After my morning round I had a tasty lunch at Publix and headed further south for another round of golf. My afternoon destination was Lake Wales Country Club, where I met up with a college friend.

My friend and I played our college golf at Lake Wales CC so the course is one of my personal favorites, thanks to all the good memories here. At Lake Wales CC I shot my lowest score ever, met some wonderful people and enjoyed many great conversations. Needless to say I was excited to return.

Back when I played my college golf (about 15 years ago) Lake Wales CC was a private club. The owners and membership at the time treated my golf team well and the course was always in mint shape. If anyone involved with the club from 2004 to 2007 finds this post, please accept my huge “thanks”!

In recent years Lake Wales started allowing public play and I golfed here in 2014, with a different friend. I had a blast during that 2014 round (taking a trip down memory lane) even though the conditions were a far cry from the the previous decade.

Lake Wales is a Donald Ross design with a rich history. The course provides plenty of fun and challenge while still being fair to play. Most of my rounds here were played from the blue tees, which I think were around 6,500 yards. These days the blues are 6,386 yards while another set of tee boxes (the orange tees at 6,790 yards) were added to lengthen the course.

For this round my friend and I tried those orange tees (rating of 73.4/slope of 138) and sure noticed the extra length, especially with no roll. Back when the course was playing 6,500 yards the distance was manageable for even a shorter hitter. There are spots where you’ll want to find the fairway, but you can recover from many places.

So, Lake Wales isn’t the longest and doesn’t require straight drives. As you might expect with a Donald Ross course, the green complexes are the course’s main defense – and its best quality! If you don’t get the ball on the proper portion of the green then you’ll face a tough putt. When I played in college the greens were quick and that speed highlighted the all the brilliant contour in the surfaces.

When it comes to favorite holes at Lake Wales, I don’t think there are any bad ones. But, the 5th, 6th and 16th are my favorites. The 5th is short par-3 with a clever mostly bowl-shaped green while the 6th is a driveable par-4. The neck of fairway near the green (on the 6th) is narrow and bunkers surround the green. The 16th has a three-tiered green that is probably 100 feet long.

Unfortunately, conditions have fallen over the years and Lake Wales will end up among the most poorly conditioned courses that I played in 2020. We paid $40 each and while things were playable, that was about it. The fairways, tees and rough were a mix of grasses and bare spots. The greens rolled fine but were fuzzy and slow.

I’ll always remember Lakes Wales for what it was – a wonderful private course that was a blast to play. Hopefully someone can give the course the attention it deserves. As things stand right now, the only way I’d suggest a round here is if you are a local or if you love Donald Ross designs.

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