Post by Richie3Jack on Jun 4, 2013 9:30:47 GMT -5
Grand Cypress is a course that I had passed by a few times while either driving my car around the area or taking the shuttle bus from the Orange County Convention Center to Orange County National for Demo Day of the annual PGA Merchandise Show. It always looked pristine and a neat course, so I was dying to play it.
I don't know the exact history of the 'new course.' It's a 45-hole facility with the New Course being it's own 18-holes and then the rest of the course is split between the North, South and East course. The 'New Course' was built after the N/S/E courses. However, part of the 'New Course' identity is that it was designed with the Old Course at St. Andrews in mind. And it didn't disappoint.
You really don't play many true links courses in the United States because the wind and the topography as well as the temperature is so different from the United Kingdom. Even Kiawah Island is not truly a links course. And while it is claimed that there are links courses in Florida because it's windy and flat in the FLA, that's usually not the case. In fact, it's more what I call 'Australian Dunes style' golf. Of course, I've never played over in UK, so I really don't know what it's like to play an authentic Links course. But, I think I have a pretty good idea.
First, Grand Cypress is not cheap. I paid $49 in June for a 3:30 tee time. In the morning they were charging $70. However, you get impeccable conditions and top of the line customer service. Combine that with a fun course to play it's easy to come away feeling that the money was well spent. While many Orlando courses provide excellent service, you sometimes see those that are lacking that little extra touch to keep it memorable. That's not a problem at Grand Cypress.
There is really no rough out on the course. You have fairway, greens, bushes, bunkers and some occasional water. That's it. You will hit into a wide open field on a lot of holes where the entire field is finely mowed to fairway height. The difficulty is navigating your way around the fairway bunkers which are scattered everywhere. I didn't swing it well at Grand Cypress, but only found 1 fairway bunker and ended up shooting 71 (-1) for the day. Had I hit it better, I may have found more fairway bunkers and shot a higher score. I know that's a part of links golf, but that's probably my largest complaint of the course; being penalized for hitting a good shot.
The New Course plays to about 6,800 yards from the tips. I don't think the course has hard enough wind or cold enough temperatures to quite play at 6,800 and be very difficult. Perhaps in the Winter and Spring months in Florida, but come Summer I cannot imagine it being all that difficult to play. But if you want a true links course that is in great condition with top of the line customer service, Grand Cypress is the course for you.
3JACK