When Eagle Creek Golf Club opened in mid-2004, its unique theme of “Save the Best Round for Last” was intended to focus on the “last”, featuring course’s proximity to Orlando International Airport. But now, as it grows into its third full season the most popular courses in the entire region, the distinctive European/ American design of Floridian Ron Garl and Englishman Howard Swan can shift its emphasis from “last” to “best”. Course critics, professionals in the golf industry, and most importantly, players like you, continue to add to the accolades at Eagle Creek.
It all began soon after the first tee went into the first tee box, when Travel and Leisure Golf Magazine selected it as one of the best courses to open in Florida since 2000. Among the other “bests” from the critics include Florida Golf Central’s “Best 18th Hole in Florida” award for the 535-yard signature finishing hole.
The 18th was also honored recently as one of the “Best 18 in Orlando” by Golfweek’s Golf Life Orlando Magazine and even the 19th hole, otherwise known as the Belfry restaurant, is on a list with such private clubs as Isleworth in Orlando Magazine’s “Best 19th Holes”.
You always like to be recognized by your peers. Eagle Creek had held a number of Florida State Golf Association events in its first seasons, but was honored with hosting the 62nd Florida Open in the fall of 2006, won by former Florida Gator All-American Camilo Benedetti. FSGA Executive Director Rick Whitfield commented that Eagle Creek’s layout was “unusual compared to the typical Florida course. It has great bunkering, some elevation change and there are several great risk-reward holes that added excitement to the Florida Open.” Eagle Creek also played host to the Hooters’ Collegiate Women’s Match Play Championship in the fall of 2006 and will host the 2007 Florida State Public Links Championship.
But the most important reviews came from the golfers who play Eagle Creek every day, and they gave the course 4-1/2 Stars in Golf Digest’s Places to Play. Nobody in the state rated higher. And Golf Digest readers ranked Eagle Creek among the very best in “consistently excelling in the area of customer service.”
And that doesn’t even tell the tale of how Eagle Creek became one of the country’s only par-73 layouts. I’d save it for “last,” but maybe it now qualifies as one of the “best” illustrations of Eagle Creek’s personality. It was originally designed as a long par-4 with a lake behind the green and then a shaved area behind to be saved for lawn bowling, croquet and the like in front of the clubhouse to complete the European theme. During construction, course owner Emerson Jones had the brainstorm to move the green behind the lake and make the hole a fabulous 535-yard risk-reward par-5.
That forced-carry finish over a coquina rock bulkhead ended up costing Jones $250,000 to reconfigure the hole, but the “extra” par-5 that brings the course to its signature par-73 has created more than that in “buzz”, much of it from the players in the Belfry restaurant that now overlooks the green, where the advice to “lay-up” or “go for it” flows freely. You think former Gator Chris DiMarco laid up when he set the course record of 63?
Maybe DiMarco’s success with the European flavor at Eagle Creek was a precursor to his great run at the British Open? The course’s mix of American-style bulkheaded water hazards and the Scottish-links design and diabolical sod-stacked bunkers add to the uniqueness of Eagle Creek. During construction, over a million cubic yards of flat Florida terrain were moved and molded to create the golf-scape at Eagle Creek. Then the course became the first in Central Florida to install mini-verde grass on its greens, a strain designed to hold up better under the strain of the Florida climate, and also holds its green color better than many other popular golf course grasses. And when tightly-mown, the mini-verde greens run better than 10 on the Stimpmeter.
The mint conditioning of the course is one of the reasons for Eagle Creek’s popularity. The playability is another. Depending on your level of play, you can enjoy all of the risk-reward decisions from the 7,198-yard tips, or move up a little to the 6,857-yard white tees and still face five par-5s of over 500-yards. Yet the 6,400-yard yellow tees designed for mid-handicappers set up well to reach the generous landing areas and large greens. From there, none of the par-4s is over 400 yards and three of the par-5s are under 500, daring you to play aggressively.
For a course known for its par-5s, the par-3s, as a group, might affect your score more. Three of the four are handicapped among the 12 toughest holes on the course, because they’re all over 170 yards even from the mid-handicap yellow tees. The 11th is home to much of what makes Eagle Creek distinctive, a waste area trimmed by native grasses near the tee and a large green guarded by a trio of Swan’s sod-stacked bunkers, manicured to give you brick wall-like feeling of denial. The shortest of the par-3s, the 17th, is handicapped as the easiest hole on the course, yet it demands you carry a lake and its bulkhead short-left while avoiding a cavernous bunker short-right.
Among Garl’s signature bunker complexes (there are 98 bunkers at Eagle Creek, not counting the waste areas) are sets of cross-bunkers on the par-5s at #13 and #16, and a combination of four revetted bunkers in the front of the par-4 14th green, with two American-style bunkers in the back corners. In all, there are 11 of those old-style classic European revetted bunkers around Eagle Creek.
Eagle Creek is home to the internationally-recognized Graves Golf Academy, where Todd and Tim Graves have developed training techniques based on the teachings of the legendary Moe Norman, who’s simple and efficient swing theories have helped thousands of golfers improve their games.
Going the extra step has led to the success of Eagle Creek. The club’s attention to environmental details has resulted in inclusion among the Audubon Society’s International Silver Signature Courses. The Parview GPS systems on the Precedent golf carts are both state-of-the-art. Those accolades for the Belfry restaurant begin with the professionalism of the staff that’s committed to exceeding management’s expectations for all players, whether playing as a single, or in one of the many outings hosted by Eagle Creek that come with the Five-Star Tournament experience that includes being featured on the GPS system along with updated leaderboards from the pro tournaments. The award-winning banquet and catering staff looks forward to hosting your special event for up to 150 guests, but just as important is the iced towel on a warm Florida afternoon offered by the customer service rep overseeing the pace-of-play.
Eagle Creek Golf Club was designed to blend unobtrusively within the master-planned Eagle Creek golf community that is developing a variety of single-family homes, villas, townhomes, condominiums and apartments to create a unique neighborhood close to schools, shopping, full-service recreation facilities and a network of walking trails. You can find out more about the development online at www.eaglecreekcommunity.com.
Located just two miles off Highway 417 (Central Florida Greenway) and 11 minutes from Orlando International Airport, with shower and locker facilities in a gorgeous 14,000 square-foot New England manor clubhouse, Eagle Creek is still the best place for that “last” round of Orlando golf for vacationers. Now it might also be the place for that “best” round.
For tee times Eagle Creek Golf Club, or more information on groups, outings and memberships, call