I found MetroWest very lush, well-maintained and well-managed. Despite all the work in progress, we were never bothered by noise or machinery delay. The lunch in the restaurant was quite tasty and my husband as usual loved his beer.
Culture with Camoluscious Gally |
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The wonderful clubhouse at MetroWest Golf Club in Orlando, Florida features a snack shop downstairs and sit down meals upstairs. The golf course is doing major renovations on the sand traps so the cost is very affordable and the annoyance minor. Most of their sand traps are enough out of the way, experienced golfers won't even notice them (except around the greens). Soon though, with all the rain Florida has had (13" in June that usually comes in the afternoon to cool things down after hot sunny mornings) everything will green up. The difference between a badly maintained sand trap and a freshly renovated sand trap can be immense. This golf photograph shows one of the most scenic holes at Metro West, on an almost island in the lake with sand traps blocking it. As part of the renovation, they've cut out the traps with a bulldozer, later they'll add more topsoil, refit hunks of grass over the top, dig a new sand trap hole with nice clean sharp edges and fill it with light sand. On a bad sand trap, the edges can be clogged by grass, or have areas where the edges have eroded. When your ball falls into the edge, it can get caught instead of nestling amid the sand. When you try to chip out of an edge, chances are you will cause additional damage to the trap. You always have the option of pulling the ball out of a trap filled with water due to poor drainage or to remove your ball off a bad edge. The downside is the extra stroke. Sand that is wet is harder to get out of because your sand wedge doesn't cut into it easily. The real challenge on MetroWest is all the uphill holes. A golf course with many uphill holes will play longer than its rated because you won't get as much role and for short hitters, that can mean extra strokes on every hole. I found MetroWest very lush, well-maintained and well-managed. Despite all the work in progress, we were never bothered by noise or machinery delay. The lunch in the restaurant was quite tasty and my husband as usual loved his beer.
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This photograph taken of the eighteenth hole at Eagle Creek Golf Club in Orlando, Florida shows way a golf game here can be a delight and challenge. They are one of the nicest courses near to Disney that you can find. They even have condos--I'm not sure if they rent them or not. The keyword about this golf course is sand trap. It's an easier course to play then many of this quality, 4.5 star rating from Golf Digest because of the wide fairways. But the sand traps can make it less easy since they are strategically placed around the greens and at the usual driving distance where a slice or hook can land you into trouble. Here's a close up of one of the worst sort of sand traps--it's not really filled with sand, instead its just a deep pit on rocky soil. There are regular sand traps, some even this deep, these little pits will test anyone's chipping skill. Homes are being built on the back nine of the golf course. I assume this course may go private eventually. Right now its open to the public. The food at the Belfry Restaurant is really tasty--I had a bacon, turkey, apple sandwich that was unusual and tasty--it normally also comes with carmelized onions and cheese which I don't do, but I expect some would find it really wonderful. Eagle Creek currently (5/31/2013) have a golf and lunch special, click here to find out more. Walkabout Golf & Country Club in Mims, FL is a fairly low key place--seating for the dining room is in a screened outdoor area with comfortable seats. The price is reasonable for a round and golf cart. The Walkabout Golf Course is currently in excellent shape with green lush fairways. The mid-nine restrooms come awfully early after the third hole and thirteenth hole. It makes the last six a bit pressured. That's the information. It has two great to play holes that bring fear to the heart of first timers. Here's just a bit of advice to prepare you for playing here. One thing you should plan on this course is to play your club that goes straight, otherwise you will likely end up in one of the lakes or woods. Even then, you might end up in a trap. The women's tees make for a short but tough round. From the sixteenth tee, it looks like all there is is one giant sand trap right in front of your nose. It's night quite true. Driving to a point just left of the monster trap shown here (about 140 yards for women, 180 for men), will set you up for a easy second shot to the green. After your drive, you can actually see the flag from either side of this mound. You aren't entirely safe, there's lots of water on the left and the green is quite small. I used a seven-wood for another 120 yards, then a small chip to the green. Play it safe but don't get scared by this monster trap. The eighteenth hole has a creek that you can't see from the tee box, so make sure you have loft on your drive because a low ball ( worm burner ) that bounces down the course will get caught. You have over 150 yards from the women's tee and over 180 yards from the men's tee before running into the river, seen just before the tree. The river is quite wide (thirty feet) so your next hit needs to go up two clubs to the green and over at least 80 yards. I drove (140 yards) then chipped closer to the river (30 yards) before using a seven wood to go another (100+ yards). I still needed to chip onto the green. Near the river is quite wide, but from the tee, you're quite narrow. Choose your straightest, longest drive, the move as close as you can to the river, you'll need it. The 150-yard distance marker is back 50 yards from the river's edge so a five wood (140 yards for me) might not make the river. It's best to plan ahead otherwise you'll pay extra strokes for losing your ball. If you play Walkabout Golf & Country Club golf course, plan on a good challenging round, average food, and a friendly crowd.
Eagle Dunes Golf Club is easy to find, especially if you use Google Maps on an Android device like me--we were able to find out the unnamed road on MapQuest was actually County Road 437, use this map, it works well. But like most of the golf course in Florida right now, the lawns are dead and dry, the usual result of frost. This photograph is the first hole at Eagle Dunes Golf Club. I almost hate to show it since in general the course is in really good condition as seen by the brightly green tee box. You can tell much about the course on this first picture--it has lots of water and sand hazards and some heavy clumps of grass in places you're not supposed to go to. This photograph shows how the sand traps often come into play, even on your drives. The golf course has strategically surrounded the greens, as show here, to make your approach shot a challenge. Using a distance finder can make the job easier--be sure to add one club for uphill and since the course can be windy, add one club when you're facing the wind directly. This photograph shows the mine field of sand traps on the next hole when you go to drive. Each of the four large traps are positioned to have you likely land in one of them. I played between the two distant sand traps and landed fine, but it turns out the lady I played with had the best plan, to go over the second trap in the foreground--she had a downhill roll that added distance. One thing about a challenging golf course like Eagle Dunes Golf Club is you will likely want to play it again, even if the women have their choice of an easy and a tough tee at times and there are portapotties instead of bathrooms. We played the Country Club of Mount Dora in Mt. Dora, Florida last week. My husband informed me I should play the gold tees in order to play a full 5300 yards since the red tees were much shorter to play. Women typically play the red tees since the handicap for most course play is set up using the red tees. A person's handicap will usually determine which tees a person will play from. Championship courses will often have five tees: black (for the men pros), blue (for the men with handicaps below 10), white (for most men), gold (for seniors and women with handicaps below 10), red (for women). Every person can choose which tees they play from--often choosing a longer course length can allow players to use their longer clubs more often, but they should do it when the course isn't crowded. The gold tees were sometimes placed with the men's tees, sometimes on their own and sometimes with the women's tees at Mount Dora. My first hint that Mount Dora was going to be tricky to play when I found this interesting sand trap with a staircase down to the sand. I thought, no problem, with all that wide open fairway, I won't be dumb enough to get into this trap. Turns out I was far too greedy for safety. When I drove for the green, it neared the flag, then tumbled into the bottom of this trap on the right. This hole at Mount Dora Country Club was supposed to be an easy par 4, but after your first shot, your second ball had to carry over this narrow neck, avoid the sand traps and manage to stay on the green. Luckily for my sanity, they saved this green until near the end of the course. Yes, easy golf can take you past the lake, over the creek, over all the little sand traps and land near the flag and stay. On a par 5 hole no less than a little challenge will make every golfer please to play the Country Club of Mount Dora. Royal St. Cloud Golf Links, St. Cloud, Florida is a beginner welcoming golf club with wide fairways, especially at the tee. We played today and found the course really had some challenging and innovative traps that are more likely to trap someone with a long drive and slice than anyone else. I didn't get trapped very often and the in fairly easy to escape situations. This golf photograph shows the Royal St. Cloud Golf Links clubhouse from the 9th hole on the white tees. How should a golfer handle one of these challenging sand traps? 1. Don't get into the trap in the first place 2. If you get into the sand trap, you might want to chip either to the side or backwards--whatever it takes to just get out 3. If you aren't playing a tournament and are keeping up with the players in front of you, you might try to pitch out of it with the face of your club laid way back, almost to 90 degrees. Be sure to take a full swing and follow through. Changes are you will end up doing number 2. afterwards. This golf photograph show the Scottish style use of native grasses on the back side of the sand trap. What is my overall impression of Royal St. Cloud Golf Links? It's a fun place to golf and the $18 per person green fees through September and $25 high season fees make it a win on the pocket side. This golf course is very friendly to wildlife with many different ways of handling native vegetation, with lots of native grasses. This golf photo graph shows one of the deep sand traps backed by wood reinforcement. Lunch at the Stone Bridge Tavern and Grill is a definite win--most items range in price from $10-25 (most the higher priced items are for full dinners while sandwiches are usually at $10. I tried the Oriental Salad with Chicken (also comes with Ahi) while my husband ate well with a very tender French Dip. Many good beers on tap. The snack bar offers up hot dogs, hamburgers, excellent cookies and more. As a birder and photographer, I had many other things to do than keep my mind on my golf ball. Oops. I guess this is why so many people study the zen of golf in order to keep their eye on the ball. This golf photograph shows a line of bunker right smack inside the sand trap--does this invite you to end up in the sand trap again and again? As to birds, here's a list of those I spotted today on Royal St. Cloud Golf Links: Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Doublecrested Cormorant, Anhinga, Wood Stork, Sand Hill Crane, Blue Gray Gnatcatcher, American Eagle, Osprey, Red-Shouldered Hawk, Common Moorhen (with babies), Louisiana Heron, Mockingbird, Fish Crow, Blue Jay. I also spotted White-tailed Deer (mom and baby), American Crocodile and a Turtle in the creek. |
Sheri Fresonke HarperSheri loves to golf, travel and to write. Follow Sheri Fresonke Harper on Quora
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