Similar to what I did a couple weeks ago I took advantage of great weather on Saturday and made it a 36-hole day! I ended up meeting friends in Orlando for an afternoon round and I found a morning round along the way.

As you know I’m always in search of a new course (huge surprise, I know!) and that search had me stopping in Lake County, at Green Valley Country Club. The course is only a country club in name and allows online tee times for the public. I ended up booking through a third party (Golfnow) and my reservation was for $45. When I checked in the proshop rang me up for $36, which is their special right now. So, that was nice of them and worked out well.

For $36 my experience at Green Valley Country Club was just fine. Lake County isn’t known for its great golf, at least when compared to much of Florida. Unfortunately that theme extended to Green Valley. Still, I was able to play quickly (under 3 hours) and had plenty of time to get over to Chick Fil A for breakfast!

Green Valley is located in Clermont, just off State Road 50. The course was designed by Lloyd Clifton and opened in 1966. Considering the course’s age it felt quite modern since it snakes through what looks to be a planned housing development. There are a few old-school elements but not as many as I would have expected.

I played the blue tees which are 71.6/124/6614 and thought the course ended up being more difficult than the rating and slope would lead you to believe. The fairways are narrower than they appear so I’d call Green Valley a good driving course. If you get offline then water lurks and trees can force you to just try to advance the ball. Plus, many greens are heavily contoured.

Ultimately, I thought the best thing about Green Valley was its elevation change and mature trees. This part of Florida is blessed with hilly land and there are a number of holes here that take advantage of the terrain. I thought the opening three holes were the best holes on the course because of the up and down to them. The 3rd is a long downhill par-4 (436 yards) that has a great look to it.

Besides the 3rd, the front nine has some other good holes, including the 6th, 7th and 8th. The 6th is a par-4 that doglegs left and has a blind tee shot. Once you get out to the fairway it drops down to the green and you’ll end up with a great view of Central Florida. The 7th is another strong par-4 with water guarding the green and the 8th is a par-3 that is all carry over more water.

I thought the back nine was the weaker nine since it has a handful of harsh doglegs – for example, the 10th, 15th and 18th. The 10th is probably the strangest of these holes and shows as 390 yards on the scorecard. The hole horseshoes around a lake and it actually looked to be only 230 yards to the carry the water on a line at the green. I ended up playing the hole the conventional way (out to the left). However, both lines off the tee seem to have about the same amount of risk.

I shouldn’t complaint about the conditions considering the price, but I’ve experienced much better conditions in that $30 to $40 price range. The fairways were average at best (offering a mix of lies) but once off the fairways things got ugly. There were all sorts of different grasses and sandy, bare areas in the rough sections. Sadly, the tees didn’t have much grass. The greens were good surfaces, full and they rolled at a medium pace.

I always enjoy seeing a new course, but Green Valley just turned out to be a checklist kind of course for me. The course appears popular with the locals (which is good) but I think it is one you can skip, unless you are staying the winter around the corner or trying to play everywhere.

Course Pictures (click any picture to scroll through the gallery):