Mystic Dunes Golf Club

Date of play: 14 March 2011

Along with 3 golf mates on an early golf vacation I played five courses in the Orlando area: Eagle Creek, Waldorf Astoria, Harmony Golf Preserve, Orange County National and--- lastly (very lastly)---- Mystic Dunes Golf Course. For context, all of us have played a lot of different courses over the years and range in handicap from 5 to 20. Despite great reviews and ratings Mystic Dunes seems to have on various golf sites and magazines we were very disappointed to the point of that we felt we had been had.
Mystic Dunes is a poorly designed, tricked out track. I think Gary Koch should be embarrassed as the designer. The most problematic and annoying feature of the course is the greens. Most greens are either small and domed or large and excessively/severely tiered. In a few instances the only thing that seemed to be lacking was a windmill to putt through. As it relates to the second fundamental problem of the course--- maintenance--- such severely tiered or domed greens are very difficult to maintain---- cutting properly and keeping watered (tops of domes or low spots). The course also has a number of holes designed for blind shots, unnecessarily so. For a resort course that probably has a lot of one-time golfers, the blind holes are just a pain in the @$!*%--- not clever or fair.
The course was in poor condition when we played in mid-March 2011. The grass on the greens on the front nine was sparse--- bald spots and thin. The greens on the second nine were all top-dressed--- we were not informed of this when we started play. Needless to say, putting on top-dressed greens takes a lot of fun out of any round. Putting is a crapshoot. Fairways on the front-side were loaded with small, dry leaves and pretty thin.
Mystic Dunes does not deserve high ratings we used to select this course. If other courses we played, listed above, were “A’s”, Mystic Dunes would be a “C minus.” It is not a difficult course, it is a tricked out course that is not a good test of golf or a pleasurable round. With all the other golfing choices in the Orlando area, I would not recommend Mystic Dunes. Before writing this review I revisited some of the course rating and review sites. I read several recent glowing reviews of Mystic Dunes which makes me think Mystic Dunes marketers are writing their own copy. I just cannot believe anyone could play the course I played and give it a good review.
One other tip, our Garmin gps navigation system took us to what was the front entrance to the property--- it is now the locked back entrance.

played it yesterday... friendly staff, good ranger, no complaints there, I know it is out of season but they need to maintain the course better. Some areas, where the public can see the course, are maintained well. Others, mostly the front nine, need work. One of the tee boxes was unplayable where they had set it up that day, we had to move back. There are leaves and debris on many of the fairways and grass growing in some bunkers. I thought the design was interesting, definitely a lot of risk/reward options, but some of them are very contrived and gimmicky. The liberal use of the wood embanked sand traps, some of which are at least one story, seemed a bit out of place as well. The greens are tricked out and are too much. I believe they are Bermuda (which is currently dormant) and are over seeded with something else. It doesnt work when you have these huge (for a green) elevation changes and your ball will roll from bare dirt to grass and back. I would play it again in season and if the maintenance was upgraded but as it stands, there are too mnay other courses in close proximity that are better for the same price.

Played this course 3 times in late September. It is one of my favorite courses in the Orlando area. The purist may disagree, but I enjoy something different with challenge and risk/reward. This course has it all and then some. I have played over 100 different courses in the Myrtle Beach area and Mystic Dunes in Orlando is right up there with the best of them. Great staff, great greens and a fabulous layout! Play in the off season for some really great rates!