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Hidden in the shadow of Walt Disney World is a tranquil, peaceful golf course called Tranquilo Golf Club. This Tom Fazio course was originally built in 1992 under the name Disney's Osprey Ridge, but was recently purchased by the Four Seasons Resort and given a facelift by Tom Fazio earlier this year. This picturesque and serene par 71 layout has features unique to the central Florida area, with various elevation changes, abundant wildlife, and protected wetlands.
Practice area:
The driving range and practice facilities at Tranquilo Golf Club are what you would expect from a top notch facility:
A driving range that's long enough to hit every club in the bag, plus a fairway bunker off to the side for one to practice with as well.
2014 Pro V1 range balls to give you a more accurate gauge of how your multi piece construction ball will perform both off the tee and around the greens.
A greenside practice bunker area with multiple flags to familiarize yourself to the on course sand and the green's reception to those shots.
Multiple locations to putt to on a large practice green on speeds and basic undulations you'll see on the course.
Grade: A
Course conditions:
With the course opening in September 2014, the course was basically in brand new shape. The teebox and fairway turf had more than taken hold, yet hadn't been scarred by years of divots and soil settling so every tee box was flat and perfect. The fairways were a healthy luscious green, despite the fact the course had no intentions of overseeding during the late fall and winter. Due to the weather conditions at time of review, it was tough to tell the consistency of the sand and firmness of the fairways as it had been raining inconsistently since pre-sunrise. What remains to be seen is how the course plays when dry, or on days where rain fall is a heavy yet short burst. Minor puddling of water was visible on a handful of holes in low laying areas, which is acceptable. How long it takes for that water to be absorbed and the turf quality following that is yet to be determined. One thing to note however, the course was not under Cart Path Only conditions despite the nearly 9 hours and counting of light rain it had received to that point.
The greens themselves have a noticeable amount of undulation in them. Since the course is new and opening right as Florida starts to hit its cooler months, the course has decided to keep the greens in that 9-9.5 on the stimpmeter for now to let the grass continue to take root, plus keep it protected against an unexpected cold snap that could severely damage the greens. With undulation, 9.5 is more than acceptable for a brand new course that has some movement on the greens. As the greens get older and become more receptive, one must think they will cut them a little shorter and provide more challenge to the average golfer.
Grade: B+
Layout:
Tranquilo Golf Club has in what I feel is a fair, yet challenging layout. There's some fun elevation changes on some of the par 3's, which will leave you questioning your club selection. There are numerous visual tricks that Tom Fazio plays on you as you stand on the tee, yet you notice you have a lot more room for error than you thought. Some of the holes have the appearance of being very tight looking from off the tee, yet the tree lined opening is wider than it looked. You have room to miss the fairway, but a poorly struck shot will leave you either stuck in a bunch of trees or re-teeing as you've found the forest. I would say the most visually challenging looking hole would be the Par 4 14th, playing at 461 from the backs (434 from the 6450 tees).
As you can see from the photo, there's a heck of a lot of water between you and the fairway. The bunker all the way on the left is the green, so not even the longest internet golfer is going to get to the green on their tee shot. From the backs, it's 252 carry to the land straight at the left of the bunkers you see (not the greenside), 223 from the 6450 tees. While you can always bail out right to find dry land, you'll leave yourself a very long approach shot.
No course is without a signature hole, and while I liked the 14th hole because of its strategy and visually testing look, the 18th hole really is the signature hole. Ending on a par 3, the 18th hole is a daunting 217yd hole with water all up the left and a long "greenside" bunker short right. The green is undulated, with a large ridge that separates the front half from the back. Get your distance right or you could be looking at a very difficult two putt.
Grade: A
Pace of play:
Not much can be said about the pace of play, as the weather was poor that day and only three groups were seen on the entire course.
Grade: N/A
Price:
As a native Floridian, price during winter rate season enrages me but that's for another day and discussion. The rate can vary based on time of year as well as time of play, and resort guest rate may be lower but at time of review, that information was not available. The winter rate can be as high as $195 during the morning, and as low as $95 in the morning during the summer. For comparison, it's on par with the Waldorf Astoria Orlando course, and the two trade off being more affordable than the other depending on time of day. Both can be found on discount tee time websites. For the amenities you get at the level of luxury you're seeing with the resort and clubhouse, it's expected.
Grade: B
Amenities:
The locker rooms have been fully upgraded with brand new carpet, beautiful dark wood lockers, and a few showers. There was nothing out of place in the men's locker room, and my female guest noted the same in the women's. The staff was incredibly pleasant and more than accomodating for any requests we had. The on course cart attendant was friendly and quick with service, and with several comfort stations between holes with bottled water and complimentary fresh apples and oranges. At no point were we without refreshment and in the event of lightning, we weren't stranded with a long drive back to the clubhouse for shelter. At time of review, the clubhouse restaurant was not experienced so feedback on it isn't applicable at this time.
Grade: A
Overall, this course was beautiful from the start. With views of the breathtaking Four Seasons resort, the fun and challenging layout, and the wonderful and helpful staff, this course would be an excellent place to play on your next trip to the Orlando area. Tee times can be made 60 days in advance with a room reservation, and 30 days in advance for local play.
Overall grade: A
One thing I wanted to save till the very end was the wildlife. I'm not sure if it's because of location or what, but there were an abundance of wildlife on this course. There were deer visible on nearly every hole, usually in packs of three or more. At one point, there were 11 deer off in the trees near the par 4 15th green. One hole in particular really comes to mind, and that was the very first hole. As I stood on the first hole taking my photo, there was a deer looking right back at me on the next tee box. As I went to my cart, this deer kept slowly approaching our cart and got as close as 10ft to us. I slowly drove away so not to startle her, but she really didn't seem to care and probably would have gotten closer if I let her. When I made note to the staff at the end, they laughed and acknowledged there's a deer that's very friendly and has been known to eat right from people's hand if they're still enough not to startle her. The staff have seen her so much that they've given her a name: Charlotte.
Practice area:
The driving range and practice facilities at Tranquilo Golf Club are what you would expect from a top notch facility:
A driving range that's long enough to hit every club in the bag, plus a fairway bunker off to the side for one to practice with as well.
2014 Pro V1 range balls to give you a more accurate gauge of how your multi piece construction ball will perform both off the tee and around the greens.
A greenside practice bunker area with multiple flags to familiarize yourself to the on course sand and the green's reception to those shots.
Multiple locations to putt to on a large practice green on speeds and basic undulations you'll see on the course.
Grade: A
Course conditions:
With the course opening in September 2014, the course was basically in brand new shape. The teebox and fairway turf had more than taken hold, yet hadn't been scarred by years of divots and soil settling so every tee box was flat and perfect. The fairways were a healthy luscious green, despite the fact the course had no intentions of overseeding during the late fall and winter. Due to the weather conditions at time of review, it was tough to tell the consistency of the sand and firmness of the fairways as it had been raining inconsistently since pre-sunrise. What remains to be seen is how the course plays when dry, or on days where rain fall is a heavy yet short burst. Minor puddling of water was visible on a handful of holes in low laying areas, which is acceptable. How long it takes for that water to be absorbed and the turf quality following that is yet to be determined. One thing to note however, the course was not under Cart Path Only conditions despite the nearly 9 hours and counting of light rain it had received to that point.
The greens themselves have a noticeable amount of undulation in them. Since the course is new and opening right as Florida starts to hit its cooler months, the course has decided to keep the greens in that 9-9.5 on the stimpmeter for now to let the grass continue to take root, plus keep it protected against an unexpected cold snap that could severely damage the greens. With undulation, 9.5 is more than acceptable for a brand new course that has some movement on the greens. As the greens get older and become more receptive, one must think they will cut them a little shorter and provide more challenge to the average golfer.
Grade: B+
Layout:
Tranquilo Golf Club has in what I feel is a fair, yet challenging layout. There's some fun elevation changes on some of the par 3's, which will leave you questioning your club selection. There are numerous visual tricks that Tom Fazio plays on you as you stand on the tee, yet you notice you have a lot more room for error than you thought. Some of the holes have the appearance of being very tight looking from off the tee, yet the tree lined opening is wider than it looked. You have room to miss the fairway, but a poorly struck shot will leave you either stuck in a bunch of trees or re-teeing as you've found the forest. I would say the most visually challenging looking hole would be the Par 4 14th, playing at 461 from the backs (434 from the 6450 tees).
As you can see from the photo, there's a heck of a lot of water between you and the fairway. The bunker all the way on the left is the green, so not even the longest internet golfer is going to get to the green on their tee shot. From the backs, it's 252 carry to the land straight at the left of the bunkers you see (not the greenside), 223 from the 6450 tees. While you can always bail out right to find dry land, you'll leave yourself a very long approach shot.
No course is without a signature hole, and while I liked the 14th hole because of its strategy and visually testing look, the 18th hole really is the signature hole. Ending on a par 3, the 18th hole is a daunting 217yd hole with water all up the left and a long "greenside" bunker short right. The green is undulated, with a large ridge that separates the front half from the back. Get your distance right or you could be looking at a very difficult two putt.
Grade: A
Pace of play:
Not much can be said about the pace of play, as the weather was poor that day and only three groups were seen on the entire course.
Grade: N/A
Price:
As a native Floridian, price during winter rate season enrages me but that's for another day and discussion. The rate can vary based on time of year as well as time of play, and resort guest rate may be lower but at time of review, that information was not available. The winter rate can be as high as $195 during the morning, and as low as $95 in the morning during the summer. For comparison, it's on par with the Waldorf Astoria Orlando course, and the two trade off being more affordable than the other depending on time of day. Both can be found on discount tee time websites. For the amenities you get at the level of luxury you're seeing with the resort and clubhouse, it's expected.
Grade: B
Amenities:
The locker rooms have been fully upgraded with brand new carpet, beautiful dark wood lockers, and a few showers. There was nothing out of place in the men's locker room, and my female guest noted the same in the women's. The staff was incredibly pleasant and more than accomodating for any requests we had. The on course cart attendant was friendly and quick with service, and with several comfort stations between holes with bottled water and complimentary fresh apples and oranges. At no point were we without refreshment and in the event of lightning, we weren't stranded with a long drive back to the clubhouse for shelter. At time of review, the clubhouse restaurant was not experienced so feedback on it isn't applicable at this time.
Grade: A
Overall, this course was beautiful from the start. With views of the breathtaking Four Seasons resort, the fun and challenging layout, and the wonderful and helpful staff, this course would be an excellent place to play on your next trip to the Orlando area. Tee times can be made 60 days in advance with a room reservation, and 30 days in advance for local play.
Overall grade: A
One thing I wanted to save till the very end was the wildlife. I'm not sure if it's because of location or what, but there were an abundance of wildlife on this course. There were deer visible on nearly every hole, usually in packs of three or more. At one point, there were 11 deer off in the trees near the par 4 15th green. One hole in particular really comes to mind, and that was the very first hole. As I stood on the first hole taking my photo, there was a deer looking right back at me on the next tee box. As I went to my cart, this deer kept slowly approaching our cart and got as close as 10ft to us. I slowly drove away so not to startle her, but she really didn't seem to care and probably would have gotten closer if I let her. When I made note to the staff at the end, they laughed and acknowledged there's a deer that's very friendly and has been known to eat right from people's hand if they're still enough not to startle her. The staff have seen her so much that they've given her a name: Charlotte.
Spoiler
