can the rambunctious driving on the surrounding network of 65-m.p.h. highways. Locals and outof-towners alike joke about navigational dilemmas caused by the flat, often landmark-challenged topography. And Interstate 4, Orlando's busiest thoroughfare, is, like all even-numbered roads in the interstate system, designated an east-west route, even though it travels almost straight north-south. Still, signage is good, directions readily available and the twenty-minute maxim applies when one is lost as well.
AREA ATTRACTIONS
Parents who return from Orlando after family vacations frequently cite the need for a "real" vacation—such is the surfeit of things to do there. Indeed, it is a city built on attractions and entertainment.
The best known of these, of course, is Walt Disney World Resort (407-824-2222), itself a collection of multiple theme parks, a few water parks, some two dozen hotels, more than two hundred dining outlets, copious retailing, a couple of entertainment complexes and the ninety-nine holes of golf listed above. Other household-name attractions—each big enough to resemble a small town—include Universal Orlando Resort (407-363-8000), a paean to popular entertainment with theme parks and resort lodging of its own; the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex (321-449-4444), NASA's impressive depiction of the history and future of American space exploration; SeaWorld Orlando (407-351-3600) and Discovery Cove (877-434-7268), an interactive marine zoo where visitors can snorkel among tropical fish through a coral reef and swim with dolphins.
Often overlooked among the high-octane excitement of thrill rides is a more sedate side of Orlando, whose full-time population numbers about 1.5 million and whose modern history dates to the 1840s. In contrast to many downtown areas, Orlando's seems like a respite from theme-park hyperactivity. The Church Street Historical District may be as boisterous as Chicago's Rush Street or Philadelphia's Society Hill, but the Thornton Park area—a gentrified strip near the city's birthplace—and Lake Eola Heights Historic District, on the southern edge of downtown Orlando, radiate upscale Southern gentility.
Of course, while many of Orlando's diversions are family-centric, a place with this much golf inevitably has its share of guy-oriented things to do. Start with the shockingly talented halftime entertainment troupe known as the Orlando Magic Dancers. The basketball team (407-896- 2442) is not bad, either. Shopping may traditionally be for the womenfolk, but Edwin Watts Golf (800-874-0146), the golf clothing and equipment merchant, has a grand retail warehouse on International Drive. Within walking distance is Pointe Orlando, a bustling shopping complex and home to the nifty cloak-and-dagger store Spy USA (407-644-6252), among others. Finally, if a golf road trip seems like a perfectly reasonable supplement to your Orlando-based golf trip, the World Golf Village, with its World Golf Hall of Fame (800-948-4653), is roughly a ninety-minute drive to the northeast.
CELEBRATION HOTEL
700 Bloom Street, Celebration; 888-499-3800, celebrationhotels.com. ROOMS: $169-$225. SUITES: $299-$420.
By now, the entire (and, to some, entirely creepy) "planned community" concept has been extensively analyzed, and this 115-room facility in the eponymous town is celebrating the fifth anniversary of its opening. Conceived to be reminiscent of early 1900s Florida, it has four different room styles, each intended to evoke this bygone era. Students of urban planning will be intrigued, but most anyone can enjoy the place, especially its restaurant, the Plantation Room.
THE COURTYARD AT LAKE LUCERNE
211 North Lucerne Circle, Orlando; 407-648-5188, orlandohistoricinn.com. ROOMS: $89-$225. SUITES: $99-$115.
A laid-back, funky and inexpensive alternative to the mega-properties that tend to predominate in this mega-destination, the Courtyard is actually a four-building bed-and-breakfast. The four houses are furnished in separate motifs—Victorian, Edwardian, art deco and Grand Victorian—and the lush common courtyard between them says Old Florida. No pool, no spa, no charge for the continental breakfast, served on the downstairs level of the Dr. Phillips mansion.
GRANDE LAKES ORLANDO, RITZ-CARLTON AND JW MARRIOTT
4012 Central Florida Parkway, Orlando; 800-576-5760 (Ritz-Carlton), 800-576-5750 (Marriott), grandlankes.com. ROOMS: $199-$409 (Ritz-Carlton); $179-$349 (Marriott). SUITES: $299-$799 (Ritz-Carlton); $249-$599 (Marriott).
Opened in 2003 and proximate to nearly everything the city has to offer, the complex consists of the 584-room Ritz-Carlton and the 1,000- room JW Marriott, with reciprocal privileges, including the golf course, first-rate spa, multifarious swimming holes—check out the Marriott's "lazy river pool"—and a dozen or so restaurants. No need to overthink the choice of hotel, since you cannot go wrong at either of these.
HYATT REGENCY GRAND CYPRESS
One Grand Cypress Boulevard, Orlando; 407-239-1234, hyatt.com. ROOMS: $179-$585. SUITES: $495-$5,800. VILLAS: $169-$1,600.
Besides Hyatt's trademark central atrium design and uniformly high standards for service, this 1,500-acre property offers condominium-like villas perfect for a foursome. Apart from the golf, nature trails and a secluded setting in the Lake Buena Vista area belie the property's easy commute to the convention center and other hotbeds of activity.
REUNION RESORT & CLUB OF ORLANDO
1000 Reunion Way, Reunion; 877-738-6466, reunionresort.com. CONDOS: $205-$495.
Part of a 2,300-acre development to include three eighteen-hole tracks, the eighty-four condominiums at Reunion provide a different kind of space for visitors to Orlando: the amenities of a luxury hotel, the comfort of a residence. Located fifteen minutes from Disney World, Reunion will eventually encompass more than 6,000 living units and a self-sufficient "town" of its own, built in three phases over fifteen years.
CALIFORNIA GRILL
(California) Atop the Contemporary Resort, Walt Disney World, Orlando;
407-824-1576. $$$$
High-end dining was never the first thing that came to mind when considering a trip to the Magic Kingdom, but this sprawling room now offers first-rate service and cuisine. You can feel perfectly comfortable bringing the kids, who will appreciate the nightly fireworks show. Adult pleasures include an extensive selection of wines by the glass.
EMERIL'S ORLANDO
(Creole) 6000 Universal Boulevard, Orlando; 407-224-2424. $$$$
As befits a restaurant within Universal CityWalk, chef Legasse's fifth eatery is as heavy on entertainment as on the spices. But the massive open space, with its awe-inspiring wall of wine, is still impressive, and neither the food nor the customers are treated as afterthoughts.
HUE
(Fusion) 629 East Central Boulevard, Orlando; 407-849-1800. $$$$
A hub of Orlando's chic Thornton Park Central complex, Hue describes its menu as "progressive American" and calls appetizers "begin," salads "lettuce," lunch "day," dinner "night," and so on. Whatever. The food is quite good, the high-ceilinged room and clientele attractive.
NORMAN'S
(New World) At the Ritz-Carlton, 4012 Central Florida Parkway, Orlando;
407-393-4333. $$$$
Norman Van Aken's flagship restaurant is in Miami, and the celebrity chef-restaurateur's cuisine, which is called "Floribbean," melds ingredients and cooking traditions of Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the southern United States. Van Aken hones his talent here by devising a five-course tasting menu that changes monthly.
ROY'S
(Hawaiian) 7760 W. Sand Lake Road, Orlando; 407-352-4844. $$$
Roy Yamaguchi has forever dashed the stereotype of the "chain" restaurant—other branches were recommended in our Monterrey and Maui/Lanai Golf Guides—with a menu that combines just enough exotica with consistently high quality and a staff that combines conscientiousness with an informal demeanor.
SAM SNEAD'S TAVERN
(American) 1801 Maitland Boulevard, Orlando; 407-622-8800. $$
When playing golf is not enough and you need to discuss the subject further, this place will put you in the mood. It's not as steeped in golf memorabilia as the flagship Snead's near Virginia's Homestead resort, but the no-nonsense menu remains as solid as the Slammer's swing.
TIMPANO ITALIAN CHOPHOUSE
(Steak, Italian) 7488 W. Sand Lake Road, Orlando; 407-248-0429. $$$
Should nouvelle begin to seem effete, give the devil a slap at Timpano, let the martinis and wine flow, and remind yourself of the many benefits of the Atkins diet. Actually, the seafood, including lobster tails, is good, too, as is the pasta. Looking for that intimate night out? With occasional live music, this is not the place.
