Now this is living!! I completely understand why Golf World calls Orange County National a top facility in the country. Also, playing on the same courses as where the Q-school finals are to be held was a cool experience. This is on a very short list of the best golf days of my life.
We arrived right at our scheduled tee time of 7:42am. After a bit of rushing to check in and get out to the first tee we arrived so a majestic scene on the first tee box. As the bright sun was rising it cut into a thick pre-dawn fog. It reminded me of the scene at the 2008 Masters where Arnold Palmer hit the ceremonial first shot into the thick fog. (Minus the legend and gallery of fans of course...)
Orange County National provided the best customer service I’ve ever experienced in any industry. They pride themselves on being a great golf facility and the rare and recent Florida frost the greens were not up to their standards. This is a problem impacting a lot of the courses in the area but Orange County was determined to do something about it. After booking a tee time online, OCN calls within a few minutes and explain that the greens aren’t up to their standards. They immediately offered patrons a 20% discount and free lunch if you would still like to come and even offer to book a tee time elsewhere if you’d rather not. There aren't many businesses that would proactively do this and it is this type of service that will keep OCN as a top-ranked course for years to come.
Orange County National has two courses that each have their own distinct feel. Crooked Cat is an open and very forgiving almost links-style course. A few times throughout the round I hit shots that I thought were terrible but by the time I got up to the ball I realized they didn’t hurt me. The greens were not in great shape but especially on Crooked Cat really weren’t bad at all.
We ate both lunch and dinner at OCN’s Lodge and the food was both good and reasonably priced. Also, their golf-shop was more like a golf superstore with an outstanding collection of attire from every brand and even included a line of John Daley golf shorts... (the rest of the clothes were more normal looking).
On the back 18 we were stuck behind a group of ladies that were playing slowly throughout the round. We did our best to stay patient. We had one hiccup on the 10th hole when we accidentally hit into them thinking that they were gone. I guess they then complained to the ranger... Anyways, on the next hole he was waiting for us after we finished putting. As another display of exceptional service he asked us how the round was going, was very understanding when we explained that it was slow. Mentioned that the women in front said we hit into them even though they were waving but was never confrontational at all. He even offered to have us go ahead 3 holes and then come back to play those at the end.
At lunch Drew and I were already trying to figure out when we could make plans to come back and stay and play at OCN. This is a definite favorite all-time course for me, even without greens up to their standard. OCN is a must-visit for anyone interested in playing golf in the Orlando area.
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