Nine top golf destinations and seven lodging properties along a short arc of Central Florida’s I-4 corridor joined together recently to offer a fast, easy way to secure tee times and rooms for the ultimate Orlando golf excursion. Orlando has long been a major destination for business and recreation and is second only to Myrtle Beach in terms of sheer numbers of places to play. The Orlando Golf Trail’s quality and ease of course access trump many other Southeast golf destinations. Add that to the extensive depth of off-course recreational opportunities, professional sports events, and international dining, and there’s just no comparison. Here in the house of the mouse, this means more time on the course and less time on the road.

Southern Dunes Golf & Country Club
2888 Southern Dunes Blvd, Haines City, 800-632-6400
The sculpted look of Southern Dunes started with the pure sand base and pre-existing elevation changes of up to 100 feet found on that massive sand ridge that runs through Central Florida. Carved from an old orange grove and wiped out by a hard frost in the 1980s, this unique property drew the attention of Architect Steve Smyers who said: “I thought we could do something pretty special there because it was going to be easy material to move around. We had a high sandy ridge with a lot of wind and were easily able to create mounds, hollows, and ridges.” Southern Dunes, a venue for many top Florida amateur events, presents a links-like feel with exposed windswept dunes, including a great abundance of bunkers—more than 180 chances to visit the beach.

Tall native grasses and ornamental plantings frame most of the holes and form the borders with the rolling terrain. The course’s bold design calls for careful decisions and strategies—it’s been called a thinking as well as a gambling course.

Hunter’s Creek Golf Club
14401 Sports Club Way, Orlando, 407-240-4653
The club opened in 1996 with a golf course design by Lloyd Clifton. A Florida native, Clifton has been in the golf business for more than 50 years, designing his first course in 1964, with more than 30 designs in Florida alone. Three rounds of hurricanes five years ago severely damaged the clubhouse, and Hunter’s Creek went through a dormant period leading to eventual recovery. The clubhouse was rebuilt, new management has come in, and the word is out that course conditioning and service is returning to its former higher level. With some of the most reasonable green fees around, Hunter’s Creek, a past PGA Tour and U.S. Open qualifying site, is ideal for the value conscious.

Falcon's Fire Golf Club
3200 Seralago Blvd, Kissimmee, 877-878-3473
Since 1993, Falcon’s Fire has been a very highly regarded Rees Jones Signature Design. Jones, the son of Robert Trent Jones Sr., is known for his role in course preparation for U.S. Opens since his restoration of The Country Club for the 1988 event and today has his name attached to more than 150 course designs in 29 states, Mexico, and China.

Falcon’s Fire vies for best-in-class reputation among the top handful of public courses in all of Central Florida. The level of service and amenities is set very high. For those traveling without equipment, it’s worth noting club rentals at Falcon’s Fire range from seven different top club companies, so choosing a set that feels like your own is easy.

“Falcon’s Fire is forgiving off the tee, the strength of our course is found in the green complexes,” says director of golf Kenny Winn. “Jones designed this course to be playable for a wide range of abilities, for golfer of all levels. We take great pride in our consistent, outstanding conditioning. Bunker Hill, our 13th hole, is probably the most talked about of any. This par 4 stretches from 296 to 394 yards with 15 pot bunkers and one sprawling green side trap along the outer left side with inside right all water, tee to green.”

Falcon’s Fire closed for renovations in the summer of 2009 and re-opened October 1 with all new irrigation around new TifEagle Bermuda greens, most of the 128 bunkers restored, even reshaped in some cases.

Championsgate Golf Club
1400 Masters Blvd, ChampionsGate, 407-787-4650
ChampionsGate lies southwest of Orlando, just a long par 5 from I-4. These two outstanding Greg Norman-designed championship courses have been drawing high praise since they opened together in 2000. The National Course is a parkland-style layout lined with citrus groves and pines. Its large, crowned greens are well protected by bunkers and tightly mown chipping areas. The International Course is a tribute to links-style golf: fully exposed, windswept, firm, and fast. At one time, the International carried the highest slope rating in Central Florida, 143 from the tips, due no doubt in large part to its 114 bunkers.

ChampionsGate is known as one of the most challenging plays in the area, where “serious” players will go to test every part of their game. These two high-caliber courses on one site make for a magnificent and memorable day of golf. The World Headquarters of the David Leadbetter Golf Academy is also located here.

MetroWest Golf Club
2100 South Hiawassee Road, Orlando, 407-299-1099
The only Robert Trent Jones Sr. signature design in Orlando, MetroWest opened in 1987, the granddaddy of this group. MetroWest abundantly displays the grand-scale hallmarks of Jones’s work: expansive fairways and bunkers as well as large, well-contoured greens. Add to that the sense of meticulous attention to conditioning and reasonable green fees and you have what many consider to be the best value golf in Orlando.

Jones is widely acknowledged (along with Donald Ross) as the best-known and most prolific course architect of the 20th century. In a career that spanned more than 60 years, he designed more than 450 courses in 42 states and 23 countries.

According to director of golf Mike Pryor, “While the 14th hole is considered the most picturesque, our fourth hole is often considered one of the toughest in the Orlando area. It’s a long par-4 dogleg over water, but John Daly made it look easy when he drove his tee ball here 325 yards directly over water to the green. The course is forgiving off the tee, playable for all levels, but our green complexes demand precision. Water is in play on nine holes, and we have 75 bunkers.”

Celebration Golf Club
701 Golfpark Dr, Kissimmee, 888-275-2918
Precious few courses in the world can boast of the father and son architectural team of Robert Trent Jones Sr. and Jr. Their work at Celebration Golf Club on a virtually flat site with wetlands and pine forest resulted in a very fine parkland-style layout with two distinctly different nines.

On the easier front nine, one plays through open spaces out to some of the wide boulevards of Celebration's period-style residences. The back nine heads out into a more heavily wooded area with more challenge and hole-to-hole separation. Water hazards have everything to do with strategy through the entire course, as they can come into play on 16 of the 18 holes. The most forward and fifth set of tees can also play as an 18-hole par-3 course of 2,250 yards. And you won’t want to miss on the two-sided lake of a driving range with what feels like tiny island target greens.

Orange County National Golf Center
16301 Phil Ritson Way, Winter Garden, 888-PAR-3672
Orange County National Golf Center in Winter Garden is hands down the most complete and extensive play and practice golf facility in Central Florida. Besides the two championship 18-hole golf courses, Panther Lake and Crooked Cat, there’s a nine-hole par-3 course known as The Tooth, and at 42 acres and 600 tees, the largest driving range in the country. There’s also a huge putting green of 25,000 square feet illuminated for night practice. Architect David Harman designed these courses with assistance from Isao Aoki and founder/owner Phil Ritson. Ritson opened his Golf Your Way Studio here in 1997.

Panther Lake plays over rolling terrain with significant elevation changes. Native pine, wetlands, and 13 fresh water lakes give character and create lines of play. Large, elevated, and contoured greens are typically well protected. Crooked Cat opened the second year (1998) with a more open, links-like feel: few trees with mounds and knolls framing and defining wide fairways. Also of note, there is no real estate development on or around these golf courses.

Ridgewood Lakes Golf & Country Club
200 Eagle Ridge Dr, Davenport, 800-684-8800
Opened in 1994, this Ted McAnlis design has become a mainstay in the Orlando area for excellent conditioning with supreme affordability. McAnlis, once a NASA civil engineer, learned golf course design by working for George and Tom Fazio. His 30-year career has produced more than 50 course designs in Ohio and Florida. Ridgewood Lakes is playable for all abilities with no blind shots and only one forced carry over water, but it’s not necessarily an easy course with water hazards on almost every hole.

Shingle Creek Golf Club
9939 Universal Blvd, Orlando, 866-996-9933
The Shingle Creek Golf Club is among the newest additions to the Orlando area. This David Harman-designed championship course opened in December 2003 and features the historic Shingle Creek meandering through the property. With thick stands of native oak and pine, Shingle Creek is part of the headwaters of the Everglades 140 miles south. Shingle Creek Golf Club may be one of the more expensive plays, but guests can expect virtually immaculate PGA tournament-quality course conditions on a daily basis, a state-of-the-art practice facility, and very high levels of service.

While the water hazards on 16 of the 18 holes can seem to be fairly benign, that all can change quickly with the wind up. Tighter than apparent, well-bunkered fairways and rolling greens will test players of all skill levels. Shingle Creek is one course that might just play harder than it looks, in contrast to many others.