Into the Wilds at Grande Lakes Orlando
At first glance it might look like Team Norman mailed this one in. There doesn’t appear to be much to the course, especially against the backdrop of the property’s two overlord hotels, a Ritz-Carlton and J.W. Marriott.
Granted, Norman didn’t have great material to work with — essentially a flat, soggy wetland preserve in south Orlando’s Shingle Creek basin — but basically everything we’re used to seeing from Norman shows up here, predictably.
Here are some low, slinky holes found at other Florida designs. Behold the wall-to-wall fairway cuts. Over there live the coral-colored crushed coquina transition bunkers/cart paths. Near the greens are sharply edged bunkers lined with Augusta-white sand. And the push-up style putting surfaces are waxed into the edges into the fairways.
Upon closer inspection, however, there’s a methodology here I respect.
The slick fairways encourage you to drive the ball as far as you can into their meatiest parts, but from these safe positions it becomes nerve-wracking to hit to the narrow greens positioned uncomfortably close to, and often sloping toward, water hazards, bunkers or steep drop-offs. The trick works nicely on the three-shot holes as well as on the heartier par fours. Overall, there’s a lot to consider with green angles and hazard placement.
The second nine highlight is the 410-yard 11th, the second in a run of four very good holes. The fairway is as wide as the Universal Studios parking lot but a tree cluster in the center of the fairway act as a hockey goalie coming out of the net to take away the shooter’s angle. The easier drive is over a short bunker to the right, or you can be brave and try to squeeze one up the left along the lake to open up a clear path to the putting surface.
The golf experience could have been enhanced had the course been sequenced in reverse, with the opening holes stretching out through bare space to the north of the resort near two busy parkways, then taking a kind of Heart of Darkness journey through the property’s murky, jungle interior coming in. As it is the round limps home and the exposed 18th hole, stretching abreast a water feature opposite all the hotel guests sunbathing by the pools, is a deal killer. (87)
Ritz Carlton Golf Club, Grande Lakes Orlando
Orlando
Architect: Greg Norman
Year: 2003
