Overall, the course is one of the better ones in the Greater Orlando area. That said, it is over rated IMHO. By that I mean that based on the gushing reviews and the higher price, I expected more.

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Overall, the course is one of the better ones in the Greater Orlando area. That said, it is over rated IMHO. By that I mean that based on the gushing reviews and the higher price, I expected more.

Was paired with 2 other golfers to make a Threesome. The course was extremely overbooked given that they were having not 1 but 2 tournaments that day. The course was closed until the college golf tournament finished. That ran late causing everyone to tee off approximately 45 minutes behind our tee times. Because of this, we were backed up waiting on the groups ahead of us on EVERY SHOT for the entire day. Thank goodness for my new friends.

The Starter could have funneled some groups to start on the back nine, but that would have been somewhat problematic given the fact that the course did not have a "Turn" at the clubhouse.

There was no Ranger that we saw for the entire time, but I am not sure he would have done any good. Thank goodness the cart lady came around to visit 3 times. (We had to call the clubhouse to ask that they come visit us.)

The Tees and Fairways were in decent shape for Winter, but the Greens were firm. I suspect they will improve dramatically in the Summer and then the course may live up to its billing.
Thank goodness for a great GolfNow Hot Deal or I might have been upset. As it was, the day was long given the warm temps and breezy conditions which made the course play very long. I know it is not possible, but it seemed as if the wind was blowing in our face on every hole. LOL

The course has several "interesting" holes due to the elevation changes. Among them is the Par 4, 4th hole which has a tee shot over water and a significant rise to the green. Be careful with the Par 5, 17th which is called the "Devil's Delight". Make sure you take the time to go forward to scope out your approach shot ... unless you don't mind losing a ball in the water. We attempted to lay up short and STILL managed to roll 2 balls into the water. ;>(

All in all a decent course, but would not say that it is worth $100 a round. Worth the drive since I got a deeply discounted price.

I played here at 9/28 after playing the sister course La Colinas. I absolutely loved this course. This course is very unusal for Florida. There are tons of elevation changes. It reminds me of cali... Continue »

I played here at 9/28 after playing the sister course La Colinas. I absolutely loved this course. This course is very unusal for Florida. There are tons of elevation changes. It reminds me of california courses. Conditions, layout, and overall design is very eye catching and can be difficult. I would definitely play here again given the chance. I enjoyed every minute of it even though we were very tired. We got to play it for $35 replay rate and that was a steal. Don't miss your chance.

I played here 03/14/13. I had heard that this place existed but had not looked into playing here before as it was always quite a bit of a ride north from where I normally stay while in Central Florid... Continue »

I played here 03/14/13. I had heard that this place existed but had not looked into playing here before as it was always quite a bit of a ride north from where I normally stay while in Central Florida. Someone on a golf forum that I am a member at posted a nice review about the course and talked highly about it so I figured that I would give it try now that my parents live nearby in The Villages. I found a killer deal on Golfnow for ~$40 for an early morning tee time (normally goes for $155 per the website). I booked the time last week and soon realized why I got such a great rate. Last week it was light at 7am and this week with the time change there was just a glow of orange in the sky when I got to the course. Thankfully I made a wrong turn, kinda ho-humed my way around once I got there, and was able to go off a little later when I could actually see the golf ball. The course is nothing like the typical Florida course and was a blast to play. For whatever reason the course does not seem to get the fanfare that many of the attraction courses in Orlando get and I am not completely sure why as it is not that far from Orlando. The course starts out with a short par 5 where a good score can be had and then gets tougher with a false front on the 2nd green and a long, tight tree lined par 4 for the 3rd. Holes 4 through 7 are all par 4s that play up and down the hills with a couple of the holes featuring a club and a half of elevation change which is something not normally found in Florida. The 8th is a par 3 across a hazard to semi island green and the 9th is a short strategic par 4. The front 9 has many challenging features with doglegs, elevation changes, tree lined holes, and hazards but still allow for a couple loose shots. The back really starts getting good on the 13th which is a short par 4 that climbs the same hill that the 4th climbed. The 14th is a short par 5 that allows for a good score with a good drive, but it was tough to commit to a line as the landing area was out of sight. The 15th is a short par 3 over a marshy area to an island green and the 16th has an island green surrounded by sand. The 17th is a long par 5 with a tree in the fairway affecting the approach and the 18th requires picking the proper line off the tee over the water. The last 6 holes are as good as I have played anywhere and very memorable, especially for a Florida course. The course conditions were very nice with just a few bare spots in the fairways and rough, but the greens were the best part of the course. The greens were firm, quick, and rolled true. I enjoyed the morning with the smell of orange blossoms in the air and found the course to be scenic with views of the area and plenty of mature trees. The only thing that I really did not like about the course was the long 448 yard par 4 7th hole which had an uncomfortable tee shot and a risky pitch out from the trees where I hit my tee shot. I played the Blue Tees (72.0/135/6601) and the tees varied the clubs on the par 3’s and had a good mix of short and long holes. The El Campeon Course definitely gets a “thumbs up”.