Post by Richie3Jack on Jun 25, 2010 14:06:14 GMT -5
Walkabout Golf Club is a Pete Dye designed course located in the small town of Mims, Florida which is about 30 minutes away from Orlando.
I’ve been told that the course is owned by a bunch of Canadian investors and from the looks of it, the goal was to build a nice upscale golf community with Walkabout epicenter of the community. With the economy and housing market the past few years, they failed to achieve their goal.
I was also told that the original goal was create a course where the holes were designed somewhat close to each other and make it so a hole could use one fairway and one green one day and then the next day the golfers could go on the other fairway and have to fire at the other green the next day with the end goal being that for 63 days straight, there would be a different set of holes to play each day. Once the 63 days were over with, then they would go back to the rotation.
For instance, let’s say the #4 #5 and #6 holes are close together, so we have 3 fairways, 3 greens and 3 sets of tees. On a Monday, a golfer could go up the normal #4 fairway and play to the normal #4 green and it could be a par-4. But on Tuesday, they may have to tee off the #4 tee and play to the #5 fairway and hit a couple shots to the #5 green and now the hole plays as a par-5. Then on Wednesday he may tee off the #4 tee and go to the #6 green and the #4 hole is now a par-3.
Interesting concept, but they never went through with it.
The course is called Walkabout, named after Jan Stephenson as she was supposed to have some influence on it, but it’s really a Dye design and you can see it through and through.
The range is decent, the practice green is really small and the clubhouse is about as small of a clubhouse as it gets.
When I played there, the course was in some tough shape, probably due to the harsh winter. But the back side was in solid condition, the front side was a bit worse for wear, particularly the first 6 holes. If there’s an issue with the course it’s that it’s hard to tell where you are going the first time you play it and knowing where the trouble is.
I think the front side is much more difficult than the back side. The tough holes on the back were probably #11, #16 and #18, but in reality the 18th is the only super hard hole on the back side. On the front #1, #3, #4, #6, #7 and #8 and all pretty difficult holes. This course is filled with greens that are either narrow or shallow or both, which is probably the most difficult part of the course.
When I played there the green appeared to be in rough shape, but actually held just fine and rolled pretty well and FAST. The greens and tees were just dry which was a bit weird given the rain we had received there.
I would probably rate most of the hole designs as ‘very good’, but not ‘great’ or ‘spectacular.’ But outside of #5 and #6 there were no holes I would label as ‘bad’ or ‘mediocre.’
The best hole in my mind is the par-4 #4 hole which has water hugging the left side and required a pretty decent driver off the tee. Then a shot from 175-210 yards into a small green with the water covering most of the front of the green.
In the end, I would recommend the course because if anything, it’s very affordable at $30 (which includes a cart). I would suggest that most golfers, outside of the very low handicappers) to get some type of yardage book and probably think about playing tees that are a bit shorter than the tees you usually play from. Then once you get an idea for the course you can go back to your regular tees.
3JACK
I’ve been told that the course is owned by a bunch of Canadian investors and from the looks of it, the goal was to build a nice upscale golf community with Walkabout epicenter of the community. With the economy and housing market the past few years, they failed to achieve their goal.
I was also told that the original goal was create a course where the holes were designed somewhat close to each other and make it so a hole could use one fairway and one green one day and then the next day the golfers could go on the other fairway and have to fire at the other green the next day with the end goal being that for 63 days straight, there would be a different set of holes to play each day. Once the 63 days were over with, then they would go back to the rotation.
For instance, let’s say the #4 #5 and #6 holes are close together, so we have 3 fairways, 3 greens and 3 sets of tees. On a Monday, a golfer could go up the normal #4 fairway and play to the normal #4 green and it could be a par-4. But on Tuesday, they may have to tee off the #4 tee and play to the #5 fairway and hit a couple shots to the #5 green and now the hole plays as a par-5. Then on Wednesday he may tee off the #4 tee and go to the #6 green and the #4 hole is now a par-3.
Interesting concept, but they never went through with it.
The course is called Walkabout, named after Jan Stephenson as she was supposed to have some influence on it, but it’s really a Dye design and you can see it through and through.
The range is decent, the practice green is really small and the clubhouse is about as small of a clubhouse as it gets.
When I played there, the course was in some tough shape, probably due to the harsh winter. But the back side was in solid condition, the front side was a bit worse for wear, particularly the first 6 holes. If there’s an issue with the course it’s that it’s hard to tell where you are going the first time you play it and knowing where the trouble is.
I think the front side is much more difficult than the back side. The tough holes on the back were probably #11, #16 and #18, but in reality the 18th is the only super hard hole on the back side. On the front #1, #3, #4, #6, #7 and #8 and all pretty difficult holes. This course is filled with greens that are either narrow or shallow or both, which is probably the most difficult part of the course.
When I played there the green appeared to be in rough shape, but actually held just fine and rolled pretty well and FAST. The greens and tees were just dry which was a bit weird given the rain we had received there.
I would probably rate most of the hole designs as ‘very good’, but not ‘great’ or ‘spectacular.’ But outside of #5 and #6 there were no holes I would label as ‘bad’ or ‘mediocre.’
The best hole in my mind is the par-4 #4 hole which has water hugging the left side and required a pretty decent driver off the tee. Then a shot from 175-210 yards into a small green with the water covering most of the front of the green.
In the end, I would recommend the course because if anything, it’s very affordable at $30 (which includes a cart). I would suggest that most golfers, outside of the very low handicappers) to get some type of yardage book and probably think about playing tees that are a bit shorter than the tees you usually play from. Then once you get an idea for the course you can go back to your regular tees.
3JACK