Best golf courses near Clermont, FL

Perhaps best known for its membership that includes numerous professional golfers, Isleworth is an exclusive private club in the Orlando area. Tiger Woods lived adjacent to the driving range and spent much of his practice time at Isleworth in the mid-2000s. The course was originally designed by Arnold Palmer in the mid-1980s, but Steve Smyers led a significant redesign in 2004 that lengthened the course and made it more challenging. The course traverses rolling terrain and has a challenging set of green complexes with plenty of movement. Trees line most holes, most notably at the long par-3 second, where overhanging limbs on both sides creates a claustrophobic corridor playing to a long narrow green. The 2014 Hero World Challenge was played at Isleworth, where Jordan Spieth lapped the field just months before his historic 2015 campaign.

Tranquilo Golf Club at Four Seasons is a Tom Fazio design that has previously hosted the LPGA Tour’s Tournament of Champions. It’s a true out-and-back layout, where the front nine plays away from the clubhouse into the forest before turning back toward the resort. Many holes are lined with dense forest that surrounds the property, making you forget you’re just a couple miles from Disney World.

Orange County National is a hotspot for public golf in Orlando, with two quality courses (and a third nine-hole layout) and a massive, 360-degree driving range. Crooked Cat, often considered easier than its sibling course, offers more of a links-style experience, with native heather framing the wide fairways.

Tiger Woods captured his second career PGA Tour title at the Magnolia course in 1996, edging Payne Stewart by one shot. He would add another win at Disney’s signature course in 1999. The Magnolia layout features wide fairways guarded by water, which lurks on 11 of the 18 holes. Though the fairways are generally wide, if you miss them, you may be blocked out by the magnolia trees that line many holes.