Orlando's Top 5 Golf Courses

Nearly every great name in architecture in the last 25 years has designed an Orlando-area golf course. And with two PGA Tour events (Bay Hill Invitational and the Walt Disney National Car Rental) and an LPGA Tour event (JC Penny After School Open), Orlando has established itself as a sensational golf destination. Disney World, Universal Studios and SeaWorld dominate the scene, but rest assured - there are over 100 courses competiting for your business.

TravelGolf.com's editors and writers cut through the red tape to rate the top five courses in the Orlando area. The courses were evaluated on the following criteria: conditions, layout, service and scenery.

1. Bay Hill (Orlando)

If you want to feel like a professional, check out Arnold Palmer's Bay Hill & Lodge. It's the home of the annual PGA Tour event Bay Hill Invitational, which boasts champions like Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els and Fred Couples. Bay Hill is consistently on Golf Digest's "America's 100 greatest golf courses" and in the top 20 of the best public courses in the country. The Championship and Challenger nines are the 18 holes used for the PGA event. The three nine hole courses have typical championship rough, lightning greens. But the three finishing holes on Championship course are anything but typical - especially 18. The deceptive up hill tee shot off the 441-yard finishing hole leads to a mid-to-high iron approach to a green guarded by water on the right front and traps in back. It requires every bit of game to tame this historical tract.

2. Mystic Dunes (Kissimmee)

Bring your short game and imagination because the greens at Mystic Dunes require both to be at their best. The large undulating greens are reminiscent of "MacKenzie greens" and look like they were carved out of marble as decorative ends to well-designed holes. Architect Gary Koch made open fairways and less penal hazards - like bunkers instead of water - because the true difficulty at Mystic Dunes is on or around the greens. The 7,012 yard design is a stylish blend of strategic forms and thoroughly modern methods.

3. Southern Dunes (Haines City)

Decision-making is everywhere you turn at Southern Dunes. Its throwback design requires golfers to manage every hole with care. It also offers more than a few chances to be a hero. Architect Steve Smyers authored a meaty 7,227-yard tract that has several tee box alternatives. The fairways are open, but artistically formed bunkers swallow poorly conceived drives. Sandy soil makes for speedy playing surfaces.

4. The New Course at Grand Cypress (Orlando)

Jack Nicklaus' designed The New Course with the idea of paying homage to The Old Course at St. Andrews. Humps, knobs, moguls, double greens, shared fairways - it is golf in its purest form. More than 148 hidden bunkers are ready to swallow your drive and fast and firm greens await your approach. It's difficult, but entirely foreign to the kind of golf courses most Americans are use to playing. The New Course is part of a 45-hole resort at Grand Cypress.

5. Orange County National -- Panther Lakes (Winter Garden)

Two 18 hole courses rest on the 900 acre retreat that is all about golf - not condos or summer homes. Panther Lakes is the flashier of the two designs, most say, because no two holes are the same. The playing surfaces are lush and the topography is so varied in some areas, some have a hard time believing they're in Florida. The architect made good use of the rolling meadows, grasslands, wetlands and lakes. Visually rich elements saturate the 7,295-yard design.

Up-and-coming

• Victoria Hills (Deland)
• Champions Gate International Course (Kissemmee)
• Orange County National -- Crooked Cat (Winter Garden)
• Disney World's Osprey Ridge (Orlando)
• Diamond Players Club (Clermont)
• Ritz Carlton Golf Club (Orlando)

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