Post by Richie3Jack on Oct 21, 2013 8:34:00 GMT -5
Bella Collina Golf Club is a formerly private club located in Monteverde, FL; just off the Florida Turnpike and about 25 minutes from downtown Orlando. It is a Nick Faldo design that plays to 7,627 yards from the back tee.
The course features a $50 million club house that is made from stone, brick and other types of slab. As well as a brick road/drive to get there. The locker rooms are immaculate and the place features cast iron doors. And they are building a pool room alongside a racquet club and racquetball court as well. I was told that the course cost $25 million to build.
There are a couple of things that stand out about the course. First, it's not your traditional Florida terrain. The Clermont/Monteverde/Howey-in-the-Hills area may have the greatest elevations in all of Florida. The course played more like a course in North Georgia with terrain and elevated tee shots. Secondly, the length was rather outstanding. The front nine alone plays 3,900 yards from the back tees. With that said, most of the holes played downhill so it wasn't playing that long.
As I mentioned, the course design was more like North Georgia design except without the trees. One could probably argue is was a bit more like some of the courses you would see in the Mesquite area. There is no water on the course and that was replaced with these enormous sand traps. Not only were the traps enormous in size, but they were consider a sand trap instead of a waste bunker. So there was no grounding of the club to be allowed. Furthermore, the course kept these bunkers in pristine condition. As anybody with course management experience will tell you, the costs associated with maintaining a bunker are quite expensive. So for Bella Collina to maintain these bunkers has to be a large drop in the bucket.
The rest of the course was in excellent condition for the most part. The greens were superb and so were the tees. The fairways could get a little tight in grass length. I think the main issue was that the fairways had such a slope to them it is probably impossible to keep them plush because of all of the water run-off. The fairways were very planar sloped in design and the starter told us to 'aim for the high side' as that would be the best position to be in. So I would imagine that part of the problem was that some of the fairways were baking right into the hot Florida sun. Still, the fairways were in quality shape, but they were not on the same level as the greens, bunkers and tees.
My general feeling on the course is that I'm glad I played it. But, I am glad I only paid $32 to play and don't have an intention to play there again anytime soon. While the course had many gorgeous golf holes, the courses was a bit impractical. It was not about being unable to get a flat lie from the fairway on any of the holes. It was a problem with just getting reasonable lies from the fairway. The first hole I piped a driver down the middle and had such a severe downhill slope with a PW into the green that the ball was practically level with my left knee at address. The 3rd hole I laid up off the tee and had a 200 yard approach shot with a severe uphill slope where the ball was practically level with my right knee at address. We saw that all day long and it made playing the front nine feel like I just got done play 36 holes.
With that said, I think it's a good course and the starter was right, always aim towards the peak of the slope. And part of the issue I had was that we were paired up with a father-son who both played the 6,500 yard tees and didn't break 120. It may be October, but it was 85-degrees and that can wear on you after a while. If you're a golfer looking for something different than your typical Florida course and want the VIP treatment, I would give this a shot. Other than that, I think it's a course you play once a year for $30-$50 with golfers that are pretty capable.
3JACK