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Kean Doherty
Kissimmee
2009-04-12
$126 (cart included), played on Saturday, January 2006 at noon
It may be situated just minutes from Walt Disney World in the golf Mecca of Orlando, Florida, but 18 holes at Mystic Dunes is no magical walk in the park. While a lot of Orlando-area courses feature numerous water hazards or Carnoustie-like rough, Mystic Dunes literally throws sand in your face like the old bully on the beach. Waste bunkers as long as the fairways, pot bunkers with 6-foot-plus wooden walls, greenside and fairway bunkers all conspire to eat your slices and hooks.
Of course, all this sand is not to say that the course was not in fantastic shape. Carved out of Central Florida's landscape of lakes and orange groves, Mystic Dunes is a 7,012-yard (from the tips) well-manicured challenge. Undulating (severely, in a lot of cases) and immaculately landscaped fairways and greens, blind doglegs and some of the most intimidating par-3s we have ever seen all made for a difficult but enjoyable round. Sure, I hacked my way around a few holes, but the forgiving layout of a few holes (e.g. wide fairways) at least allowed me to keep my score respectable.
The price for a round at Mystic Dunes is right in line with most high-end courses around Orlando, though still a bit steep at $150. However, the reception at the clubhouse and by the starter’s gate is first rate. The clubhouse is modern and well-equipped and the staff attentive. While several twosomes and foursomes waited on the practice tee, or were late, the starter did his best to accommodate an early start for us, as we were starting at "twilight" time. We nearly went out as a twosome, but a fellow from Massachusetts joined us for 18. None of us are scratch golfers, so we played from the median white tee blocks (black tee blocks were the tips, followed by blue, white, gold and red). Even with 1,100 yards shaved off from the whites, the slope rating is still 126 (137 from tips).
Our first hole was 10, which introduced us to why "Dunes" is featured in the name of the place. A slight left dogleg on a short (300 yards from white tee) par 4, runs up to a waste and pot bunker-protected rolling green. Not too tough a hole, but it does not get any easier from there.
Eleven is the third of four inventive and bogey-inducing par 3-s at Mystic Dunes. It is but a chip shot at 151 yards (177 from tips), but it seems they put all the water on the course on one hole. Miss left, and you are in the pond, miss right and you are in a small waterfall. I missed right and had to take a drop, and had to settle for a double bogey because the green is a three-tiered beast as well.
Leaving 11 provides a little relief, but do not be lulled to sleep by holes 12 through 15. The scorecard says par 4 for all the holes, with yardages all in the low to mid-300s (from white, of course; tips are considerably higher). There is trouble for lefties and righties alike on these 4 holes. Waste bunkers running the length of fairways, with deep pot bunkers and more multiple-tier greens can all cause severe grief (and bogeys!) at one time or another.
Give yourself a pat on the back if you skate through 15 at level par. But do not hurt yourself doing so because the par-5 16th is a double dogleg punch to the gut. This is a tree-lined (with hidden sand and fescue) 495-yard jaunt that is sure to make use of all your golf creativity. Navigating the first right dogleg, followed by negotiating the second left dogleg and then dropping your putt for par is quite an achievement here!
Seventeen is the last of the par-3s but a true test of your iron play at 199 yards (249 tips). The short fairway is wide enough, but pinpoint accuracy and length are needed if you want to make bird on the expansive and multi-tiered green.
Heading home on 18 (though in our case, making the turn) is no treat, with a gentle left dogleg over a narrow fairway. Let us just say we made our turn without too much incident and leave it at that.
Having completed 27 holes (18 in the morning at another Orlando-area course) we thus far had avoided any wet weather. Temperatures that day were lower than usual, but nice considering my we had made the trek from snowy Canada. A drizzly rain, though, did make for a bit of an uncomfortable last nine.
The first hole starts out leisurely enough, with a very gradual and short dogleg right to the green 326 yards away (375 tips). But, like the back nine, Mystic Dunes breaks you in gently only to throw increasingly stiff tests at your game. Hole 2 is a perfect example of that, a long (understatement!) par 4 (508 tips) that is another gentle right dogleg, but brimming with hazards. Trees, waste bunkers and a multi-tiered green can turn your score from par to snowman in a heartbeat.
The third and fourth holes offer much the same: mid-length par 4s with some tricky mid-fairway pot bunkers arrayed on the fourth to eat an errant drive. All in our threesome did manage to avoid those bunkers and come through the first four relatively unscathed.
Driving to the par-3 fifth was an adventure, where the tee blocks are virtually all over the place. This is the first of the four wicked par 3s here. There is no fairway - only soggy and deep fescue between you and the hole. It is a short iron shot of 150 yards, but you can not be long because the green is narrow front to back and very wide.
If you happen to manage par on five, do not breathe too easily, because 6, 7 and especially 8 will certainly break you if your shot-making is not up to snuff. Six is a short par 5 (510 tips) but the fairway is narrow and the green is by far one of the most difficult any of us had ever seen. It has an eight foot elevation change, from high right to low left. Worse yet, unless your approach shot is from an optimum angle you will not see the green until you are standing on it.
Seven is a long par 3 at 200 yards from the back tee, but it's fairly wide open and forgiving. A par here is not out of the question. Again, though, this is the calm before the storm that is the eighth hole. It is a diabolical 571-yard uphill march to the green and could reduce even the most battle-hardened golfer to a puddle of mush. It is a roller coaster of a hole, with a monstrous high-walled pot bunker guarding the approach, thick fescue, waste bunkers and elevation changes galore. A medal is in order for a birdie here!
Once past 8, making the turn at nine is no picnic either. It is not a terribly long par 4 at 379 yards, but a group of bunkers at the 225 to 250 yard mark defy you to go over them, or wimp out and play left. Par here is not a given, but good shot-making makes it realistic.
In retrospect this course is better managed if you have played a number of rounds beforehand. My traveling companion was the low man for the day, but both of us could have benefited from some practice. However, golf in January is not an option in Canada so we both rather enjoyed ourselves.
Toughest Hole: I may not speak for all three of us, but the 8th administered a beating to my psyche. The water-surrounded, par-3 11th would also get votes from anyone who plays it for being tricky.
Favorite Hole: There were not many pars on my scorecard, so my favorite had to be the par-3 fifth. I didn't par here either (bogey) but I did like the layout and dropped my high-arching tee shot just on the fringe.
Would travel: 0-10 Miles, Vacation Worthy
Bottom line: I would play again, Better than average course for the area
$126 (cart included), played on Saturday, January 2006 at noon
It may be situated just minutes from Walt Disney World in the golf Mecca of Orlando, Florida, but 18 holes at Mystic Dunes is no magical walk in the park. While a lot of Orlando-area courses feature numerous water hazards or Carnoustie-like rough, Mystic Dunes literally throws sand in your face like the old bully on the beach. Waste bunkers as long as the fairways, pot bunkers with 6-foot-plus wooden walls, greenside and fairway bunkers all conspire to eat your slices and hooks.
Of course, all this sand is not to say that the course was not in fantastic shape. Carved out of Central Florida's landscape of lakes and orange groves, Mystic Dunes is a 7,012-yard (from the tips) well-manicured challenge. Undulating (severely, in a lot of cases) and immaculately landscaped fairways and greens, blind doglegs and some of the most intimidating par-3s we have ever seen all made for a difficult but enjoyable round. Sure, I hacked my way around a few holes, but the forgiving layout of a few holes (e.g. wide fairways) at least allowed me to keep my score respectable.
The price for a round at Mystic Dunes is right in line with most high-end courses around Orlando, though still a bit steep at $150. However, the reception at the clubhouse and by the starter’s gate is first rate. The clubhouse is modern and well-equipped and the staff attentive. While several twosomes and foursomes waited on the practice tee, or were late, the starter did his best to accommodate an early start for us, as we were starting at "twilight" time. We nearly went out as a twosome, but a fellow from Massachusetts joined us for 18. None of us are scratch golfers, so we played from the median white tee blocks (black tee blocks were the tips, followed by blue, white, gold and red). Even with 1,100 yards shaved off from the whites, the slope rating is still 126 (137 from tips).
Our first hole was 10, which introduced us to why "Dunes" is featured in the name of the place. A slight left dogleg on a short (300 yards from white tee) par 4, runs up to a waste and pot bunker-protected rolling green. Not too tough a hole, but it does not get any easier from there.
Eleven is the third of four inventive and bogey-inducing par 3-s at Mystic Dunes. It is but a chip shot at 151 yards (177 from tips), but it seems they put all the water on the course on one hole. Miss left, and you are in the pond, miss right and you are in a small waterfall. I missed right and had to take a drop, and had to settle for a double bogey because the green is a three-tiered beast as well.
Leaving 11 provides a little relief, but do not be lulled to sleep by holes 12 through 15. The scorecard says par 4 for all the holes, with yardages all in the low to mid-300s (from white, of course; tips are considerably higher). There is trouble for lefties and righties alike on these 4 holes. Waste bunkers running the length of fairways, with deep pot bunkers and more multiple-tier greens can all cause severe grief (and bogeys!) at one time or another.
Give yourself a pat on the back if you skate through 15 at level par. But do not hurt yourself doing so because the par-5 16th is a double dogleg punch to the gut. This is a tree-lined (with hidden sand and fescue) 495-yard jaunt that is sure to make use of all your golf creativity. Navigating the first right dogleg, followed by negotiating the second left dogleg and then dropping your putt for par is quite an achievement here!
Seventeen is the last of the par-3s but a true test of your iron play at 199 yards (249 tips). The short fairway is wide enough, but pinpoint accuracy and length are needed if you want to make bird on the expansive and multi-tiered green.
Heading home on 18 (though in our case, making the turn) is no treat, with a gentle left dogleg over a narrow fairway. Let us just say we made our turn without too much incident and leave it at that.
Having completed 27 holes (18 in the morning at another Orlando-area course) we thus far had avoided any wet weather. Temperatures that day were lower than usual, but nice considering my we had made the trek from snowy Canada. A drizzly rain, though, did make for a bit of an uncomfortable last nine.
The first hole starts out leisurely enough, with a very gradual and short dogleg right to the green 326 yards away (375 tips). But, like the back nine, Mystic Dunes breaks you in gently only to throw increasingly stiff tests at your game. Hole 2 is a perfect example of that, a long (understatement!) par 4 (508 tips) that is another gentle right dogleg, but brimming with hazards. Trees, waste bunkers and a multi-tiered green can turn your score from par to snowman in a heartbeat.
The third and fourth holes offer much the same: mid-length par 4s with some tricky mid-fairway pot bunkers arrayed on the fourth to eat an errant drive. All in our threesome did manage to avoid those bunkers and come through the first four relatively unscathed.
Driving to the par-3 fifth was an adventure, where the tee blocks are virtually all over the place. This is the first of the four wicked par 3s here. There is no fairway - only soggy and deep fescue between you and the hole. It is a short iron shot of 150 yards, but you can not be long because the green is narrow front to back and very wide.
If you happen to manage par on five, do not breathe too easily, because 6, 7 and especially 8 will certainly break you if your shot-making is not up to snuff. Six is a short par 5 (510 tips) but the fairway is narrow and the green is by far one of the most difficult any of us had ever seen. It has an eight foot elevation change, from high right to low left. Worse yet, unless your approach shot is from an optimum angle you will not see the green until you are standing on it.
Seven is a long par 3 at 200 yards from the back tee, but it's fairly wide open and forgiving. A par here is not out of the question. Again, though, this is the calm before the storm that is the eighth hole. It is a diabolical 571-yard uphill march to the green and could reduce even the most battle-hardened golfer to a puddle of mush. It is a roller coaster of a hole, with a monstrous high-walled pot bunker guarding the approach, thick fescue, waste bunkers and elevation changes galore. A medal is in order for a birdie here!
Once past 8, making the turn at nine is no picnic either. It is not a terribly long par 4 at 379 yards, but a group of bunkers at the 225 to 250 yard mark defy you to go over them, or wimp out and play left. Par here is not a given, but good shot-making makes it realistic.
In retrospect this course is better managed if you have played a number of rounds beforehand. My traveling companion was the low man for the day, but both of us could have benefited from some practice. However, golf in January is not an option in Canada so we both rather enjoyed ourselves.
Toughest Hole: I may not speak for all three of us, but the 8th administered a beating to my psyche. The water-surrounded, par-3 11th would also get votes from anyone who plays it for being tricky.
Favorite Hole: There were not many pars on my scorecard, so my favorite had to be the par-3 fifth. I didn't par here either (bogey) but I did like the layout and dropped my high-arching tee shot just on the fringe.