Round #3 on my Florida trip. I played here on 11/26/17 for $60. First of all, make sure you don't get confused and think you are booking a time at nearby ChampionsGate Golf Resort. This course is rig... Continue »

Round #3 on my Florida trip. I played here on 11/26/17 for $60. First of all, make sure you don't get confused and think you are booking a time at nearby ChampionsGate Golf Resort. This course is right around the corner and newer, opening a few years ago I believe. You can actually see golfers at the "original" ChampionsGate club from the 7th hole here. This one is another Clifton, Ezell and Clifton Golf Design Group (CEC) course. My friend had played it before and liked the course a lot so he booked us a tee time here. We were paired with a local twosome who said they like the course a lot themselves. Might want to bring a range finder as my Garmin GPS didn't have the course on the database, never had that happen before! I can see why so many people like the course! You don't have to hit great shots and can recover all day long. I hit three fairways and somehow managed to shoot a 75 as my irons and putting were very good. Part of that is I drove it terrible and the other part is that the angles from tee are a bit deceiving. I blew it through a few fairways by picking the wrong lines. It is a resort style course with large fairways, typical CEC large bunkers, water features, and short rough. It has a lot of domestic landscape, muhly grass I think. The front nine is in more a wetlands area while the back plays through a new housing community. They are still building homes and I think they plan to go private at some point if they can. The back has some minor elevation change. This isn't a course you want to walk as the holes are very spread out! We played the back tees which are 71.5/129/6404 and the biggest challenges are going to be avoiding the large, man-made water hazards and cavernous bunkers. Oddly, the construction of those water hazards I think are still taking place so the course is a bit uncompleted at this time. Nothing too memorable here on the individual holes, and the design a bit uninspiring. The 12th is a 407 yard par 4 that plays uphill to a fairway that is framed by oak trees. The 15th is a 310 yard par 4 where you can layup and then play over water on the approach or blast a driver out to the right for a pitch and better angle into the green. Conditions were great. The sand was fluffy and a nice white color since the course is so new. The greens were smooth as can be and quick. The fairways were perfect and the rough wasn't a penalty. The maintenance is something you'd likely find at a $125+ course closer to Orlando.