ChampionsGate Golf Resort - International Course
Davenport, Florida
An extremely challenging golf course recommened for skilled and avid players the International measures a lengthy 7,363 yards from the Championship black tee. ChampionsGate International has the highest course rating in Florida, boasting a challenging 76.8 and a slope of 143. The remaining pin placements are blues at 6793/137 slope, the whites at 6239/132 and the golds at 5618/118. (Interactive course tour at bottom of page) The golf course follows a classical pattern of two out-and-back loops of nine holes, has the look and feel of a links-style layout in the British Isles – except for the addition of water hazards. The International was designed, constructed and seeded to offer a hard, fast playing surface similar to those found on true links courses. The golf course features high-side dunes, planted with swirling grasses that grow down literally into the banks of the hazards and to just paces off the fairway. Scattered throughout the course are randomly placed pot bunkers - over 160 in all. Miss hit shots can frequently lead to difficult lies in thick grass in the wind swept dunes, or out of tricky pot bunkers. The Greg Norman designed course rolls its way through Central Florida Wetlands, adding both beauty and challenges to the round. Welcome to Orlando Links Golf. There are consequences for missing the fairways as the International course's common area rough has been allowed to grow natural and long, but there’s also plenty of room to drive the ball with wide, reachable fairways. Players able to shape shots will be rewarded, but shaping is not a priority - club selection is. The proper way to approach the course is where is the best located to miss? The green complexes are always in excellent tournament playing conditions. Green sizes and shapes vary greatly and most golfers will continually find themselves off the putting surface wondering how to navigate the bumps and steep slopes to get the ball back on. The par-5 third hole is recognized as one of Orlando's best. The hole calls for a long diagonal drive across wetlands and between hazard-laced dunes. The next two shots require tricky position shots to dodge high dunes, pot bunkers, and more water hazards protecting the front of the green. A par is considered a good score on this tricky hole. After a long and broad four-par at Thirteen comes one of the most difficult par-3's in the region. Downhill, but tipping out at over 230 yards from the black tees, the shallow but raised green in the middle befuddles golfers with tricky undulations. A deep solo pot bunker protects the green's front, and grabs most short hits. The 455-yard par-4 Fifteenth might be the strongest hole on the course, with two fairway bunkers as lateral hazards along the left to content with off the tee box. The approach must carry the water hazard short and left of a shallow, raised green that falls away on all sides. During the first weekend of December, the greatest collection of Major winners ever assembled competes in the Father Son Challenge. During that weekend you could catch Greg Norman, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, VJ Singh, Bernard Langer, Larry Nelson and other Major winners compete with there sons to win the prestigious for the Willie Park Trophy. The ChampionsGate International Golf Course is truly where the champions play. The International, with 18 of the most dramatic and challenging holes in Florida, is destined to rank among the top resort courses in the country, and has been honorably mentioned in Golf Magazine's '10 Most Distinctive Places to Play'
