Orlando - still the main attraction
Florida is arguably the top golf travel destination in the world so it stands to reason that when golfers are looking for somewhere to go, the southern US state is one of the first places that they consider.
MetroWest
MetroWest
Telephone:
00 1 407 299 1099
Email:
Website:
Courses:
18 holes, par 72, 6,619 yards
It is easy to understand the appeal – an agreeable climate all year round, quality courses and amenities, first-class accommodation, value for money and attractions galore, all at the end of a fairly short flight.
If there is a drawback, then it is that there are so many wonderful courses from which to choose that the planning of a trip can create a dilemma.
Orlando is fairly central to most places one would want to visit and there is no shortage of courses to explore and enjoy. Most of them are conveniently located a short drive from Orlando International Airport, and are within easy reach of many attractions such as the Disney Resort, the Sea World Adventure Park, the Universal Orlando Resort and shopping opportunities galore. The Atlantic coastline is less than an hour’s drive away.
Where better to start an Orlando adventure than on a course created by a British-born designer, Robert Trent Jones snr. The hallmark of Trent Jones snr is soon evident at MetroWest, where the shrewd use of bunkers and water and the shaping of fairways guarantee a fair but challenging experience .
Immaculate greens – a variety of tiered, elevated, narrow and deep constructions – present subtle undulations and are protected by shrewdly positioned bunkers. Trees that help to define the shape of the holes also provide obstacles to progress.
And water hugs long stretches of fairway and runs around the edges of several greens.
Not everyone is fazed by such concerns. Certainly not John Daly, who mastered the 405-yard ninth with a drive that carried 336 yards over water and onto the green. Hazard? What hazard?
The back nine climbs to the highest point of the course, at the 14th, which presents a view over downtown Orlando.
Don’t be distracted, though, because you will need all your concentration to negotiate the closing four holes, the climax of which is the uphill 18th that demands a long drive to be left with a short iron to the elevated green that is narrow but deep, with a bunker left and water right to catch the wayward approach.
