Playing Southern Dunes Golf and Country Club near Orlando is like coming upon the Mona Lisa in a trailer park. Try to ignore the identical screened porches and swimming pools of the cookie-cutter development that surrounds the golf course; they'll only detract from this work of art.
Steve Smyers' design reflects the influence of the legendary golf architects of the 1920s and '30s, emphasizing risk/reward strategy, creative shot-making and bold design features like the 180 red-sand bunkers. The greens are big and undulating, and the tall grasses and ornamentals marking the fairway borders provide a bit of a Scottish-golf feel. This is golf as its rarely played in Central Florida and one of the most imaginative layouts in the state, if not the country.