Ridgewood Lakes Golf and Country Club

When in Orlando in search of a golf vacation destination with a fun and enjoyable layout, multiple sets of tees, beautiful surroundings, and a great value for money, golfers know that Ridgewood Lakes Golf and Country Club always tops the list. The golf course knows just exactly what to give and how much of it to give its patrons. No wonder this is on the list of many golfers that they do not hesitate to recommend to friends and family.

Ridgewood Lakes Golf and Country Club is the Ted McAnlis creation in Davenport, Fl that perfectly epitomizes the essence of Florida golfing – fun, unforgettable, and has lots of sand and water. In this case, large and sparkling white sand bunkers and water hazards playing on each one of its 18 holes accentuate the perfectly maintained greens and wide fairways. This gives the course enough grit and teeth to make every round here challenging. But it is generally playable from any one of the four sets of tees, the longest being 7,016 yards long, par 72. This makes it an ultimate favorite for golf trips among the ladies, the seniors, and pretty much everyone else.

The golf vacation favorite, though, did not stop with an excellent layout to make this course stand out. Ridgewood Lakes Golf and Country Club has an even more beautiful practice and driving range; a most perfect warm up to go with the game. The search for the best golfing experience in Orlando starts from everywhere, but will always end here.

King’s Ridge Golf Club – Kings Course

There’s nothing better and more idyllic than a round of golf after a hard long week. And there’s nothing better than a golf course that is playable, fun, relaxing, and beautiful. That pretty much rounds up every single element a golfer would want and need for a most perfect golf vacation. And that’s exactly what the Kings Course of the King’s Ridge Golf Club in Clermont, Florida can offer its guests. One round here just is never enough; it will always be round after round after round.

The Kings Course of the King’s Ridge Golf Club is a Lloyd Clifton creation that opened in 1996. This 18-hole layout is shaped according to the dictates of the land’s natural contours. Thus, there is a high variety of elevation on the course. That, paired with several elevated tees, results in a golf vacation destination of rolling hills, natural mounds, and fast greens. There are just the right amounts of par-3s and par-4s all over the course to make it a fun course, playable for all skill levels with tee sets ranging from 6,183 yards the longest, and 4,462 the shortest, with three others between them.

And with the view of the scenic and peaceful Florida countryside, there is not a reason why a golf trip here won’t be relaxing and beautiful. The Kings Course of the King’s Ridge Golf Club, indeed, has enough a reason to keep a golfer coming back. Can there be anything better than this? None, for this offers only the best golf experience.

The Legacy Club at Alaqua Lakes

Tom Fazio did not become a household name overnight. He worked for it and earned it. What he is today is the result of years and years of building his name and building some of the best golf vacation destinations this generation has ever seen and played. He has long carved his legacy in his many creations. And for the one that he named to be where he gave the “most effort”, it is more than deserving to be called his Legacy – The Legacy Club at Alaqua Lakes.

The Legacy Club at Alaqua Lakes is undoubtedly one of the best anyone will ever see in the Sunshine State, and perhaps in the entire US. The course measures 7,160 yards from the longest tees, par 72. The course is said to be one that has wonderfully carried the best of man and nature – a cornucopia of lush forests, wildlife and native vegetation all worked well together under the careful, artful work of Fazio. He has so well worked on the natural environment that it earned the golf vacation favorite the only Audubon International Signature Certified Sanctuary in all of Central Florida.

 The developers and managers of the course have also not put in vain whatever hardwork Fazio has put in here. They have paired it with the best amenities and quality of services any golfer could ever ask for in a golf trip. That’s the Legacy Club at Alaqua Lakes – a legacy not only to further immortalize Tom Fazio’s name in the history of golf but a model that up and coming course designers could look up to for inspiration: beauty need not come in the way of nature, and vice versa.

Timacuan Golf and Country Club

The closest thing the Timacuan Golf and Country Club can be likened to is Grandma’s quilt. It is a patchwork of sorts – different elements, different sources, all working finely together to create one of the most talked about and respected golf vacation destinations in Florida.

At a close look, the Timacuan Golf and Country Club looks like a corkboard filled with things that are neither in the element of one and the other. That is the result of the accidental joint creation of such big names in golf course design as Ron Garl and Bobby Weed. Although, they didn’t work at the same time. The original layout was a Garl, but drainage problems arose after some time that they had to seek help from Bobby Weed to fix them. Weed did not do more than fix what needs it, thus it was a “patchwork” of his and Garl’s design. Nature was not to be left out too! The golf vacation favorite is located in Lake Mary, Fl., and enjoys a sumptuous helping of the stunning lake.

And as distinct as it already is, the nines of the Timacuan Golf and Country Club are so varied as well it feels like being in two places at one time. But from a bird’s eyeview of the course – and from the perspective of the golfer playing it – this is one beautiful mess. The golf trip favorite located north of Orlando measures 6,915 yards from the longest tees, par 72.

Black Bear Golf Club

When a golf vacation destination carries the name of some legendary golf course designer, people almost instantly judge it as astounding and beautiful and remarkable. That, even without putting it on an actual test. And not a few times has this kind of ‘history advertising’ failed. But not on the Black Bear Golf Club is Eustis, Florida, just outside Orlando. The PB Dye creation may carry the Dye family name but it proves to be just as deserving to be in the list of Dye family portfolio but to be in the list of America’s best.

 The Black Bear Golf Club is all 7,000++ yards of the best there is when man shares and uses his genius in perfect collaboration with nature. This 18-hole, par-72 spectacle is a links-style layout that was tailored according to the natural contours of the land. The course is sprinkled with numerous shaped bunkers and large sand traps set on undulating terrain.  And the best part is, the golf vacation can be as beautiful and as serene as can be – this part of Florida happens to be very quiet and secluded. And with minimum development, there is real peace and quiet.

 Perhaps the only time this course isn’t quiet is when it hosts the USGA Public Links Qualifiers. Why, the Black Bear Golf Club has actually hosted the said tournament seven years in a row. As for most of the year, this is the best place for that golf trip straight out of paradise. Without so much as an exaggeration, this is indeed, one of America’s best. That should go down in history.  

 

Waldorf Astoria Golf Club

Not only is this golf course a bearer of a legendary name known for the best vacations around the world. It also bears the signature of an equally legendary name in golf design. And as if that weren’t yet enough, the course is located in one of America’s most favorite, not to mention, most beautiful places – Orlando, Florida. The Rees Jones-designed Waldorf Astoria Golf Club, though young and in tough competition with the well-known classics in the area, is making waves as one of the fast-rising golf vacation favorites.

The Waldorf Astoria Golf Club measures more than 7,100 yards from the longest tees, par-72. There are five sets of tees to choose from making the course one for everybody. And, yes, one for everybody includes a great golf instruction program that would make even the least skilled of golfers enjoy what this course has to offer. One of the highlighted features of the course are the numerous bunkers that carry a classic design – a true and tested obstacle that will bring the the attitude that will make the golf trip extra unforgettable.

These bunkers look nice but they aren’t exactly as nice when the game begins. Thus is the case, too, of the many pines and ancient cypresses lining the wide fairways of the course. They have as much help in the aesthetics as in the course obstacles. In totality, the Waldorf Astoria Golf Club is one course that requires precision in technique and shotmaking, as much as it attracts appreciation for being naturally exceptional. Well, there is nothing too surprising about it. The resume of this golf vacation destination justifies it all and erases any doubt.

 

Shingle Creek Golf Club

Most, if not all golf courses carry with them a “time” theme to their designs. Others are plain “new-age”, some are “classic”. But very rarely does the golfing world see a golf course that carries the grandeur of both the time yonder and today’s innovations. It is like seeing a time warp all at the same time and place. One such course is Orlando’s Shingle Creek Golf Club. The golf vacation destination carries with it a long and rich history embedded in its natural features, accentuated by the genius of a new-age designer.

Mark Harman designed this 18-hole, 7,213-yard, par-72 golf vacation favorite. The Shingle Creek Golf Club is named after the creek of the same name, which is a part of the headwaters of the scenic Everglades of Florida. Golfers are to expect quite a lot of waterholes on this course. Along with the waters, the sandy banks of this course also play a part in defining the challenge set by this course. And all that beauty is set against a backdrop and earth of pristine natural goodness. Unmoved, untouched, and maintained to always be at its prime all year round. These features of the course combine to create a stunning, mystical and unforgettably beautiful spectacle that is bound to make one forget Disney is but a short drive away.

To make matters even better than it already is, the course has five sets of tees to choose from. That is a gift to golfers with no discrimination whatsoever for the players handicap. It is an enjoyable, fairly challenging course from any tee. The Shingle Creek Golf Club is that rare golf course that brings the good ol’ days of golfing into any golf trips, without it feeling outdated at all.

Southern Dunes Golf and Country Club

A golf vacation to Orlando would surely never stop within Orlando, right? Surely, the outskirts of the theme-park city has a lot to offer for their golf loving guests. This is Florida! Golf is basically everywhere! All there is to do is drive a little further out of the city and voila! The rarest of gems are ripe and ready for the picking! What’s more surprising, these courses turn out to be even greater than the overrated ones in the city. One perfect example is the Southern Dunes Golf and Country Club in Haines City, just off of Highway 27.

The golf vacation destination boasts of a risk-reward game that is defined by five par-4 holes and several par-3s, extensive mounding with elevation changes of up to 100 feet, and more than a hundred strategically placed bunkers. From the longest tees, the Southern Dunes Golf and Country Club measure a good 7,200 yards and play for a par of 72. It plays with five sets of tees for yardage lengths that will suit any type of golfer. On top of it all, the greens are large and fast. Every feature of this course was made to provoke and challenge golfers.

Now, that said, it should not be surprising why quite a lot of golfers choose to take golf trips at the Southern Dunes Golf and Country Club. Neither should it be surprising that this course holds a 4.5 star-rating from Golf Digest, and ranks among Florida’s and the US’ top golf courses. Going out of the box – or in this case, the city – reaps some good things too. (Plus Disneyland is only 15 minutes away!)

Mystic Dunes Golf Club

There is nothing mystic or supernatural about the Mystic Dunes Golf Club in Orlando. Although, it would only be truthful to say there is nothing ordinary human about it. There is an air of divine-like beauty in its layout. It seems as if the gods themselves have set foot on earth to create a beautiful mash-up of some of the best courses the world in the Carolinas, the British Isles, and the world-renowned classic the Augusta National. This is one golf vacation destination where there is not a need to summon the good spirits.

The Mystic Dunes Golf Club, a Gary Koch design, does not hold a 4.5 star-rating from Golf Digest for no reason. It is a whooping 7,012-yards, par 71 layout. Four other sets of tees make the course playable for golfers of varied skill levels should the championship tees prove too overwhelming. And then there are very distinct nines – a glimpse of the Carolinas to open the game with – native wetlands and marsh areas, old growth cypresses and oaks – and travel to the British Isles – links-style, bunker-laden back nine – to close it with. If that is not enough a golf trip surprise delight, one need not wait long or think hard to find the Augusta National flavor to it.

Paired with the 80-feet elevation changes, the greens here which are of prime kind and perfect maintenance are almost exactly that of the famed Georgia golf course. That’s primera classe greens carpeting rolling terrain bordered by even more rolling sand dunes and natural vegetation. Nowhere else is there a golf vacation creation that brings together golf world’s bests. There is no need for good spirits at the Mystic Dunes Golf Club, the best are already here.

Metrowest Golf Club

The Metrowest Golf Club in Orlando, Florida could easily be the Audrey Hepburn of today’s array of golf vacation destinations. When all the others are getting rough and edgy, this golf course is effortless, fluid, graceful. While the others are in contention for beauty and scenery, no one could question that this is one golf course that has perfected grace.

Ironically, this course is the handiwork of the top pioneer of today’s rough and edgy designs, the legendary Robert Trent Jones Sr. He created a true breather of a course – a break from his usual designs, and an break from the cookie-cutter designs. The course measures more than 7,000 yards from the longest tees and plays for a par of 72. Five sets of tees are available for golfers of all skill levels. The Metrowest Golf Club flows, almost literally, with its layout of dramatic but smooth elevation changes of up to 100 feet. The holes wind around mature forests, spring-fed lakes, and wide fairways. Large, undulating greens along with shaped bunkers define the attitude of this course – a more than perfect complimenting element. And they all combine to create a golf vacation whose greatness is just incomparable.

In this modern age of golfing, where roughness and grace cannot seem to exist in the same world, the Metrowest Golf Club proves otherwise. There seems to be no natural and effortless and quiet calmness to any course that has a view of the city’s skyline except here. Whilst Orlando’s downtown area and its many, many amenities are but a stone’s throw away, guests are assured that they will get a great, peaceful golf trip here. Like a true lady, her beauty stands out even when caught in a pile of urban mess.