You’ll be hard pressed to find a city with more golf offerings than Orlando. There is an incredible diversity in courses, from the high-end private clubs and resorts to very reasonable public courses. Oh and there are also well over a hundred courses just in the greater Orlando area. It’s clearly a great place to play, but it’s also a fantastic place to be a fan as well! Orlando is host to a regular PGA TOUR event, but it is also home to some really unique professional events as well.
The PGA TOUR event in Orlando is an absolute favorite of the players, partially because of the amazing course, but mostly because of whose tournament it is. You’ve probably heard his name: Arnold Palmer. The Arnold Palmer Invitational is staged each March at Palmer’s stunning Bay Hill Club and Lodge. Palmer bought the facility in 1974 and the tournament has been staged every year since 1979. With a purse of $8.7 million dollars, a beautiful course, and a tournament that honors the legacy of golfs most beloved ambassador, it consistently draws one of the strongest fields of the year. Tiger Woods has won the tournament a record eight times, including four consecutive years from 2000-2003.
There is another very unique tournament in the Orlando area that draws huge crowds: The PNC Father-Son Challenge. The tournament is held each year at the Ritz-Carlton Grande Lakes Resort and invitations are only offered to former PGA TOUR players who have won a Major or a Players Championship. This means that many of golfs absolute legends play in the event each year so the level of play is fantastic, but playing with their sons gives the event a very light hearted feel.
For those who care more about playing golf than watching, there are almost too many fantastic options to even talk about. The top-rated course in Orlando is Tranquilo Golf Club at the Four Seasons. The Tom Fazio designed course is stunning and is a great test of golf for every level of golfer. Resort guests get to pay discounted green fees, but the public can book tee times seven days a week. Another local favorite on the other end of the spectrum is the Royal St. Cloud Golf Links in nearby St. Cloud, FL. The course has 3 distinctly different 9 hole layouts and your round of 18 can be any combination of the 9s. It is very fun, very fair, and very tricky.
Tony J. is PlayYourCourse’s featured pro providing golf lessons in Orlando, Florida. Tony is a PGA certified teaching professional with twenty years of teaching experience. He works with players of all ages and abilities, but specializes in working with high level juniors and helping them earn college scholarships as well as working with professional golfers. He loves working with people and is a very patient coach who will put together a custom game plan so that each student can maximize their potential for improvement while always having a great time on the range.