With so many courses to choose from in the Orlando area, we had to pick one course to play on the one potentially dry day that we had available.  

 

We had wrapped up our work in Marathon, FL (see March 26 golf blog review of Sombrero Country Club Golf Course) and then stopped at the USGTF offices in Port St. Lucie to discuss online training for golf topics, and also a new golf instruction manual that I have drafted (more on that later this season).

Following another meeting in the Orlando area, we only had one day to avoid the rain and storms and meet with a retired friend from Michigan who now lives in Orlando.

After considering numerous courses, we decided on Orange County National, a public course in Winter Garden (a little west and north of Disney World).

Orange County National was a recent Q-school host site that has two 18-hole courses and a very nice par 3 course.  It also has perhaps the largest, and one of the best, practice ranges available anywhere.

 

A somewhat favorable special rate, especially for my Orange County resident friend, helped in our decision to select Orange County National.

We played the “Crooked Cat” course, which is somewhat a links-style venue that is long (7400 yd. from the Q-school tees) and has surprising trouble areas if you do not keep the ball in the fairway.   

Each golf cart had state of the art GPS capability. The distances provided by the cart GPS were the same as those reported on my Golf Buddy Platinum GPS.  

 

There are several sets of tees where you can choose the distance that you are the most comfortable. You do not have to be a Q-school contender to thoroughly enjoy Orange County National.  Despite the apparently large crowd of golfers, we played at a great pace without waiting and finished 18 holes in a little over 4 hours. 

Our one available day did not provide us the time to also play the other course, Panther Lake.

This is a big week in sports and golf. Congratulations to the University of Connecticut and Butler University, and the Texas A&M and Notre Dame Women, for their basketball successes this season. 

Regarding the Masters, there are certainly several of the pros who are playing very well right now. I think this year’s match is there for the taking by any of the top 10 contenders.

Next week we will be in Michigan, and based on the weather, be ready to start playing some "cool" golf.  

Contact me if you are interested in a lessons program in the southeast Michigan area.

Hit ‘em straight!

Phil Lawrence