Orlando Golf News

Ever since the first donation of $10,000 was made by the Palm Beach Invitational in 1938, giving to charity has become a philosophy of the world of golf. In 2005, the PGA TOUR reached a milestone in all-time charitable donations totalling $1 billion.

At the grass roots level, the men and women of the North Florida Section of the PGA of America exemplify this philosophy by donating time and raising money for numerous charities, particularly those charities benefitting children.

Now all golfers have the chance to be affiliated with the golf pros by becoming a NFPGA Partner. With a membership of only $99, golfers can not only support the charitable efforts of their local PGA professionals, but also proudly wear the NFPGA logo, once reserved exclusively for PGA members to display, on a stylish golf shirt and hat, a bag tag and NFPGA Partner member card. Partners also receive a free 10-minute golf lesson with a PGA professional and invitations to NFPGA special events and tournaments. 

Past major championship winners John Daly, Tom Lehman and Lee Janzen are among the 20 players who have received sponsor exemptions to the 2008 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard, scheduled for the week of March 10-16 at the Bay Hill Club in Orlando, Florida.

Rocco Mediate, who was second in 2007 by two strokes to champion Vijay Singh, is also on the list for the coveted playing spots for the 30year celebration of the PGA TOUR event hosted by golf legend Arnold Palmer, who brought the tournament across town from Rio Pinar to his club in 1979.

ORLANDO (Feb. 8, 2008) - Brad Brewer, president of the Brad Brewer Golf Academy at Shingle Creek Golf Club, located at Rosen Shingle Creek Hotel in Orlando, has long been regarded as one of the best golf instructors in the country. Now millions of golf aficionados - and devotees of the GOLF CHANNEL -- are about to find out why.

Brewer has been named the Lead Instructor for www.golfchannel.com, the Internet arm of the GOLF CHANNEL. The Web site pulls from the cable network boasting a worldwide distribution of more than 110 million households, thereby presenting Brewer with an extensive assembly to share his knowledge and passion for the game.

Arnold Palmer was nervous, but he was also excited and determined. In the end, he was rewarded with the golf tournament that has since become the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard.

The year was 1979 and Palmer, was preparing to host his first tournament at his Bay Hill Club, the successor to the Florida Citrus Open Invitational, which he had won at Orlando’s Rio Pinar Country Club in 1971.

Palmer wanted everything to be perfect.

St. Augustine, Fla. – Below are upcoming activities taking place at the World Golf Village and the World Golf Hall of Fame & IMAX® Theater.

Saturday, February 16 through Monday, February 18, 2008 is President’s Weekend at the World Golf Hall of Fame. The World Golf Hall of Fame will celebrate a common thread between generations of United States presidents – golf – with its annual President’s Day weekend. The first 100 visitors through the museum doors each day will receive a selection of special offers and guests will have the opportunity to win their own “Presidential Treatment” stay at World Golf Village.  With museum admission, guests can even try their hand at the 18-hole natural grass putting course, which was put to the test by former President George Bush. In addition, courtesy of Potter’s Wax Museum in St. Augustine, figures of several presidents with ties to the game will be on display.

Orlando, Fl. - The Villas of Grand Cypress has scored four TripAdvisor Travelers' Choice Awards for 2008, including spots on the online travel community's Top 10 Best Service Hotels in the U.S. list (No. 4) and the Top 10 Best Luxury Hotels in the U.S. list (No. 7).

The other two awards are for the Top 100 Best Luxury Hotels Worldwide (No. 71) and Best in the 25 Most Popular Destinations Worldwide (No. 8).

"Travelers' Choice Awards are extraordinary in their significance because they are based largely on unsolicited evaluations made by guests," said Villas of Grand Cypress Marketing Director Stephen Merriman.

ORLANDO - Shingle Creek Golf Club in Orlando continues to establish itself as one of the most notable courses in the nation, adding yet another national honor to its growing list of accolades as it receives the nod from Golf World Magazine as one of the top 100 Golf Shops in the U.S. for 2008.

This is the fourth year in a row that the four-year-old course has received The Top 100 Golf Shop designation from the magazine.

"Receiving such acclaim, particularly from a golf publication as well-respected as Golf World is quite an honor," says Dave Scott, Director of Golf at Shingle Creek Golf Club. "This has been a team effort on behalf of our entire staff led by Dave Smiley, our Head Golf Pro, and I'm so proud of them."

CELEBRATION, Fla. – Celebration Golf Club plans to focus on five star personal service this year.

Gene Garrote, vice president of Celebration Golf Club, said he recently initiated a personal greeting program to welcome new visitors and golfers as they arrive at Celebration Golf Club.

The golf club also opened an off-site sales center in downtown Celebration that is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.

Award-Winning Course Makes Perfect Pit Stop for Visiting Race Fans

(DELAND, Fla.) – Victoria Hills Golf Club – the award-winning Ron Garl design at the heart of Victoria Park, a St. Joe community in historic DeLand – welcomes race fans visiting the Daytona area for “Speedweeks 2008.”

One of the region’s most popular golf options for race fans since opening in 2001, Victoria Hills Golf Club is set amid a stunning canopy of live oaks, tall pines and pristine lakes. The course’s rolling terrain features more than 50 feet of elevation change, with free form waste areas and steep-face bunkers providing an unmistakable “Pine Valley” feel that is sure to strike a chord with students of golf course design.

In their recently-released rankings of America’s Best Golf Courses, Golf Digest magazine rates Haines City’s Southern Dunes Golf and Country Club as the sixth best course in Florida overall, and #2 among those open to the public, behind only the Stadium Course at the TPC Sawgrass.

Golf Digest’s rating panel judged the courses on shot values, resistance to scoring, design variety, memorability, aesthetics, conditioning and ambience in making their rankings and placed Southern Dunes ahead of such well-known private courses as John’s Island West, Trump International, Pine Tree, The Medalist and Lake Nona and ahead of such public-access courses as World Woods, Ocean Hammock, The Bay Hill Club and the Copperhead Course at the Innisbrook Resort.