Orlando Golf News

Orlando - Register now to hit the links Monday, March 16 with Bill "Maz" Mazeroski, Phil Niekro, Jim McMahon, Derrick Brooks and other celebrities in the Inaugural Celebrity Shootout at Mystic Dunes Golf Club presented by Universal Orlando Resort. The event benefits St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, one of the world's premier pediatric cancer research centers.

Bobby Cox, Elroy Face, Mark Lemke, Fred McGriff, and Buck Showalter also have committed to play in the tournament. Participating celebrities will be assigned to teams at a welcome reception and pairing party held at the Loews Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Orlando on Sunday, March 15 from 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. 

LAKE MARY, FL - Mike Bender of the Mike Bender Golf Academy at Timacuan G.C. in Lake Mary, FL, is again listed among the Top 100 Teachers by Golf Magazine, the world's most widely read golf publication. Bender has appeared on the Golf Magazine Top 100 Teachers list since 1996. The 2009-2010 Top 100, which has eight new names, appears in the magazine's February issue.

Bender also operates satellite academies at Stoneybrook East G.C. and Stoneybrook West G.C. in metropolitan Orlando and an elite level training center at Sarabande G.C. in Howey-in-the-Hills, FL with another to open in Seoul, South Korea this spring.

Bender's extraordinary technical knowledge of the golf swing has made him one of the most sought after instructors in the game today.

LAKE MARY, FL - Timacuan Golf & Country Club in north Orlando, for the fifth straight year, will host a PGA Pro-Pro Series tournament during the week of the annual PGA Merchandise Show. The 100-plus PGA professionals who compete will see a new and improving course and facility.

The Pro-Pro Series will visit this Ron Garl-designed course on Tuesday, January 27. The Pro-Pro Series is comprised of several events during PGA Show Week, and PGA golf professionals choose a tournament that fits their schedule or course preference. The PGA show, which attracts over 40,000 club professionals, equipment buyers, vendors, and other industry members at the Orange County Convention Center, is scheduled for Jan. 29-31.

ORLANDO, Fla. --- Eagle Creek Golf Club, the Audubon International Signature Sanctuary golf course Emerson International developed at its Eagle Creek Country Club community off Narcoossee Road in southeast Orlando, recently earned a coveted four-and-a-half star rating from Golf Digest magazine.

David Collins, sales director for Eagle Creek Golf Club, said the 2009 ranking is the fourth consecutive year 7,198-yard, par 73 Eagle Creek course has earned the four-and-a-half star ranking.

CELEBRATION, Fla. --- Celebration Golf Management, which operates Celebration Golf Club at Celebration and Legends Golf  & Country Club in Clermont, has appointed Carlos Puerto general manager at Legends Golf  & Country Club in Clermont.

Gene Garrote, president of Celebration Golf Management, said Puerto formerly served as events manager at Celebration.

Jay Scruggs has been appointed assistant general manager at Legends. Scruggs formerly served as food and beverages operations manager at Celebration.

LAKE MARY, FL -Joseph Affrunti has always had an affinity for golf course designs with a little flair and diversity. So when he teed it up at Timacuan Golf Club recently in an NGA Hooters Pro Golf Tour's Winter Series event, he knew he was in for a good week. How good?

The Illinois native fired rounds of 70, 66, 68 for a 12-under-par 204 total and secured a one-shot victory and the $12,132 first prize. It was Affrunti's second win during his three years on the NGA Hooters Tour.

"I enjoy Timacuan" said Affrunti. I like the mix of holes there. Timacuan is a good course to host events like the Hooters Tour tournament."

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. - As the ultimate try before you buy, tens of thousands of PGA Professionals and golf retailers from around the world will come to the 56th annual PGA Merchandise Show, Jan. 29-31, 2009, in Orlando, Fla., to personally test new golf equipment and accessories that will drive golf retail sales in the upcoming season.

Market leaders such as Callaway Golf, Titleist, Cobra, Ping, Cleveland Golf/Srixon, Nike Golf and more count on the product-testing Demo Days of the PGA Merchandise Show to showcase the attributes of their newest equipment to international retail decision-makers. 

HILTON HEAD , SC - GolfUS.com, the premier online resource for discounted tee times and golf packages, has expanded its inventory to include gift certificates worth $25 and $50 that can be used toward purchases on its Web site.

Discounted tee times and golf packages are being offered for golf courses in Florida, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Kentucky. GolfUS.com has experienced considerable growth since shifting from an auction platform to a more traditional click and purchase format. On the new GolfUS.ocm, buyers will be able to purchase rounds of golf at hundreds of courses every week at discounted prices. 

Celebration Golf Club, the 18-hole championship course designed by the collaborative masters Robert Trent Jones, Sr. and Robert Trent Jones, Jr., was recently ranked as one the top 25 public golf courses in America in the Golf World Magazine 2008 annual Readers Survey.
 
Gene Garrote, president of Celebration Golf Management, said Golf World Magazine’s 2008 Readers Choice Award is one of the most prominent accolades a golf course can receive.
 
“The Readers Choice awards are exceptionally important to a public golf course and we’re especially proud of this achievement,” said Garrote.