Balbirnie

Thoroughly enjoyed my round. Managed to go our early as the weather didn’t look too good later in the day. The conditions of the greens were excellent as were the fairways. The only downside was that some of the bunkers had a fair bit of water in them which to be fair is to be expected with all the rain recently. The last hole is a monster of a par 5 and took 3 good hits to reach the green. Would happily visit again on next years vacation.

Having played the course a few times, we knew what we were going to and were glad to return. When we arrived e were told that we had to stay on the cart paths only which was understandable as the fairways were wet and very soft. We were joined by two American guys who were good company and helped as there were groups of 3 & 4 ahead of us. The pace of play was fairly slow but due to the cart restrictions it was understandable. By the 4th hole a single player, an Asian gentleman had caught us up as we were teeing off. We tried to explain that we couldn't let him play through as we were keeping up with group ahead. Two holes later he drove past us as we were putting and proceeded to tee off at the next hole. We wee extremely unhappy as we were then held up even more, especially when he started hitting more than one ball from the fairway. We managed to speak to him at one stage and told him he was wrong to do this and that he should have joined the two ball behind him.
As we played the 10th he had disappeared from in front of us but as we holed out at the 11th, he drove past us again and played from the 12th tee hitting 2 balls. We met the course Ranger at the 13th tee and told him of our issue. He was not interested and just said the guy had poor English. This was so frustrating as we had to wait to play every shot.
We enjoyed the course, despite it being so wet and soft but the unwillingness of the Ranger to deal with the single player who had no golf etiquette was extremely disappointing. Why they would let a single player out behind so many bigger groups was strange.

From the welcome at the gate to leaving after the round this was a great experience. As a Hot Deal I only paid $20 and would happily pay double that to play again. The staff were welcoming and helpful. Played the East & North courses and enjoyed both. The greens were in great condition and the course was extremely well maintained. Will play again on our next visit to the area. Highly recommend playing here.

Having played here a number of times over the years, I have to say today's experience was a major disappointment. We arrived in plenty of time for our round and went into the pro Shop to pay the balance and to rent one set of clubs. We were not made aware of the fact we could play more than one round if we wished. Charged $59.99 + tax to rent a set of Taylor Made clubs which seemed a bit on the expensive side. When we got to our cart my friend checked his clubs - They had not been cleaned and to his disappointment no golf balls were included. When we went to the driving range we weren't exactly greeted enthusiastically and it seemed a chore for the employee to get out of his cart to get us some balls. No GPS. On the carts was also a disappointment.
When we went to the first tee the starters were not exactly chatty or keen to give information. We were disappointed when we discovered that the greens were nor exactly in great condition as putts jumped and changed direction due to recent aeration of the greens. The pace of play was extremely poor - 2 hours 21 minutes for 9 holes !! We spoke with a ranger as he came round who said it was what it was and there was nothing he could do ! As a result of the pace of play we had to finish after 16 holes due to having to meet our wives. We were unable to have our lunch at Orange County National which was part of the deal. Even the cart staff weren't exactly helpful or pleasant when we finished.
Having travelled from Scotland to Florida many times, we have always enjoyed the welcome, facilities and courses at Orange County National but our experience today will probably see us looking elsewhere for a better golfing experience.