Orange County National - Panther Lake

Phil Ritson, Isao Aoki, and the late Dave Harman collaborated on Panther Lake, the first course to open at Orange County National Golf Center in 1997, 30 minutes east of Orlando in Winter Garden. Ritson was a Hall-of-Fame golf instructor (David Leadbetter called him a 'pioneer of modern instruction') whose design instincts translated to playable, memorable hole sequencing; Aoki, a legendary Japanese Tour winner, brought tour-player sight-lines; Harman executed the shaping. 7,350 yards par-72 parkland routing, with the rare Florida feature of meaningful elevation change scattered across the site. Golf Magazine ranked Panther Lake among its Top 100 Courses You Can Play, and many consider it one of the most memorable public-access courses in the entire state. Peak green fee runs $85-155 depending on season. Fits an Orlando trip as the 'most-memorable-of-the-Orange-County-National-two' card, pair with Crooked Cat for a 36-hole OCN stopover en route to ChampionsGate or Reunion.