Orlando Area Golf

I will be in the Orlando area for a few weeks at the end of July/first of August. I will have the opportunity to play a few rounds while I am there, and I am not familiar with the courses in that area. Can someone recommend some courses in Orlando or within a reasonable driving distance of Orlando that they would recommend? Thanks!

Orange County National has two great courses and great practice facilities. Q school used to play there every other year -- not sure if they still do. If I could only visit one place in Orlando, OCN would be my choice.

Lots of really good golf in Orlando.

I stayed and played at Bay Hill (Arnold's place) last year, that was a treat.  It makes watching the Bay Hill Invitational alot of fun.

There's about 140 tracks in Orlando area.  Kinda depends on where you are too.  One of my favs is 1 1/2 hours Northwest....World Woods. Good deals in summer too.  Orange County National 2 great tracks. Love the New course at Grand Cypress, a knock off of Old at St Andrews. Bayhill around noon and you may run into Arnie.....Enjoy

Here is a link to favorite Orlando Golf courses with photos and more links.

http://golfcourses.weebly.com/orlando-fl.html

Cannot go wrong with Disney courses...Magnolia and Palm!

I agree with some of the guys here that it's hard to go wrong with Orange County National. I'd also check out Falcons Fire. A great course with amazing service.

Going down in November.  Can only play 1 round.  Magnolia or Palm?  Which is better??  Help!!

I heard both are awesome, I'm playing Palm september 18th...Let me know if you play magnolia and how it goes!!

Also, played Lake Buena Vista last week, pretty easy, some challenging holes but I'm still picking my jaw up from playing Grand Cypress. Played the North and South course, and the conditions and the set up of the course is spectacular. Can't wait to play the new course. $40 for residents on Golf Now? STEAL!!!!!!!!!!!!

Played my 2nd golf trip at Orange County two weeks back. It was fun as always. Crooked Cat was in great shape. Panther Lake was in great shape too, except the greens. They were a little rough. However, they just put in TifEagle greens so that is to be expected. They will eventually be very good I'm sure. Love these courses, very different but nothing to look at but beautiful wilderness.

I'm headed to Orlando this Thursday for four days of golf with some former colleagues.  We're playing Disney's Lake Buena Vista, North Shore, Celebration, and the Crooked Cat at Orange County.

At OCN I've played Panther Lake a couple times, but never Crooked Cat.  Certainly looking forward to it.  I also played Celebration once a couple years ago.  I don't remember much except the layout, though short, was fun to play.  That, and the greens -- oh the greens...  I just remember some crazy slopes.

Anyway, I've never played Lake Buena Vista or North Shore.  Thoughts and comments?

Of the courses I've played in Orlando, I think my favorite has to be Osprey Ridge at Disney.  Beautiful, secluded, great layout.

I've played North Shore. Good course. Front is 'old Florida' with a lot of oaks. Back is 'new Florida' with lots of water.

Agree on OC National & the Disney courses. Shingle Creek is pretty nice too. Southern Dunes out in Haines City is good - LOTS of sand, no water.

And here's a good, affordable course that's in great condition - Dubsdread. It's in the city, just north of downtown. I live about 10 minutes from it & play it often. $20 after 3p, only like $32 in the morning.

Also, I recently played the following

Celebration: Very nice course routed through a community that is almost too perfect, like Truman show. Very nice natural areas. Challenging holes.

Waldorf-Astoria: Pristine Course through the Wilderness and HARD. Bunker lined fairways and highly sloped greens. Highest round I've shot in probably 10 years.

Ritz-Carlton: Greg Norman course that was a lot of fun to play. Challenging but not punitive. No homes on the course. Greens elevated but usually just 1 bunker greenside. Plenty of opportunity to get up and down if you want. And of course the staff was Johnny on the spot in true Ritz style. By the way, the prices were very reasonable. Played 1st week in November, stayed two nights, played 2 rounds for $400. Shared a room w/ a friend. This facility is also shared with a very nice JW Marriot that even has better pricing. I would return here again. Forecaddies provided for $25 a head.

Grand Cypress: Family favorite. Played East and South last year again along with new course. East was in great shape and South was a little beat up. i think they were getting ready for an event and doing some work. New Course was really fun. Wide open but it gets interesting around the greens.