I come out to Orlando a few times a year for work and it's always a pleasure to get out and play the Orange County National courses (both Panther Lake and Crooked Cat).

The facility is absolutely t... Continue »

I come out to Orlando a few times a year for work and it's always a pleasure to get out and play the Orange County National courses (both Panther Lake and Crooked Cat).

The facility is absolutely top notch (with the biggest range you'll ever see, it's where the PGA show host its testing)

Played Crooked Cat this time out and had a blast. Had a 7:15 tee time and get there early. I was asked if I wanted to get out early in front of a 4some (I was alone) and heck yeah I said. Teed off at 6:40 and was done by 8:30am. Incredible!!!

The course itself is beautiful. Pretty flat, wide fairways, big greens. Perfect vacation course! The condition of the courses will never disappoint! I highly suggest getting out to Orange County National and playing the courses!!!

I've spent some time in Florida this winter and thought I'd leave some reviews. These aren't in any particular order.

I lived in Florida years ago and managed to play the Panther Lake course while ... Continue »

I've spent some time in Florida this winter and thought I'd leave some reviews. These aren't in any particular order.

I lived in Florida years ago and managed to play the Panther Lake course while living there. However, I never made to Crooked Cat. Orange County National has to be one of the top public facilities in Orlando and I loved my round on Crooked Cat! The course is probably best known for hosting the PGA Tour Q-School Finals.

The layout is open, the driving areas are large and there isn't a ton of trouble - just on a few holes. The wind was howling when I played and I never thought it was too tough like some modern designs can be.

The par-3's are difficult here and the par-4 12th is one of the better par-4's that you'll find in Florida. It is a really solid hole that plays somewhere around 400 yards from most of the tees and has a wetlands feel to it. The tee shot is downhill to a fairway that is guarded by water to the right. The water cuts across the fairway so ideally you will want to hit the tee shot as close to the edge of the fairway as possible! From there it is a nail-biter approach into the green, with more water lurking.

The conditions were top-notch, just what you'd expect for a premium course in Orlando during peak season. Put this on your list of courses to play on your Florida golf vacation! It is well worth the $100ish green fee.

Played Crooked Cat on Tuesday 5/17, this marked the 6th round in 4 days (we played Panther Lake in the PM for round #7) and surprisingly my golf keeps getting better despite not being able to feel my ... Continue »

Played Crooked Cat on Tuesday 5/17, this marked the 6th round in 4 days (we played Panther Lake in the PM for round #7) and surprisingly my golf keeps getting better despite not being able to feel my hands. Here's the really brief review. This course is downright awesome and an incredible value ($110 for 36, including lunch & drink vouchers). I will say outside of Streamsong, Bay Hill, and Reunion this is THE premier facility in Orlando (at 1/2 the cost). Both courses here are far superior to anything Disney offers, more playable than ChampionsGate, and more challenging than Grand Cypress.

Crooked Cat is pure Florida golf. Subtle elevation changes, great use of water, holes tend to be framed by big, bold bunkering, and large, undulating bermuda greens that require you read the grain. On a side note, I miss grain. I'm such a better putter in Florida than I am in Southern California. Guess it's just what you're used to. Anyways, the course blends a good mix of holes that allow you to chose different strategies off the tee. However, the course doesn't exactly favor one strategy or another. For example, in my group, one guy is a bomber, routinely hitting it 280ish while I'm more of a target golfer, preferring to play from 30 yards back in the fairway. We're both single digit handicappers, but rarely do we play well at the same course. However, we both scored really well here, playing 2 totally different games.

The only down side here is every Monday morning they sand the greens to smooth them out. While that really didn't have a major effect on the ball, like I said before, you need to be able to read the grain to putt well on bermuda, and that's hard to do with sanded greens. But they did roll OK and you just had to get over the fact that they looked different. Everywhere else on the course was nearly immaculate. Fairways were lush and tight. The rough was thick but playable. Bunkers were very consistent and "easy" to play from.

Service here is always top notch. We saw the beverage cart 4 or 5 times and she'd even let us know how fast/slow the play was in front of us (it wasn't busy, POP was right at 4 hours). The driving range here is AWESOME. It's billed as the largest facility in the US and it's easy to see why. It's a 360 degree range with probably 15 or so target greens. There are at least 3 different short game areas including what can only be described as 'mid range" area. We sat here and practiced 60 yard pitches pitches into a green from varying lies (fairway, rough, sand). Pretty cool for a range junkie.

All in all, there's not a better value in Orlando than OC National. Again, $110 for 36 holes with lunch and a beer? Pure. Awesome. Golf.

Played 36 at OC National on 4/12 as part of a 153 hole barrage through Orlando. Morning round was at Crooked Cat and of the 7 courses we played, this is one of the best. Conditions were phenomenal wi... Continue »

Played 36 at OC National on 4/12 as part of a 153 hole barrage through Orlando. Morning round was at Crooked Cat and of the 7 courses we played, this is one of the best. Conditions were phenomenal with consistent greens, nearly perfect fairways, and a track that rewards great shots. There's even some modest elevation change that you don't see much of in Central Florida. I found CC to be slightly better than Panther Lake, but both are well worth the value.

Pace of Play was great, especially for a Sunday morning. The course has 12 minute splits, so we rarely saw other groups and finished right around 3.5 hours. Great course that I highly recommend if you're in Orlando.

Played on December 7. This course is very good and very playable. Claim to fame is it has the largest Driving range in the US and it has hosted PGA tour Q school several times. Layout was fun and chal... Continue »

Played on December 7. This course is very good and very playable. Claim to fame is it has the largest Driving range in the US and it has hosted PGA tour Q school several times. Layout was fun and challenging.

However, pace of play was poor to bad. Besides the bag drop area the staff in particular management were bad. I won't bash the people but inbox me for further details. Just know before you go you are there for the courses not the service. I truly felt bad for the women in the clubhouse, she was the only person behind the bar at lunch time when 2 course were finsi9hing there morning rounds and starting there afternoon rounds. Needless to say the bar was 3 deep at times with golfers looking for food and drink.

BTW this happened to us last year too and we thought it was a fluke , Guess Not?? next year we go elsewhere.