Orange County National GC
Winter Garden, FL (just north of Disney World)
Tee times for single golfers can only be made 24 hours in advance.
Ranked #8 Golf World 2008 Reader's Choice poll
Recommended by my buddy Kevin V.
T&L Golf Review:
ORANGE COUNTY NATIONAL GOLF CENTER AND LODGE, PANTHER LAKE
Phil Ritson Way, Winter Garden; 888-727-3672, www.ocngolf.com. YARDAGE: 7,295. PAR: 72. SLOPE: 137. ARCHITECTS: Phil Ritson, David Harman and Isao Aoki, 1997. GREENS FEES: $65-$140. T+L GOLF Rating: ****1/2
The word "pure" figures prominently in the promotional materials for Orange County National, and although the analogy isn't mentioned, the property exudes a golf-first-and-last ambience not unlike that of Oregon's Bandon Dunes. There's even a lighted putting green outside the lodge, "for those players who just can't get enough." Hardly as isolated as Bandon, it is still comparably and mercifully free of surrounding homes. There are forty-five holes in all at Orange County, including the well-regarded Crooked Cat, plus the Phil Ritson golf school and a practice facility billed as the continent's largest. But the original Panther Lake eighteen endures as the most popular layout, with its thirteen freshwater lakes, scenic use of wetlands, stunning oak hammocks and pine forests, and elevation changes up to sixty-five feet.
Fat Guy Note: A comment from a local golfing acquaintance... "Comparing OCN Cats to Bandon Dunes? I been there and it ain't even close... maybe he got the pub before the horse."
Where To Booze & Grub, Orlando: In Winter Park, hit Four Seasons Smokehouse for some legit Southern BBQ. Or 4R Smokehouse in Winter Garden (www.4rsmokehouse.com).