Over the last couple of decades, the Orlando area has become a premier destination for golfing group holidays, especially during the first four months of the year as this period offers the perfect blend of great weather, diverse golf courses, and top-notch amenities, making it an ideal choice for enthusiasts seeking a memorable golfing getaway after the festive period, and away from the cold and snow that might often close the courses where you might usually play. Here we look at what makes Central Florida so appealing in this regard, and some of the standout courses and facilities available to those that might choose to visit.
Why Central Florida in Early Spring?
From January to April, Central Florida boasts some of the most enviable weather conditions for playing golf. Mild, sunny days with average temperatures ranging from the mid-60s to mid-80s degrees fahrenheit. This ensure that you can enjoy long days on the course without the discomfort of extreme heat or cold. Low humidity and minimal rainfall also make the conditions close to ideal, allowing for very few instances of interruptions to play, and comfortable conditions for a relaxed and enjoyable games of golf.
World-Class Golf Courses
The Orlando area is home to an impressive array of diverse, challenging, and beautiful golf courses, many of which have been designed by legendary architects. These courses cater to every skill level, from beginners to seasoned professionals, ensuring that every member of your group has a fantastic time. With challenging layouts, pristine greens, and scenic views, these courses provide a world-class golfing experience.
Accessibility
With excellent connectivity through Orlando International Airport, Orlando serves as a central hub. This makes it incredibly convenient for groups traveling domestically, or internationally. With well-maintained roads and easy access to top resorts and courses, getting around Central Florida is a breeze.
Off-Course Activities
Central Florida offers far more than just golf. When you’re not on the course, you can explore some of the world’s most famous attractions, including Walt Disney World, Universal Studios, and SeaWorld. For those seeking relaxation, there are numerous spas, fine dining options, and vibrant nightlife scenes in and around Orlando.
Top Courses and Facilities
Central Florida’s golf offerings are unmatched, with options ranging from championship courses that host professional tournaments to scenic and challenging layouts ideal for recreational play.
Here is our choice of what we consider are the best 14 must be played courses in the Orlando area:
Shingle Creek Golf Club
Shingle Creek Golf Club is golf reinvented, with the classic Arnold Palmer touch It is legendary and far from the typical. Designed by the renowned Arnold Palmer Design Company, the Palmer legacy is found in a handcrafted course with design features reminiscent of the finest classics in the world. Strategy and variety are front and centre with some of the course’s features to harken back to the golden age of golf course design. Elevated greens and strategically placed bunkers are surrounded by enchanting flora and wildlife. Green complexes with fairway-cut surrounds or runoff areas give golfers of all levels more forgiveness and entertaining strategic options. Explore this 18-hole, par-72 championship course that challenges your entire game, yet rewards the diligent player.
Reunion Resort Golf - Nicklaus Course
No name is more synonymous with greatness in the sport of golf than Jack Nicklaus. The Golden Bear brought his unique perspective and design acumen to Reunion and has built a course destined to become a classic. The Nicklaus Course offers elevated services and amenities for golf groups or single players. While the course still retains its individual characteristics and strength, you will enjoy a higher level golf experience from bag drop to the 19th hole and everywhere in between. Designed to tempt golfers into hitting risky shots with potentially big payoffs, the course challenges the golfer to step up to the ball with a carefully organized series of shots in mind.
Champions Gate Country Club
Champions Gate Country Club was opened in January 2015 and can offer those taking an Orlando golf vacation the opportunity to play a gem of a course. With four tees to choose from, golfers of all abilities are catered for with the Professional tees measuring an impressive 7058 yards. The design uses the elevation changes and contours of the natural landscape and incorporates wide fairways, large greens and an array of white sand bunkers which makes playing it such a pleasurable experience. The Country Club course provides the discerning golfer with a delightful combination of beauty and playability. Be sure to add this course to your itinerary when booking your Orlando golf vacation.
Waldorf Astoria Golf Course
The first newly built Waldorf Astoria since the legendary original in New York City is located on 482 emerald-green acres and surrounded on three sides by Walt Disney World Resort and has the on-site Waldorf Astoria Golf Club. Using the land's natural contours as a canvas and a fertile imagination as a palette, this meticulously designed course was created by acclaimed golf course architect Rees Jones. Jones created a golf course of great integrity and environmental consciousness that seamlessly folds into the terrain, so it appears to have been here forever. The five-tee system will accommodate golfers of every calibre, and each hole requires intelligent management. The Waldorf Astoria Golf Club, set amidst the Bonnet Creek nature preserve is one of Golf Magazine’s prestigious “Top Courses You Can Play”.
Southern Dunes Golf & Country Club
Since 1993, this award-winning facility has captured the hearts of golfers throughout the world. Designed by Steve Smyers, Southern Dunes is a distinctive course that features a dramatic hillside layout, rolling terrain, steep elevation changes and large, fast, undulating greens presenting golfers with a challenge unique to Florida golf vacations. Southern Dunes design encourages golfers to use their imagination as the use of the slopes and contours can help manoeuvre around the strategically placed bunkers. Five sets of tees enable golfers of all skill levels to enjoy risk/reward opportunities, and the par-3 holes play down hill giving golfers a beautiful view of the greens.
Reunion Resort Golf - Watson Course
As one of professional golf’s most prolific champions with eight major championship titles including five British Opens, Tom Watson is universally lauded for his passionate play, exceptional course strategy skills and attention to detail. Watson's 7,154-yard course at Reunion is generally regarded the best of the three choices at the 54-hole Reunion Resort, and where Watson trumps his contemporaries is course playability. Its slope is much more manageable and there is no water to sink the ball. Wide fairways provide ample room off the tee, and the villas and homes are set well back from play. Sweeping waste areas and bunkers define the landing zones, keeping things interesting. It's simply a most enjoyable round from start to finish, especially for winter guests bringing rusty swings.
Disney Palm Golf Course
This course was originally designed by Joe Lee but underwent an extensive redesign in 2013. The shorter, easier, and for many golfers most picturesque of the Disney courses featuring shimmering lakes, tropical sands, sloping greens, and numerous palm trees, which add to the general aesthetic beauty of this fun resort course. But easier doesn’t mean easy, Disney’s Palm includes nine holes with water hazards and fifty-nine bunkers, providing plenty of challenges for novices and seasoned pros alike. Admire the long par three 12th, with five bunkers protecting the green and lush foliage framing the hole. Then, at the short par three 16th, take care with your elevated tee shot, which you must lift over a lake to the green. The 18 championship holes provide challenges for both novices and experienced golfers and visually, the Disney Palm Course is rightly adjudged to be one of the most beautiful courses in the country by professionals and amateurs alike.
Grand Cypress at Evermore - Links Course
The Old becomes The New at Grand Cypress Golf Club. The Links Course at Grand Cypress Golf Resort is a Jack Nicklaus homage and tribute to the Old Course at St Andrews. Scottish, links golf with the sunshine of Florida. The Links, or New Course, a Scottish links masterpiece, is set in an open meadow with few trees and very little water which offers generous landing areas. Complete with a snaking burn, stone bridges, walls, gorse mounds and 150 pot bunkers, this course is a true test for golfers of all levels.
Disney's Lake Buena Vista Golf Course
Disney's Lake Buena Vista Golf Course utilises the natural features of the landscape and Joe Lee's classically designed course meanders its way through pastel villas, pine forests and lakes that sparkle with incandescence. Disney’s LBV has hosted the PGA Tour, the LPGA Tour and USGA events, and offers lush fairways and well-protected greens making this course as challenging as it is beautiful for either a casual round, or a large group outing. The fairways and elevated bunkered greens ensure that playing Lake Buena Vista Golf Course is a challenge for all abilities. If you are looking for a real test of golf in a stunning environment, Lake Buena Vista Golf course is one course that should be in included in your itinerary.
Grand Cypress at Evermore - Cypress Course
After a 3-year multi million dollar redevelopment of Grand Cypress Resort, the result is this stunning parkland style course that blends aesthetic beauty with an architectural challenge. The course offers incredible sight lines of emerald green turf, shimmering lakes, and bright white bunkers as well as a true island green par-3 experience. Both Grand Cypress golf courses are located within the gates of Evermore Resort, are one of Jack Nicklaus' most heralded designs. It's Orlando golf at its best. Don't miss these stunning courses during any trip to Orlando.
Reunion Resort Golf - Palmer Course
Arnold Palmer’s style, even more than his scorecard, elevated him to legendary stature. He played with a sense of adventure and exuberance and designed golf courses with that same passion. Innovatively routed on hilly, roller coaster-like terrain, Arnold Palmer’s 6,916 yards, par 72 Signature Course boasts dramatic elevation changes, up to 50 feet in some places, creating a unique variety of risk/reward shots. That varied menu of shot-making opportunities is further ensured by six tee locations on each hole, a variety of natural preserve areas, generously wide fairways and strategically placed bunkers across all 18 holes.
Disney's Magnolia Golf Course
Disney's Magnolia Golf Course is the flagship of the Disney courses and is the longest. The course designed by Joe Lee, is set in classic Florida parkland, and golfers from all corners of the globe travel to Disney to play this phenomenal course. Magnolia is most definitely a challenge for all serious golfers, 11 of the 18 holes boast water hazards, and 97 bunkers dot the landscape. Look out for the bunkers on the 9th, and the quirky dogleg on 13. The landscape is defined by the magnolia tree lined fairways, bunkers shaped like Mickey Mouse and an abundance of wildlife including egrets, alligators, deer and herons. A choice of tee boxes enables golfers of all standards to enjoy one of the very best courses in Florida. If this course is to form part of your Orlando golf vacation itinerary, you will not be disappointed. Disney's Magnolia Golf along with its sister course, Palm Golf Course, is host to the Disney Classic PGA Tour Event.
Eagle Creek Golf Club
Eagle Creek Golf Club is a par 73 Championship course with a variety of tees to suit golfers of all abilities. Howard Swan, one of the course designers, also designed the highly acclaimed Boavista Resort Golf Course in Portugal and it is this European feel combined with the amenities that you would expect in a top class American resort that makes Eagle Creek Golf Course such a joy to play. Water hazards, over 90 white sand bunkers, tree lined fairways and fast and true greens test players skills to the maximum and with a New England style Clubhouse on two levels, Eagle Creek provides that perfect setting for a memorable round of golf on any golf vacation in the Orlando area.
Conclusion
A golfing holiday in Central Florida during the first four months of the year offers unbeatable weather, premier courses, and a wide variety of group-friendly amenities. Whether you're playing a round on a championship course or unwinding at a luxurious resort, Central Florida ensures your group will have an unforgettable experience.
