Southern Dunes Golf & Country Club

This was the best of the four courses we played this week. A good challenge but fair for all in our mixed 4some. The recent weather woes this year did not show up here. We will play this one again in future trips to the area.

Southern Dunes is a beautiful course. The conditions were excellent. The practice range and short game area is a nice warm up for the round. The carts employ GPS which is nice for someone new to the course. The grass was perfect, cut very tight and smooth. The greens held fairly well considering still new. I really loved this course with the current conditions.

My son and I had the opportunity to play this exceptional challenging facility twice over the last week on the 23rd and again on the 27th. It has quickly become and absolute favourite. The value for the money is exceptional. The course is a fantastic challenging layout. We played it from the Blue tees at 6800+ and a 134 slope. The greens were perfect; smooth, quick, and true. The entire course was in phenomenal shape. Pace of play was excellent at 3:45. The practice facility is adequate with a chipping green with sand bunker, a putting green, and a small driving range. Okay for a quick warmup. Staff were exceptionally friendly. This course may seem a bit out of the way but we were staying in the Reunion Championsgate area and it was a mere 20 minute drive. Treat yourself this is one of the absolute best courses you will play in the Orlando area and at an exceptional rate.

As sort of a tradition I play this course once a year during my annual visit to Florida, usually in April/May, just after the busy winter season has ended. Like many courses in Florida it’s located in a gated community and houses are nearby on every hole, which makes the surroundings less than spectacular. The houses aren’t great to look at, but they are convenient to stay in when playing the course (and likely visiting the greater Orlando area). The course itself is actually very nice with wide-open and some heavily undulating fairways and lots of bunkers – really lots of bunkers! Inevitably you will end up in a few but luckily most are very playable (a few are not…) and you can recover from a bad shot. If you can avoid the bunkers it’s not a very difficult course as the Par 3’s are all relatively short/easy and it also includes some short(er) Par 4’s which will help bring in a good score. A-typical for a Floridian golf course there is hardly any water, just on 2 holes (#5 and #12) and it only comes into play on hole #5 (as it’s to the right of the green). Fairways are good quality and grass is ‘resort course length’, meaning quite often your ball will be on top of the grass (no tight lies) and therefore easier to play for most players. Biggest concern over the last years have been the greens which were fast but very poor quality (just dirt/sand which was actually painted green!). That changed in 2016 when all greens were replaced and the quality is now much better – and they are still quite fast. The course is cart-only and carts are equipped with GPS and some tees, but no towels and unfortunately also coolers without ice – this would be a great addition in the Florida heat! Southern Dunes is one of the nicer courses in the Haines City/Davenport area and very playable, definitely recommend to play and worth the drive from the Walt Disney World/Orlando area. Depending on the season and time of the day green fees can be as low as $35 (twilight rate, including cart), which is a real bargain!

Have always loved playing this course because of the wonderful bunkering and layout of the course. Fairways and tees were in great shape. The greens appear to be fairly new so are not super quick but plenty of undulation on the greens. Put your thinking cap on. We were cause in a heavy cloud burst for five holes but it did not matter to us as we couldn't wait to see what bunkering confronted you on the next hole. A real pleasure to play and would highly recommend.

The highlight of our recent trip to Orlando was 18 holes at Southern Dunes. Course is a great layout with fairly generous fairways, variety of approach shots and the best greens we putted on all weekend. Highly recommended.

Me and my daughter played this course on march 9th. Just by driving in i could tell this was gonna be a nice course. We got there a half hour before tee off and they got us out early which was nice. The course was in great shape. Some of the best greens i"ve played. Its a challenging but not crazy hard. For $45 after 2:30 it was a great deal. Afterwards we went for dinner in the restaurant and the food was fantastic at a reasonable price. Overall i give this course a double thumbs up.

This course has always been a top course since its inception. A few months back, the greens were redesigned. This course, right now, is one of the top 25 courses in the State. If you can play this course, then play this course immediately. I have never played greens this perfect.

Yes, we lost our greens this past season to a disease called Bermuda Grass Decline. We treated the greens with every fungicide (at the curative rate) for this disease, but it did not slow down the disease. We were left with no choice but to renovate our greens.

On May 2, 2016 we closed the course to renovate our greens and surrounds. We also completely redesigned hole 14 as well as the greens on holes 12 and 16. We re-opened the course September 9, 2016 and the course reviews have been fantastic! The greens are in great condition and course is better than ever! Please visit our website to see some pics of the renovation www.southerndunes.com .

This was the first game of a 10 day trip. We chose it based on recommendation from people that played the course the previous year.

We were just in time to get the tail end of the buffet breakfast. Staff was very accommodating, food was excellent value.

On checking in at the pro shop we were asked if anyone told us that some of the greens were under repair but were quite playable. We proceeded to play. We shouldn't have.

Barely any grass on a single green which really ruined what otherwise would have been a nice track.

On the 12th hole while on the green staff turned on the sprinklers!

On the back nine, two of the holes took in excess of 25 minutes each. Called the pro shop to summon a course marshal but no one showed.

When we spoke with the proshop after the game to complain all we got was a "sorry". When asked about the value they told us that the $95 we paid (tax included) was a discounted rate.

We won't be back.

I have always been a very big fan of Southern Dunes, and its been an excellent round for me and a friend while we stayed in the Orlando area. We teed it up there about a week ago, and I am not sure what happened but the greens which used to be amazing, are mostly rolled pressed dirt, with hardly any grass. I was surprised cuz the practice green was also in this condition. I was also surprised that with the course in this condition they were still charging normal prices. I even thought the twilight rate was a little high for this course. I have always been pleased with Southern Dunes, and maybe its a disease, change in personnel or they're in the process of replacing the greens, if so I think the rate should go down some. Golf in the Orlando area has a lot of competition, I really hope I can write something much more positive next year around this time. I really do enjoy the holes and he atmosphere there, but these greens are quite the blemish to what I thought was one of the best places in the area.

Been staying here for month of February & playing this course for 11 years now. This is the worst I've ever seen it. Fairways and greens are horrible. Southern Dunes has always been a quality plush course & one of my all time favorites-until now. I'd expect these conditions on a $20 course. No way it's worth the price they continue to charge. There are too many other courses in the area to settle for Southern Dunes this year. A serious management change is needed if this normally great course is going to survive.

This course is well tended and designed from tee to green. The greens are impossible to putt. They are way too fast and sloped. Parts of the greens are dying and the paint that is put on the greens makes really fast. Several greens will not hold an approach shot. Several greens are very easy to have your putt roll to the fringe.

maybe people like putting on rolled dirt hence all the strange excellent reviews or maybe we just caught this place in between whatever kind of grass growing seasons they have in Florida but what a mess.

If you like putting on green rolled dirt with numerous spike (yes; spike marks from soft spikes) and ball marks then have at it; this is the place for you.

When told by the starter please make sure you fix your spike marks it should've rang a bell for me; but I just thought he misspoke. Nope; there are so many spike marks it's not even funny; and that's because the greens are actually rolled green dirt; or something like that.

Maybe this place has actual greens at some point during the year but they didn't when we were there; horrible...

Have been going to Orlando for 7 years and this is in my top 2 of courses played. Conditions have ALWAYS been excellent and the greens have always been a good fast speed. Like any course in Orlando the pace of play can run you a little longer then 4 hours but well worth the time invested. This course used every club in my bag. A reachable par 4 along with a few long par 4's. A few reachable par 5's and a short par 3 along with a long par 3. Love the opportunity and challenegs this course provides. Enjoy the course and round. If you are planning a trip Southern Dunes is a must on your golf itinerary. Extremely fair and wide fairways and large greens protected by bunkers and challenging pin locations make this course fantastic.

It is a very interesting course with some challenging holes, but mostly well playable, if you are able to avoid one of the many, many sand traps. On the other hand almost no water hazards, except some 2-3 holes. Not very usual layout for central Florida with some hilly holes. Tee boxes well maintained, fairways mostly very good. Bunkers partly deep but fair. Greens were still a little bit sanded, but fast. Cordial staff at the bag drop and pro shop. No players assistant on course, which may cause some problems with the pace, but the day we’ve played the pace was good,

Overall - to me a must to play while in Orlando area, but tee times can be booked directly with the pro shop (phone or online – after registration) only. Rates are rather a little over the average in Orlando.

Great course, terrible speed of play.

No rangers checking the speed , the guys there said that speed was a problem.

However the course is really nice and worth the money.

Waiting for every single shot was a drag, and the 5 and a quarter hours it took got very weary towards the end. Pity they could not get a ranger to sort it out

Best conditions in the area.

Course was in excellent condition overall. The greens did have some damage, but the damaged areas didn't effect play much. The staff was very friendly and did the best to make the round enjoyable. There are homes lining the course, however, the trees hide that fact very well and help keep the ball on a course when you lose one right or left.

Excellent track. Not a thing to complain about. Greens are fast.

This is a championship caliber course. The greens were fast and the course is set up for tournament play. The conditions were perfect and there was nothing you could really pick at. I played afternoon round for under $50. Not your bargain course but if you are an avid golfer looking for a fun track this is it.