FreddyBe

The course is an architectural masterpiece, with great design on every hill and turn. It’s a classic Thompson, with tight and undulating fairways, slopes and bunkers protecting greens, and stunning scenery all around. Once upon a time, this would have been a must-play.

Sadly, the course conditions make for a major disappointment. There’s severe damage to large portions of almost all of the greens that make putting a circus. Fringes are equally bad. I fully understand the challenges of harsh winters, and expect some problems in this climate. But this is well beyond some winter-kill. The bunkers on many holes are in need of serious TLC, including but not limited to basic raking and edging. Tee boxes and fairways are alright, in comparison the rest of the course.

They’re charging green fees as if this was still a world-class course. It’s not, at least not in this condition. It’s a well below-average muni at the moment. Not a full goat-track, but not what Thompson’s design deserves or the marketing hype pretends it is. We’ll see what happens over the next few years, but the new management has a long way to go if they want to maintain the fast-falling reputation of this classic.

The clubhouse is out-of-this-world. Other private clubs may have big, fancy, or lavish clubhouses, but this one is unique. Like nothing you've ever seen on a golf course, I guarantee.

The course is also very good. Varied layout, also unique for Florida given the elevation changes. Deep bunkering all around the course makes it tough if you find yourself in the wrong fairway or green-side trap. If you say on the fairway, you'll get a great lie. The greens are nicely contoured. And not too large, which is nice. They roll smooth and straight. Excellent condition.

Gorgeous bar, patio, restaurant for post-round meal or drink.

This is a good course that I can happily recommend. The design is varied and interesting, particularly the middle holes 6-12. It is fair value for Florida residents (just under $60 on a Sunday in December, when I played). We were the 3rd group off in the morning (7:16am), so played in under 4 hours.

Course conditions were good, with fairways reasonable after being recently punched and getting rain for a few days before (we had to play lift, clean and place due to the mud).

The greens -- which can't be more than a year or so old -- were in good shape. They were surprisingly firm given course conditions, although a bit slow. The did, however, roll very true. I'd say the greens were great, in fact.

The main drawback of the course is the noise. The first 5 holes play near the Magic Kingdom and along the road, so you hear Mickey and pals, the Disney train, and the traffic. I love all that as much as the next guy; just not on the course, where I prefer a bit of respite. On the back nine, the noise is from the race track, which is quite a bit louder than the parks.