Orlando Golf News
A few of the most popular golf courses in Orlando will play host to U.S. Open Local Qualifiers this week. Timacuan Golf Club hosts the first of these local qualifying tournaments on Monday, May 11th. It marks the fifth time in six years that Timacuan has hosted this event.
Shingle Creek Golf Club will host a local qualifying tournament on Wednesday, May 12th. Designed by David Harmon, Shingle Creek Golf Club was recognized as the best golf course in Orlando 2015. Shingle Creek is consistently one of the best conditioned golf courses in Orlando.
Larry Rinker has been appointed Director of Instruction at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Orlando. Ritz-Carlton Golf Club is home to an 18-hole Greg Norman-designed championship golf course and is the annual host of the PNC Father/Son Challenge. Short Game Specialist Larry Rinker, is a 34-year veteran member of the PGA Tour and in this role will lead all resort guest and membership golf instruction, including group clinics, player development programs, multi-day golf schools, and special instructional programming all with V1 video analysis.
Two golf instructors in Orlando have been named among the inaugural coaches in the newly formed Golf Channel Academy. Kenny Nairn of Celebration Golf Club and Fred Griffin of the Grand Cypess Academy of Golf at the Grand Cypress Golf Club have been named as two of thirty of golf's most distinguished PGA of America and LPGA teaching professionals making up the newly formed Golf Channel Academy. Backed by Golf Channel, the game's leading global multimedia and entertainment source, Golf Channel Academy will open its charter locations in Spring 2015.
Golf Channel Academy is the first network devoted to efficiently expanding the business of golf instruction through a unique marketing partnership with selected coaches and their facilities, and availing itself of a variety of Golf Channel promotional and customized marketing tools. Golf Channel's support represents a notable shift in how teaching, coaching, and player development are presented, promoted, and delivered.
PGA TOUR Superstore is ushering in a new experience for golfers and tennis players in Central Florida with the December 6 grand opening of its first interactive Orlando retail store. The 50,000 square foot store, located at 7603 Turkey Lake Road near the intersection of West Sand Lake Road in Bayhill Plaza, is the PGA TOUR Superstore's 21st location and the third in Florida, joining locations in Delray Beach and Naples.
"PGA TOUR Superstore is recognized as the retail authority for golfers who want to shop like the pros and have access to 'all things golf. Our professional expertise and interactive environment inspires all types of golfers - from beginners to scratch golfers - to play the game and find everything they need under one roof," said PGA TOUR Superstore President and CEO Dick Sullivan. "We are delivering to Orlando, above and beyond, the best experiential destination in golf. And for tennis players, we have the widest selection of brand names in equipment and apparel."
Some of the best junior golfers in Florida will converge on Timacuan Golf and Country Club this weekend for the next stop on the Florida State Golf Association Junior Tour.
The event will feature boys and girls aged 13 to 15. It is a 36-hole stroke-play competition.
Timacuan Golf Club has become one of the most popular tournament courses in Florida, especially since re-doing all 18 greens with Mini-Verde grass in the summer of 2013. The putting surfaces at the 27-year-old Lake Mary course are the best they have ever been.
Marriott Golf announced that Nathan Stith, PGA Director of Golf at Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Orlando, was named Golf Professional of the Year. Marriott Golf's Golf Professional of the Year award recognizes an individual who consistently performs and exceeds in areas of sales and profit; supplier program compliance; rounds improvement; leadership in personnel development; innovative program development; affinity programs; earning industry and Marriott Golf awards. Consideration for the prestigious award is based on performance excellence for current and previous years.
After three months of careful renovation, the Tom Watson Signature Design Conservatory Course at Hammock Beach Resort will re-open on August 30, 2013. The 7,776-yard layout, which has hosted a PGA TOUR event, has created one of the finest putting surfaces in the industry by transitioning the type of grass on its greens from TifEagle to Paspalum Platinum.
The Paspalum Platinum strain is a saltwater-tolerant grass being used more frequently in tropical environments, making it a perfect fit at the oceanfront Hammock Beach. The resort used a non-invasive, no-till planting method to cause minimal disruption to the underlying root structure.
The summer-long greens restoration project is nearing completion at Timacuan Golf Club, with an unveiling date of Labor Day Weekend approaching.
According to the course's designer Ron Garl, the project is right on target.
"They have done a great job here with the new greens," said Garl during a visit last week. "These greens are better right now than established greens at most other courses in the area. Superintendent Brandon Sims and his staff are to be commended."
Holiday Inn Club Vacations at Orange Lake Resort will host the Bright House Networks Celebrity Golf Tournament on June 7, 2013. The Legends at Orange Lake championship course will host the event. The resort is pleased to play host to important fundraising events like this one, where local Orlando stars will tee off to improve the lives of families in Central Florida. Over the past 10 years, Orange Lake Resort has served as the host site to charitable golf tournaments that have raised more than $6 million towards important causes.
To support player development programs while encouraging families to tee it up together, Marriott Golf announced the full schedule for the 6th Annual International Family Golf Festival program. This year-long series of one-day family golf events will take place at 32 leading Marriott Golf-managed destinations throughout the world. La Iguana Golf Club in Costa Rica will kick off this year's festivities as the first international property to host an event on May 12, while Camelback Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., will be the first domestic property to host an event on May 19.
