ORANGE COUNTY NATIONAL - Golf Center and Lodge (407-656-2626)
Florida Golf Course Review
Overview
Orange County National is the creation of Dave Harman, Isao Aoki and Phil Ritson, a guru and mentor to countless top golf instructors and professionals. The sprawling complex
covers 911 acres and includes two 18-hole championship golf courses, and 9-hole short course, a 38-room lodge, and a clubhouse that features locker rooms with showers, a 5
,000 square foot pro shop, Orange 83 Pub and Grill, and outing/special events facilities. The driving range is "The Nation's Largest Driving Range". The 42-acre practice facility
includes a 360 degree grass range with 600 total spaces and 4 chipping greens. Two large putting greens are also on property. For more information on the resort click here.
Panther Lake was opened for public play in 1997, and Crooked Cat in late 1998, with the clubhouse becoming part of the complex in 1999. A 9-hole executive layout, The Tooth, is
a great addition as it provides a place for beginners to hone their skills and is frequented by many parent-sibling couplings - with juniors 15 and under playing for $5 when
accompanied by a paying adult. One of Orange County's claims to fame is that Tiger Woods performed his famous balancing act (Nike commercial in which he bounced a ball off
his iron several times then crushed it 200 yards in mid-air) on the practice range. Additionally, the late Payne Stewart once called Orange County National "the best public golf
course I've ever seen in the U.S."
What draws top golfers to this facility? Well for one thing there is plenty of length. Crooked Cat measures 7388 yards and Panther Lake 7269. Each course has its notable features,
with formidable challenges in the form of marsh lands and water hazards, plentiful fairway and green-side bunkering and mounding, and not-so-subtle elevation changes that
create many uphill and downhill tee shots. Mostly however - it is the beauty of the layouts.
Just as importantly, OCN provides a range of tees on each course, that provides a significant challenge from the back tees, while also stroking the comfort zone for mid to high
handicappers from the two forward sets. Average golfers will find the green tees to their liking (Crooked Cat 6226, Panther Lake 6380). The courses are extremely well marked,
with 100,150 and 200 yards blocks on the cart paths, as well as in the middle of the fairways. There are 150-yard stakes on the par fours and fives, strategically located to double
as directional aids. Each tee area also provides measurement information to the center of the green. Fairways, tees and sand bunkers are finely sculpted, and the sloping greens
were large and true rolling. When dry, these putting surfaces (TifDwarf) were quite quick.
REVIEW - PANTHER LAKE
Panther Lake is the initial design at Orange County National, and was chosen as "Top 10 You Can Play" in the U.S. by Golf Magazine in 1998. Like its sister course Crooked Cat, it
has also garnered 4 1/2 stars out of 5 from Golf Digest Places to Play. It has hosted the PGA Tour Q-School Finals in 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2010. Champions Tour Q-School
Finals in 2014 and Korn Ferry Q-School Finals in 2016 and 2019. In 2020, it hosted The Orange County National Championship presented by Knight 39, The Korn Ferry Tour's
season ending event. The course features 18 signature holes inspired by worldwide designs, and is routed through oak hammocks, pines and wetlands with up to 60 feet of
elevation changes - not your usual Florida layout. Numerous strategic options over and around glistening lakes make this a thinker's course - though at 7,269 yards with a 141
slope rating from the tips, length is just as important. As with the Crooked Cat - the Green tees at Panther Lake provide average golfers with a nice opportunity to play at their level
(6,380 yards/ 132 slope). The Orange tees are a challenge from 6806/137 slope and the forward tees avoid much of the trouble off the tee from 5521 yards/123 slope.
One is struck immediately by the large green complexes, often featuring double tiers - as evidenced in this photo. Pay attention to the pin placements, or 3 putts may become
frequent. Water comes into play on 13 holes, and wetlands/marsh areas are also scattered about the layout. The diversity of this design is stunning, with abundant native
vegetation featured throughout. The front nine is somewhat flat - while the back is considerably more up and down in nature. Generous mounds and bunkers can be found all
along the layout, and especially near the often undulating greens. Dave Harman and Isoa Aoki did a great job of incorporating the natural Florida environment into this challenging
design.
The opening hole is a long par four, but quite playable - with a shot aimed at the 150-yard stake providing the best spot from which to approach the double-tiered putting surface.
Anywhere on the fairway is good on two. The approach narrows with water in play on the right about 100 yards out. The par four third is the # 1 handicap. A stream runs the length
of the hole on the left, and crosses in front of the green about 20 yards away. At 409 yards from the Green tees - many golfers will be laying up and hitting a wedge for a possible up
and down par. From the 2 back tees, players must carry a swamp off the tee on the par 3 fourth. Players from the White and Tan tees will have the hazard located to their left - there
is room for error to the right and also long. The fairway is ample off the tee on five, but narrows with Cypress trees protecting entrance to the long, narrow putting surface. Better
long than short on six - another par three demanding a carry over swampland. Water hazards come into play twice on seven. The first must be carried off the tee, and a lake is
situated to the left of the fairway and in front of the green creating a couple of shot options. Hugging the water line shorten the hole but brings the water more into play. A tee shot hit
long right must navigate only the edge of the hazard on the approach. The green bends 90 degrees left about 50 yards out. A score-able par four with a generous fairway dotted
with numerous bunkers on 8 is followed by a challenging banana shaped finishing hole - a tough four par that bends to the right around a lake. The fairway narrows considerably
near past the 150, creating the likelihood of a mid iron approach over the hazard.
Number ten also bends right, and presents an abundant fairway leading to a well bunkered green complex. It is short for a par five, but its uphill nature will make it play longer. The
eleventh is a challenging par three (number two handicap - how often do you see that?) that plays over a natural area with a huge bunker guarding the front of the green. There is
some room left of the putting surface, but this hole demands a pretty accurate shot off the tee. The 12th is a score-able par four that bends left around a tree line, and precedes a
hole with a similar shot shape but with a very undulating putting surface - pay attention to the pin placement here. Fourteen is a gorgeous par five, a large sand trap defines the
bend in the fairway off the tee, with a considerable carry needed to reach the top shelf. From there this long hole (622 from the tips) turns right and leads to a tight green complex
guarded by bunkers on each side and water long. The 15th is a long par three to a raised green with water on the left and bail out room to the right. There is plenty of fairway on the
par four 16th, which also plays to a raised putting surface with bunkers short and left. Seventeen is the shortest par three of the layout and is the 18th handicap hole. The tee shot
here is almost all carry over a pond, with room for error long past the double-tiered green. Number 18 is a score-able par five and a good closing hole that is possible to reach in
two from all but the Tour tees.
Panther Lake is a wonderful course with great variety, and will demand your best effort to succeed. With 36 holes of top quality championship golf, a 9-hole short course layout, 42
acre practice facility, 22,000 square foot clubhouse, 200 seat restaurant and 38 room lodge - this is a golfers paradise. Corporate outings, meetings, banquets and receptions can
be comfortably facilitated here.
Click here to visit the Two Guys Who Golf Detailed Information page with a link to this course's web page (if available).
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