Erky
New member
- Joined
- Feb 4, 2013
- Messages
- 6,143
- Reaction score
- 5
Dunes. It's just a word I don't like. When I hear that word associated with golf, the first two words that come into my head are "brown" and "windy". For that reason, Mystic Dunes has never been high on my list of courses to play. With so many solid options within a short drive of Mystic Dunes, why would I ever play there? As it turns out, there are a few good reasons.
Mystic Dunes is a short drive from Disney, and is also visible from 429. Once you drive in the gate, you wind through this fairly large property, which includes several vacation condos, and a lot of speed bumps. You drive up at least one hill that makes you think "Wow, that's a big hill for Florida." Our group of 8 arrived at the course, and was greeted by employees at the bag drop. The first truly notable thing was the parking lot. It may not seem like a big deal, but the parking lot was amidst several rows of oak trees and other shady trees. It was nice to have parking spots in the shade, considering this is Florida, and it was in the high 80s when we arrived. It's nice to finish your round and return to a car that isn't 100 degrees inside. Walking back to the clubhouse from the parking lot, I snapped this photo:
Clubhouse
The clubhouse was simple, but very nice. It was buzzing with activity, which is a huge plus. The pro-shop had constructed a small castle out of packs of Bridgestone balls, which was kind of cool. The bar was busy, even though it was before 10 AM, and there was a restaurant with a breakfast buffet, and you could also order breakfast from the bar. Their POS system was down, and the tee time they had for our group did not match our itinerary. I am not sure if that was the fault of the course, or the fault of the people who booked it. Either way, it did lead to some problems down the road. The clubhouse in general was very nice, and they even had a really nice looking area outdoors to sit. It was pleasant, understated, and comfortable. It's not Bella Collina in the clubhouse department, but who is?
Grade: B
Practice Area
Because our tee time was screwed up, I did not get a chance to hit balls. However, I did take a few minutes to check out the facilities, which were very nice. The turf conditions on the range were very nice, and they had distances displayed to the numerous flags. There was a nice chipping and pitching area with plenty of room to move around and hit various types of shots to a number of flags. The putting green was nice, and the speeds seemed to match the course. I would love to work on my game at a facility like this.
Grade: A
Course Conditions
I was extremely impressed by the conditions of the fairways and rough. Top notch. The day before we played, I was hunkered down on a nearby course while a truly torrential downpour struck the area. It rained for several hours straight, including some hail. You could not tell at Mystic Dunes. The course clearly drains very well.
The greens and tee boxes were another story. In this part of Florida, many courses are aerating right now. It's hard to keep your greens in top condition right now. Some of the greens were perfect. Others had a lot of rough spots. However, they were running pretty true, and probably at about a 9 or 10. The greens have a lot of undulation, which I generally enjoy. There were a couple that had some real circus putts. Most of the tee boxes were good, but 3 or 4 were pretty bad. The frustrating part was that the bad ones seemed to be on par 3s, and there was plenty of good grass if they moved the tees up or back 5 yards.
Here is a picture of the 15th green. 15 is a short par 5, so I guess they figured putting in a silly green would help protect it from too many birdies. Here is one eagle putt that was impossible to keep near the hole. You can also see a few issues with the green:
The bunkers were in good shape, but there are several you did NOT want to get in. Many of the bunkers on this course have railroad ties in them. If anybody is curious, YES, it is possible to get behind them for a truly impossible lie.
Grade: B-
Layout
I really enjoyed the layout. It was challenging, but there were places to attack. There were enough tees to challenge anybody. If I had one complaint about the layout, it would be that there is nothing in between about 5900 yards and 6600 yards. I think a 6300-6400 set of tees would have been nice. All of the par 5s are reachable in 2. I hit irons into 2 of them, and I am not a particularly long hitter. I have to say, though, I did hit every club in my bag. There are a few short holes that a slightly longer hitter than me could drive the greens on, but they are well protected if you miss. I thought the layout was really fun, though. If you don't like hitting the ball off of bumps and moguls, you won't like it. I think it adds to the challenge.
Grade: B
Pace of play
4:15, which is not bad. However, someone dropped the ball in our booking, and despite the fact that we had a confirmation in writing, it caused us to miss our tee time. Not only was the starter not particularly helpful, I would go so far as to say the starter was sort of a jerk. We did see a ranger a few times keeping tabs on things.
Grade: B
Price
We paid around $40 per man. I felt like this was a good deal.
Grade: B
Amenities
I didn't have a chance to visit the locker rooms. As I stated earlier, the clubhouse was great. Also, they had a drink girl on the course who came by several times. There was plenty of drinking water on the course. From what I saw, this course had it all, with the exception of mango scented iced towels. The carts have GPS and scorecard functionality.
Grade: B+
Overall
I didn't expect to like this course much. I pictured huge, sandy mounds on each side of baked out fairways with 2 club winds impacting each shot. I am sure there are days when it might seem like that. However, what I got was a diverse, lush course with wooded areas, pleasant elevation changes, and a lot of options how to play each hole. There are a lot of great golf courses near this course, and it doesn't get much attention. I would much rather play this than say, ChampionsGate's National course or Reunion's Nicklaus course, but that is just personal preference. I will definitely go back.
Grade: B
Mystic Dunes is a short drive from Disney, and is also visible from 429. Once you drive in the gate, you wind through this fairly large property, which includes several vacation condos, and a lot of speed bumps. You drive up at least one hill that makes you think "Wow, that's a big hill for Florida." Our group of 8 arrived at the course, and was greeted by employees at the bag drop. The first truly notable thing was the parking lot. It may not seem like a big deal, but the parking lot was amidst several rows of oak trees and other shady trees. It was nice to have parking spots in the shade, considering this is Florida, and it was in the high 80s when we arrived. It's nice to finish your round and return to a car that isn't 100 degrees inside. Walking back to the clubhouse from the parking lot, I snapped this photo:
Clubhouse
The clubhouse was simple, but very nice. It was buzzing with activity, which is a huge plus. The pro-shop had constructed a small castle out of packs of Bridgestone balls, which was kind of cool. The bar was busy, even though it was before 10 AM, and there was a restaurant with a breakfast buffet, and you could also order breakfast from the bar. Their POS system was down, and the tee time they had for our group did not match our itinerary. I am not sure if that was the fault of the course, or the fault of the people who booked it. Either way, it did lead to some problems down the road. The clubhouse in general was very nice, and they even had a really nice looking area outdoors to sit. It was pleasant, understated, and comfortable. It's not Bella Collina in the clubhouse department, but who is?
Grade: B
Practice Area
Because our tee time was screwed up, I did not get a chance to hit balls. However, I did take a few minutes to check out the facilities, which were very nice. The turf conditions on the range were very nice, and they had distances displayed to the numerous flags. There was a nice chipping and pitching area with plenty of room to move around and hit various types of shots to a number of flags. The putting green was nice, and the speeds seemed to match the course. I would love to work on my game at a facility like this.
Grade: A
Course Conditions
I was extremely impressed by the conditions of the fairways and rough. Top notch. The day before we played, I was hunkered down on a nearby course while a truly torrential downpour struck the area. It rained for several hours straight, including some hail. You could not tell at Mystic Dunes. The course clearly drains very well.
The greens and tee boxes were another story. In this part of Florida, many courses are aerating right now. It's hard to keep your greens in top condition right now. Some of the greens were perfect. Others had a lot of rough spots. However, they were running pretty true, and probably at about a 9 or 10. The greens have a lot of undulation, which I generally enjoy. There were a couple that had some real circus putts. Most of the tee boxes were good, but 3 or 4 were pretty bad. The frustrating part was that the bad ones seemed to be on par 3s, and there was plenty of good grass if they moved the tees up or back 5 yards.
Here is a picture of the 15th green. 15 is a short par 5, so I guess they figured putting in a silly green would help protect it from too many birdies. Here is one eagle putt that was impossible to keep near the hole. You can also see a few issues with the green:
The bunkers were in good shape, but there are several you did NOT want to get in. Many of the bunkers on this course have railroad ties in them. If anybody is curious, YES, it is possible to get behind them for a truly impossible lie.
Grade: B-
Layout
I really enjoyed the layout. It was challenging, but there were places to attack. There were enough tees to challenge anybody. If I had one complaint about the layout, it would be that there is nothing in between about 5900 yards and 6600 yards. I think a 6300-6400 set of tees would have been nice. All of the par 5s are reachable in 2. I hit irons into 2 of them, and I am not a particularly long hitter. I have to say, though, I did hit every club in my bag. There are a few short holes that a slightly longer hitter than me could drive the greens on, but they are well protected if you miss. I thought the layout was really fun, though. If you don't like hitting the ball off of bumps and moguls, you won't like it. I think it adds to the challenge.
Grade: B
Pace of play
4:15, which is not bad. However, someone dropped the ball in our booking, and despite the fact that we had a confirmation in writing, it caused us to miss our tee time. Not only was the starter not particularly helpful, I would go so far as to say the starter was sort of a jerk. We did see a ranger a few times keeping tabs on things.
Grade: B
Price
We paid around $40 per man. I felt like this was a good deal.
Grade: B
Amenities
I didn't have a chance to visit the locker rooms. As I stated earlier, the clubhouse was great. Also, they had a drink girl on the course who came by several times. There was plenty of drinking water on the course. From what I saw, this course had it all, with the exception of mango scented iced towels. The carts have GPS and scorecard functionality.
Grade: B+
Overall
I didn't expect to like this course much. I pictured huge, sandy mounds on each side of baked out fairways with 2 club winds impacting each shot. I am sure there are days when it might seem like that. However, what I got was a diverse, lush course with wooded areas, pleasant elevation changes, and a lot of options how to play each hole. There are a lot of great golf courses near this course, and it doesn't get much attention. I would much rather play this than say, ChampionsGate's National course or Reunion's Nicklaus course, but that is just personal preference. I will definitely go back.
Grade: B
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