Orlando right now

[sabram]

On 11/30/2023 at 8:00 PM, Pens #1 fan said:

Staying at Orange Lake second week of January, are the courses there any good.

Yes, they are both worth playing. The Legends is more popular  and more expensive. The Reserve is fun and  a pretty good bargain. I don't know how many rounds you plan to play, but they are running a deal in December, if you buy a $200 gift card, you get a free round at either course. The green fee for Legends is $109, so for $200 paid you are getting $309 in value That should get you two rounds on Legends and one on Reserve. 

Edited December 2, 2023 by sabram
Fix typos

[jwat142]

Playing 5 rounds around Orlando late February and below is what we are playing. should we NOT play any of these or any other suggestions?

 

Day 1

Southern Dunes

Evermore - Links

 

Day 2

Royal St Cloud

 

Day 3

Providence

Southern Dunes

[sabram]

37 minutes ago, jwat142 said:

Playing 5 rounds around Orlando late February and below is what we are playing. should we NOT play any of these or any other suggestions?

 

Day 1

Southern Dunes

Evermore - Links

 

Day 2

Royal St Cloud

 

Day 3

Providence

Southern Dunes

Southern Dunes and Evermore Links are among the best courses in the area. Royal St Cloud and Providence are good value courses. There's no reason to change your itinerary, but there are better courses than Providence and RSC if you are interested in paying higher green fees 

[italianstallion]

On 1/21/2024 at 3:42 PM, jwat142 said:

Playing 5 rounds around Orlando late February and below is what we are playing. should we NOT play any of these or any other suggestions?

 

Day 1

Southern Dunes

Evermore - Links

 

Day 2

Royal St Cloud

 

Day 3

Providence

Southern Dunes

Providence isn’t a terrible course, nor is it a great course. Unless you’re staying right next to it, I don’t think it’s noteworthy enough to deal with i4 to go play. But if it fits the budget you won’t be disappointed. Course rates are insane this time of year, and I think the other three you’ve got are all among the better courses for the buck in Orlando. I’m a big fan of Royal St. Cloud, I think they’re the most fun courses to play in Orlando, but don’t go there expecting the resort experience. It’s public golf on very well maintained courses for a great price.

[jwat142]

9 hours ago, italianstallion said:

Providence isn’t a terrible course, nor is it a great course. Unless you’re staying right next to it, I don’t think it’s noteworthy enough to deal with i4 to go play. But if it fits the budget you won’t be disappointed. Course rates are insane this time of year, and I think the other three you’ve got are all among the better courses for the buck in Orlando. I’m a big fan of Royal St. Cloud, I think they’re the most fun courses to play in Orlando, but don’t go there expecting the resort experience. It’s public golf on very well maintained courses for a great price.

Any other suggestions besides providence to play on a Saturday morning that is somewhat near Southern dunes since we play that in the afternoon? The tough part is getting a tee time on a Saturday morning this far out.

[italianstallion]

1 hour ago, jwat142 said:

Any other suggestions besides providence to play on a Saturday morning that is somewhat near Southern dunes since we play that in the afternoon? The tough part is getting a tee time on a Saturday morning this far out.

 

The Reunion courses are good options, as are Championsgate (National) and Championsgate Country Club (they have the same name, but the Country Club is completely separate from the Championsgate resort). All these will have a more polished feel than Providence, and are fun courses to play. I personally also don't mind the International course at Championsgate, but I do know it rubs people the wrong way with some difficult holes.

[sabram]

On 1/25/2024 at 8:22 AM, jwat142 said:

Any other suggestions besides providence to play on a Saturday morning that is somewhat near Southern dunes since we play that in the afternoon? The tough part is getting a tee time on a Saturday morning this far out.

The closest good option is White Heron. It's  tight with lots of water in play. Currently in good condition. Under $100. 

 

 Championshate is next closet. Good courses, but very expensive. 

 

Highlands Reserve is also pretty close and very under appreciated. I play there a lot. Lots of elevation changes, fun holes and best condition its been in years

[jwat142]

3 hours ago, sabram said:

The closest good option is White Heron. It's  tight with lots of water in play. Currently in good condition. Under $100. 

 

 Championshate is next closet. Good courses, but very expensive. 

 

Highlands Reserve is also pretty close and very under appreciated. I play there a lot. Lots of elevation changes, fun holes and best condition its been in years

So, you would choose highlands reserve or white heron over providence?

[sabram]

1 hour ago, jwat142 said:

So, you would choose highlands reserve or white heron over providence?

I play all three pretty often. My favorite of the three is Highlands Reserve 

[jmcgolf]

sabram, what have you heard how conditions are or have you played the newly opened Grand Cypress - Cypress Course? If played how does it compare to the Links? I have played the New/Links multiple times but would like to try something different. Thanks 

[sabram]

4 hours ago, jmcgolf said:

sabram, what have you heard how conditions are or have you played the newly opened Grand Cypress - Cypress Course? If played how does it compare to the Links? I have played the New/Links multiple times but would like to try something different. Thanks 

Have not played it yet and don't know anyone who has. Not sure if it has opened yet. Strange that there is so little buzz about it. The three nines that used to be there were nothing special 

Edited January 30, 2024 by sabram
To fix typos

[mstuewe]

Just played Orange Lake Legends course on a golf trip to Orlando this past weekend.  The starters and another local said it was in great shape.  Tee to green was fine but the greens were shaggy and full of sand.  It felt like a $30 muni, but for $100 bucks. Anyone play recently have the same experience?  If the locals are saying it’s in good shape, does that mean it’s always in horrendous condition?

 

also played souther dunes and championsgate international, both fantastic.

[sabram]

2 hours ago, mstuewe said:

Just played Orange Lake Legends course on a golf trip to Orlando this past weekend.  The starters and another local said it was in great shape.  Tee to green was fine but the greens were shaggy and full of sand.  It felt like a $30 muni, but for $100 bucks. Anyone play recently have the same experience?  If the locals are saying it’s in good shape, does that mean it’s always in horrendous condition?

 

also played southern dunes and championsgate international, both fantastic.

I last played Legends at Orange Lake in December (about 6 weeks ago). It was in so-so shape. Pretty wet. Greens were okay, not great, not terrible. Did you inquire as to why and when they had sanded the greens? I wouldn't say it's like a $30 muni, but I don't play it when it's over$100 (I had a coupon for a free round in December). I think the reserve course at OL is a better value. Don't consider the starter to be a "normal" local. unlikely a starter will denigrate a course he's working for.

 

Glad you liked Southern Dunes and International at Championsgate. Southern Dunes is my favorite in the area and a good value year round. International is solid, but too expensive for me from December to March.

[mstuewe]

23 minutes ago, sabram said:

I last played Legends at Orange Lake in December (about 6 weeks ago). It was in so-so shape. Pretty wet. Greens were okay, not great, not terrible. Did you inquire as to why and when they had sanded the greens? I wouldn't say it's like a $30 muni, but I don't play it when it's over$100 (I had a coupon for a free round in December). I think the reserve course at OL is a better value. Don't consider the starter to be a "normal" local. unlikely a starter will denigrate a course he's working for.

 

Glad you liked Southern Dunes and International at Championsgate. Southern Dunes is my favorite in the area and a good value year round. International is solid, but too expensive for me from December to March.

Yea we asked after the round why the greens were in such bad shape, and the guys at the starters shack said they just played there earlier in the week and they were great.  I would never go back to orange lake without first testing the practice green.  The range was sandy too, and the pro shop guy admitted they sucked and were adding turf.  
 

Course layout was nice, condition was garbage. 

[coomdaddy]

Headed down early Thursday. Eagle Creek then Southern Dunes on Friday. Links course at Evermore on Saturday and wrapping up on Sunday at Shingle Creek. Looking forward to it immensely. 

[Togatown22]

On 1/30/2024 at 11:19 PM, coomdaddy said:

Headed down early Thursday. Eagle Creek then Southern Dunes on Friday. Links course at Evermore on Saturday and wrapping up on Sunday at Shingle Creek. Looking forward to it immensely. 

Report back!  Hope you have a great trip.  I am interested to hear how the property at Evermore is coming along!

[jwat142]

10 minutes ago, Togatown22 said:

Report back!  Hope you have a great trip.  I am interested to hear how the property at Evermore is coming along!

I agree as Evermore is nearly twice the cost of anything else on our agenda, so would like to know if it’s worth it. 

[SpartyG0lf]

Have the opportunity to get a round in week of March 10th during vacation.  Staying at Marriott's Harbour Lake and don't want to get hammered with a lot of drive time as I want to minimize time away from the family.  Will need to rent a bag of clubs if that matters.  Going to have a lot of rust, so something not too penalizing would be ideal.  Something reasonable cost-wise would be ideal, but doesn't look like that's going to be too doable.  After looking around it looks like some options are:

• Evermore Grand Cypress - can't find much comparing the two courses, would lean links for more open layout and getting to play a links style course
• Orange County National - looks like crooked cat would be the more forgiving?
• Hawks Landing
• Shingle Creek
• Disney - Magnolia/Lake Buena Vista - don't know much about either
• Falcon's Fire - don't know too much

Something like Southern Dunes would have been awesome, but guessing 25mi down I4 is something I don't want to tackle. 

[sabram]

On 2/5/2024 at 3:28 PM, SpartyG0lf said:

• Evermore Grand Cypress - can't find much comparing the two courses, would lean links for more open layout and getting to play a links style course
• Orange County National - looks like crooked cat would be the more forgiving?
• Hawks Landing
• Shingle Creek
• Disney - Magnolia/Lake Buena Vista - don't know much about either
• Falcon's Fire - don't know too much

The Grand Cypress Links is more open than the other course and is a lot of fun. Ot has some faux links-looking features, but does not play like a true links. 

 

Both courses at OCN are good, but not really super convenient to your hotel.

 

Hawks Landing is tight and has water in play on most holes. It's always in good condition and very convenient to ehere you are staying, but I cant recommend it to someone looking for a course that's not too penal.

 

Shingle Creek is very convenient to your hotel. It's not my favorite, but it's a good choice based on location.

 

I like the Disney courses, but they are not  significantly better than Shingle Creek and Shingle will be a shorter drive for you 

 

Falcons Fire would be convenient for you, but Shingle Creek is a better choice unless the lower green fee at FF is important to you.

 

If you can get a lower green fee at Celebration than Shingle Creek, Celebration would be a good course to consider.

 

As I've posted before, Southern Dunes is my favorite. It will be a longer drive than the others you listed, but if you play early and finish after the rush hour toward Orlando, you'll be going in the direction that has less traffic both in the morning and after your round so the traffic is less likely to be horrible. 

 

Edited February 6, 2024 by sabram
To add omitted word

[italianstallion]

On 2/5/2024 at 3:28 PM, SpartyG0lf said:

Have the opportunity to get a round in week of March 10th during vacation.  Staying at Marriott's Harbour Lake and don't want to get hammered with a lot of drive time as I want to minimize time away from the family.  Will need to rent a bag of clubs if that matters.  Going to have a lot of rust, so something not too penalizing would be ideal.  Something reasonable cost-wise would be ideal, but doesn't look like that's going to be too doable.  After looking around it looks like some options are:

• Evermore Grand Cypress - can't find much comparing the two courses, would lean links for more open layout and getting to play a links style course
• Orange County National - looks like crooked cat would be the more forgiving?
• Hawks Landing
• Shingle Creek
• Disney - Magnolia/Lake Buena Vista - don't know much about either
• Falcon's Fire - don't know too much

Something like Southern Dunes would have been awesome, but guessing 25mi down I4 is something I don't want to tackle. 

 

The Links Course at Evermore is super fun to play. You can hit it just about anywhere on any hole, so its not penal and great for people coming down with winter rust.

 

For OCN, my belief is that Panther Lake is much more forgiving off the tee than Crooked Cat. In my opinion it also has the better par 3's of the two. 

 

Like @sabram said, Hawks Landing is usually in great shape but it is a challenging little course for taking one lap on. Shingle Creek has some wide open holes and a couple holes that could kick your teeth in as well thanks to some pinched landing areas and some interesting mounding on some of the holes. I'd pass on Disney Mag, LBV, and Falcons Fire compared to these other courses.

 

i4 isn't full on death trap but I have a rule that I don't attempt travel west past the World Drive/i4 interchange after 10:00am. That exit gets ridiculously backed up for no reason after that timeframe, regardless of day, due to a poorly designed merge lane. Sabram and I always butt heads on this one, but while I think Southern Dunes is generally a decent golf course in decent shape, I don't find it to be remarkably any better than the New Course or the OCNs. 

 

If your goal is to stay near your hotel, my vote would be, in order:

 

1) New Course (guaranteed to have a lot of fun on this one)

2) OCN Panther Lake/Crooked Cat (surprisingly decent elevation changes for Florida golf courses)

3) Shingle Creek (interesting mounding, plenty of strategic golf decisions to be made)

 

If you want to get away from the attractions and don't mind the drive, I think Southern Dunes can be subbed for any of them.

 

 

[coomdaddy]

On 2/2/2024 at 1:40 PM, Togatown22 said:

Report back!  Hope you have a great trip.  I am interested to hear how the property at Evermore is coming along!

Played terribly for 4 days but the golf course were fine to great. Our group of 12 rated Southern Dunes as the top course of the trip. The comment was that we wish we would play it twice each trip just to have a better feel for it. In a close second was the Links course at Evermore. That entire property is crazy!  The Pro Bowlers were staying there at the time. The only shots I saw worse than mine were some football players teeing off on hole 1 while we were on 18 green. The houses sprouting up there are something to see. Was told all rentals and not going to be privately owned. I dunno. 

Shingle Creek was probably third with Eagle Creek rounding out the 4 courses. Weather was great until Sunday at Shingle. We finished 9 holes and called it. 

 

[sabram]

4 hours ago, coomdaddy said:

Weather was great until Sunday at Shingle. We finished 9 holes and called it. 

Bad luck about Sunday. It poured all day. It was our first terrible weather day in a long time. Glad the rest of your trip was good

[Togatown22]

11 hours ago, coomdaddy said:

Played terribly for 4 days but the golf course were fine to great. Our group of 12 rated Southern Dunes as the top course of the trip. The comment was that we wish we would play it twice each trip just to have a better feel for it. In a close second was the Links course at Evermore. That entire property is crazy!  The Pro Bowlers were staying there at the time. The only shots I saw worse than mine were some football players teeing off on hole 1 while we were on 18 green. The houses sprouting up there are something to see. Was told all rentals and not going to be privately owned. I dunno. 

Shingle Creek was probably third with Eagle Creek rounding out the 4 courses. Weather was great until Sunday at Shingle. We finished 9 holes and called it. 

 

Thanks for reporting back!  My group heads down first week of March.  Really looking forward to whats going on at the Evermore property!  Is the clubhouse new or same as the old one?

[coomdaddy]

I’m not sure, I’d never been. I can tell you we were checked in in the pro shop that wasn’t very large. Seemed to be in a convention center or something. Then a several minute cart ride to the driving range where a worker led us through the “neighborhood” of houses under construction. Leave the driving range for another long ride over to the Links course. Huge place. 

[rukahs]

Hi all, heading to Orlando in a few weeks - is it true for most courses that they start their annual maintenance around May time? I don't want to plan to play a few courses on rough greens etc. I've read a few things online that points to May being a bad time to play.

[doglegs]

I was down at Evermore last September and the scale of the project was massive.  Probably the largest gathering of contractors I've ever seen.  The Links course was fantastic.  A real bomber's paradise with fun greens.  I'm curious how the Cypress course came out as it looked nice from the road driving in.  Looks like they're open for play. 

[sabram]

17 hours ago, rukahs said:

Hi all, heading to Orlando in a few weeks - is it true for most courses that they start their annual maintenance around May time? I don't want to plan to play a few courses on rough greens etc. I've read a few things online that points to May being a bad time to play.

I'd suggest calling or e-mailing the courses you want to play and ask them when they are aerating

[philsRHman]

I'll be staying next week at Evermore or Grand Cypress and have time for two rounds. I'm having a heck of a time finding anything about the new Cypress course, but I note that they're charging $30-40 more for that than the Links. Oddly, I'm taking that as a sign of confidence they have in it. But would love to hear if anyone's hearing anything. 

 

I played the Links when it was the New about 15 years ago. I loved the high-end experience (still remember ice cold scented towels in a cooler on the ranger's cart he's offer as he drove around). The layout was weird to me since it didn't play Links-y, and I've since been to St. Andrews. Not sure if I'll love it more after being to the real deal, or hate it because it's such a knock off. 

 

Anyway, anyone with conditions report would be much appreciated, as I try to decide if I play each once, or pick one to place twice.

[jjthomp2]

headed down there next week as well. Going to play the Links unless i hear otherwise on here. Enjoy!

[philsRHman]

Following up, I played the Links today. While it’s fresh …

good conditions, greens rolled well. I’m not used to Florida grasses but everything looked good. 
The premise of the course, having now been to Scotland is admittedly pretty silly. I did get a flashback when I got to the first hole, as the scale of 1/18 seemed on the money, and the rail was on the money. There are familiar holes, little flourishes like the bridges, and a couple good replica holes (which are probably as much template holes as replicas).

 

But overall, you can’t suspend belief for 18 holes; the way the land plays is just so different. I’d still give it a thumbs up, and I bet playing it multiple times would reveal even more strategic play. It’s still resort golf and wide open off the tee. The fairway bunkers make you think (if you want to, you can certainly just fire away) because they’re very penal and deep. The greenside pot bunkers are fun and in great shape. 
 

I’m playing Cypress in the morning and will report back. From I saw today, it’s more target golf, a lot more water, a requisite island green. Eerily quiet when it comes to reviews. So I’ll be happy to share what I see. 

Edited November 3, 2024 by philsRHman