MetroWest Golf Club

Wow, what a fun and interesting layout in the middle of Orlando. MetroWest Golf Course is a pretty typical Robert Trent Jones, Sr. design – wide open off the tee box; small, tight and well protected greens; avoidable fairway bunkers; and a playable rough. His philosophy seems to be “make it easy off the tee box and tough on the approach and putting.” MetroWest is a Champions Tour Qualifying Site and has received a number of awards and accolades, some of which include: voted #1 Public Golf Course by Orlando Magazine; Best Greens by Florida Golf Central; 4 stars by Golf Digest Places to Play; and Golf Digest's Pace of Play commendation.

What makes Metro West a memorable round of golf is:

• several elevated tee boxes
• rolling, sloping, and contoured fairways
• small greens a number of which are elevated
• some challenging risk reward opportunities
• blind shots, water on 10 holes, steep faced bunkers, and dog legs

. For example, #4 is a 610 yard par 5 with a sharp dog leg right around a lake to the green – a long drive presents an opportunity to risk carrying the lake to shorten the hole or you can try the equally risky shot to a narrow approach to the green with several bunkers waiting for a bad shot. The 562 yard par 5 #14 is another fun hole – the second shot is a blind downhiller to a small green surrounded by water. And #18 is a good finishing hole where unseen water encroaches into the fairway in front of the green and around the right side.

The fairways are tree lined, road lined, or play by some homes and pastel apartments/condos. The fairways were dormant when we played in February and conditions weren’t the best thanks to some unusually harsh cold weather prior to our visit. From what we hear, normally MetroWest is in above average condition. The greens are small with minor slope and undulation and were a little slow and bumpy when we played – again, thanks to the bad weather.

This is a course where you can let-er-rip off the tee box and then bring out your “A” game for the approaches and putting. It presents an opportunity to score well and have a very fun and memorable round. We played MetroWest as part of a fun filled seven days in Orlando where we rode in an Indy race car, saw alligators on an air-boat ride, sky dived in a wind tunnel, flew a 1946 World War II fighter trainer, para-sailed, swam with the manatees, ate too much good food, enjoyed some fun nightlife, golfed 9 different courses, and got very little sleep! Read our Orlando Vacation article to learn more about this adventure packed vacation.