Palm Golf Course

The Palm Golf Course is one of the five Disney World courses in Orlando and 2010 will mark the 40th year that the final event of the PGA Tour has been played at the Walt Disney World Resort. Part of what makes playing the Palm memorable are the "Magical Moments" plaques at each tee giving some history of a memorable moment on that hole during one of the PGA Tour tournaments.

The Palm Golf Course, rated 4 stars by Golf Digest, is characterized by excellent conditions and a fun but challenging layout with sparkling lakes, tropical white soft sand bunkers, woodlands and wetlands, and native strategically placed palms. With 4 sets of tee boxes and yardages ranging from 5262 to 7011 yards and a rating from 118 to 131, Joe Lee has designed a course that we think is fair but challenging for all skill levels. The eighteenth is considered one of the most challenging holes on the PGA TOUR.

The front nine is more open and a little easier and you'll hear some of the sights and sounds of Disney World and the Indy Racing Experience across the street from one of the holes – in fact, the busy road nearby some of the holes is a little distracting. On hole #6, the course turns away from Disney World and heads into the wetlands. The front nine is fairly straightforward and you're able see what you're up against which includes some demanding tee shots (particularly on #6, appropriately named "The Devil Made Me Do It"), a great risk reward opportunity to try and fly the palm trees twice on #7, water on five holes, and lots of soft sand bunkers waiting for your ball.

The back nine is more fun, much prettier, a little tighter, more challenging, and a lot more scenic. This nine of the Palm meanders through the wetlands and four holes play around four sparkling lakes with water fountains. For example, #14 is a fun 547 par 5 that requires a good tee shot to a landing zone bordered with trees, bunkers, and the lake (a good risk reward opportunity to try and shorten the second shot) and then a carry over water with another good risk reward shot to a well protected dog leg left green. And #16 has got to be one of the prettiest par 3's in Florida!

Typical of all of the Disney courses that we played, the conditions are near perfect, the course is well manicured, the bunkers are soft white sand, and the service is excellent. As you can tell from the pictures, we played when the course was in transition and trying to recover from a very unusually very cold week of stormy weather. During the season, this would be a very lush and plush course with lots of color.

We played this course 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.