North Orlando private clubs - Heathrow or Tuscawilla?

[cpabkn]

Does anyone here have any experience with either Heathrow or Tuscawilla?

 

Moving to North Orlando next month and these seem like two decent options. Heathrow is a bit more of a splurge, but thinking it may be worth it given there’s 2 courses and it will also be ~10 min closer to where I’ll be living. 

 

Looking to join as a young executive (under 35) if that matters. 

[italianstallion]

Did you get recent rates for both? I’d be curious to know what they’re looking for these days. I was looking at both a couple years ago, and live closer to Tuskawilla. I haven’t played it but have heard good things about the layout, and bad things about how wet it gets and how beat up the range gets. 
 

Both courses at Heathrow have always been in good condition when I’ve played and I really like the layout of the Legacy club. 

[rcspick]

I'm a member at Tuscawilla.  It's in decent shape right now, but the greens are not fast.  While @italianstallion is right that the range used to be bad, they recently completely re-did it.  It is now much larger, and the grass is great.  The course (particularly the back 9) can get soggy there when it rains in the summer.  I've not played the Heathrow courses; they may be much nicer.  But I do think Tuscawilla offers pretty good value, particularly in light of the limited selection of courses on this side of town.  If you have any questions about Tuscawilla, I'd be happy to try to answer those.

[GreyDawg]

I played at Tusk about 10 days ago for a charity scramble, and I had played a couple times with a member about a year ago. I looked into membership, and I would agree with above that it is solid value and there are very limited options for affordable clubs in north metro Orlando. The greens at Tusk are not great... but there was one green under repair and apparently they are considering redoing? The layout is good and overall course is good - some tee boxes could use some attention. I don't know anything about heathrow and don't know what it cost. You know what it costs for the young member??

[italianstallion]

7 hours ago, rcspick said:

I'm a member at Tuscawilla.  It's in decent shape right now, but the greens are not fast.  While @italianstallion is right that the range used to be bad, they recently completely re-did it.  It is now much larger, and the grass is great.  The course (particularly the back 9) can get soggy there when it rains in the summer.  I've not played the Heathrow courses; they may be much nicer.  But I do think Tuscawilla offers pretty good value, particularly in light of the limited selection of courses on this side of town.  If you have any questions about Tuscawilla, I'd be happy to try to answer those.

Good to hear they’ve improved the range conditions. Might be worth taking another look at for me. Like you said, this particular area just seems to be a dead spot for golf. I’m big on practice during the week, and playing on weekends. I usually find myself at Twin Rivers but that place gets really sloppy in the summer months with all the rain. Need good practice facilities with a good weekend game, and preferably a course that allows walking. 

[rcspick]

11 hours ago, italianstallion said:

Good to hear they’ve improved the range conditions. Might be worth taking another look at for me. Like you said, this particular area just seems to be a dead spot for golf. I’m big on practice during the week, and playing on weekends. I usually find myself at Twin Rivers but that place gets really sloppy in the summer months with all the rain. Need good practice facilities with a good weekend game, and preferably a course that allows walking. 

I live less than 10 minutes away, so it's a no brainer for me.  Like you, I try to practice a few times during the week, and play on the weekends.  There is a men's game on Saturday mornings and a Wednesday night 9 hole league.  The course is also a pretty easy walk, and there are quite a few people walking (including me) most days.  @GreyDawg is right that the green on 6 is closed as they had to redo it.  It is supposed to re-open next week I believe.

[RichieHunt]

What about Alaqua Lakes?  I believe they re owned by the same people at Heathrow.  But I'd prefer playing Alaqua Lakes over Tusc and Heathrow.

 

 

 

 

RH

[Jchack29]

Alaqua Lakes and Heathrow are better condition than Tuscawilla I would say and are a great deal for two clubs. The two courses are better layout wise and drastically different from eachother so being able to play 2 solid very different courses on any day is a huge benefit especially if you’re closer. The vibe at Legacy is a mostly younger membership with a lot of great guys. Not as familiar with the membership base at Tuscawilla but the course is a decent layout and always in pretty good shape as long as it hasn’t rained recently, but for some reason the greens always seem to be rolling like an 8. Look great and are pretty true but are always insanely slow whenever i’ve played out there which is probably about 20 times or so. I know the course is zoysia which could be a factor but I don’t know the reason, maybe one of the members above could provide an answer. Best of luck!

[getitdaily]

If cost isn't an option then it's Heathrow over tuskawilla all day.

 

I do believe there's a membership option to join/play both Heathrow and alaqua. Alaqua is a fun course.

[RichieHunt]

IIRC, Heathrow/Alaqua only gives out family memberships.  So if you're just a single you lose out.  I always thought this was stupid for courses to do.  

 

 

 

RH