marcblom

In July 2012 I played Echelon Golf Club for the first time during a visit to Atlanta. It was a great experience - excellent layout, challenging holes, great routing and very nice surroundings (beautiful houses up in the hills). So I was happy when I recently had to opportunity to play Echelon again. Unfortunately this time the experience was very disappointing, mainly due to the extremely poor course conditions.

My first impression was good, a beautiful club house had replaced the trailer from 7 years ago. That's pretty much where the positive ended... To start I received a rental set (Cobra F7) which was up for replacement and definitely not worth $50. Club heads for the driver, fairway wood and hybrid were complete worn with no profile left what so ever. This made it very hard to launch the ball and get any sort of trajectory.

Even worse were the course conditions. I didn't mind the fact the course was yellow/brownish instead of green, which was due to the time of year (late Winter). Not a pretty sight but understandable. Greens were actually green, although very sandy. What made the course unplayable was the fact it was complete soaked - every tee box and fairway was very muddy and had water standing everywhere, making it completely impossible to hit a decent shot. Mud went flying everywhere on every single shot as I splashed my way around the first few holes. I knew the course would be somewhat wet as it was cart-path only (making some very length walks from cart to ball and back due to the hilly terrain) but this was ridiculous. When I decided to quit after 9 holes and informed the pro shop I was told the course had been like this for the last months due to heavy rainfall in the area. I understand the impact this has on a course but it would've been nice if I was informed about this upfront - ideally via a note on the website during booking but definitely at check-in. If I would have known I would have decided no to play and save the effort of traveling.

Upon my request I did receive a fair refund for the green fee ($25, half of what I paid) but no refund for the clubs. So I basically paid $75 for a completely unplayable course and spent a good bit of time traveling from and to Atlanta. All-in-all a disappointing experience which will not make me come back this time of year. It would be good if customers are informed upfront about the extreme course conditions and it would be appropriate to adjust the green fee accordingly (even better would be to close the course for the next few weeks, allowing it to recover). Currently it's just a really bad experience at what is a great course when played at the right time of year.

Ghost Creek is usually a great course to play, having an interesting layout and some challenging and scenic holes. Unfortunately course conditions are strongly impacted by the weather in the Pacific Northwest. The course doesn't handle rain very well and quickly becomes extremely wet and (therefore) soft. Today the course was absolutely unplayable - zero roll, balls plugged deep in the fairways and very high rough (a missed fairway meant a lost ball). Carts obviously weren't allowed but even walking the course was a challenge. On the positive side the greens were very fast (stimp 12). Due to the course conditions I quit after 9 holes, something I've never done before, and got a rain check. I wouldn't recommend to play Ghost Creek until course conditions have improved (I'm actually surprised the course is open for play and charging full rates...).

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!

This is a very nice course, one of the best in the Davenport area. It has an open layout and most holes are pretty straightforward and very playable for most handicaps (as always, make sure to select the appropriate tee). Lots of straight holes, not a single dogleg - becomes a bit boring after a number of holes. The biggest challenge is a forced carry from the tee on some holes, depending on which tee you are playing. The Par 3 holes are the most interesting and challenging. Front 9 holes are in a natural setting without any housing and therefore the nicest, giving you a remote feeling. Back 9 is in a residential area with lots of construction, which makes it look like any other resort course in the Orlando area - not a recommendation. Fairways and greens are good quality and well maintained, speed of greens is fine (not too fast, very playable). Cart amenities are very basic - ice and some tees, but unfortunately no GPS, so bring your own. I played on a Thursday afternoon starting at 3:50 pm and had the course pretty much to myself, finishing in exactly 3 hours. Rate of $39 was outstanding, given the quality of the course. I definitely recommend playing this course - it ranks in my Top 10 of public courses in the Orlando area.