 HARMONY GOLF PRESERVE (407-891-8525)
Florida Golf Course Review
Harmony Golf Preserve, proudly managed by Troon Golf, the leader in upscale golf course management!
Harmony Golf Preserve in Harmony - just southeast of the Disney Resort area is the centerpiece of a planned residential community. A short drive from Orlando and Melbourne,
this Johnny Miller Signature design features impeccable conditioning on 7,417 yards of landscaped terrain, with generous fairways that are often bordered by water hazards and
sand waste areas. In fact, water is featured on every hole in some way, shape or form, on the 21 ponds that can be found on property. Including the waste areas, 88 sand bunkers
are in play along the manicured fairways or greenside.
Art is in vogue at Harmony - and evidence is all around as paintings can be found throughout the clubhouse, and sculptures are also located on the golf course. Each table in the
clubhouse restaurant has a diagram of one of the holes on course. Many of the art exhibitions within the clubhouse and restaurant facilities are for sale, and artists are invited to
submit their work for possible viewing.
The clubhouse features a golf shop and locker rooms with showers for men and women. The restaurant located in the clubhouse at Harmony Golf Preserve is called "Graze"
which offers an extensive menu from appetizers to entree salads and sandwiches Mon-Thurs between 11 a.m. until 5 a.m. The weekends offer dinner menus with five main
dishes that vary from week to week. There is a spacious grass range (balls are complimentary January 16 until April, 2013 - $5/bag for the balance of the year), and a large putting
green for practice. The course is well marked with sprinkler heads measured to the center of the green plus 100, 150 and 200 yardage blocks posted on the fairways. Each tee
area provides measurements. GPS located on carts also provides accurate yardage and hole location information throughout the course.
Five sets of tee areas are fairly evenly interspersed, with the tips playing to a whopping 7,428 yards with a 136 slope, followed by the blues at 6955/130, the whites at 6394/126, the
golds at 5955/123 for men and 126 for women, and the reds at 5410 yards with a slope of 119. The fairways throughout this layout usually provide ample landing areas, but golfers
will have to avoid the plentiful sand bunkers and waste areas if they hope to score well. Though water abounds, there are few forced carries, especially from the three front sets of
tees. The risk/reward factor comes into play often, and players will be tempted to cut off as much as they can on some of the course's challenging doglegs.
The par four 2nd presents the first of these risk/reward situations. A safe play is to the left center of the fairway, taking the bunkers that front the dogleg out of play and leaving a 150
-170 yard approach. Those with distance off the tee may attempt to carry the three traps, which may result in a short iron or wedge approach. The third is a beautiful par three that
precedes a par four dogleg left - a hole that also allows golfers the choice of cutting off as much as their distance will allow, or playing it safely to the wide side of the fairway. On
seven the obstruction is a waste area and a deep fairway bunker that is situated in the center of the dogleg. Those who can carry to the 140 area off the tee can cut off considerable
distance here.
The back side opens with some wide fairways, though number 10 narrows considerably about 120 out with fairway bunkers on either side. Twelve is a long par three, with water
that comes into play sooner than one might expect to the left and past the green. A huge waste bunker defines the dogleg on the par four 13th, creating another situation where a
long drive turning left to right may cut off considerable distance - or spell trouble...Water is prominent on 14, especially greenside, as ithe pond juts its way towards the fairway
about 50 yards away. The dogleg right 16th is one of the most beautiful and challenging holes on the course. Waste bunkers line the right, conventional traps are situated all along
the left, and the putting complex features a raised green situated behind a lone bunker with dense bush all along the right side. Seventeen is the most memorable of the par
threes - as it demands a carry over water, with bail out room short left. As with many of the green complexes, mounding and bunkers flank the hole
This is a very nice golf experience, with great service and a friendly staff. But beware of GATORS. For more info, visit our page for Harmony, with a direct link to their website by clicking here.
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