I decided to use Friday to check out a couple courses on Florida’s Space Coast. This area is probably best known for its beaches and Cape Canaveral, but I was there to start exploring the golf scene. Since I was driving over from The Villages I booked an early tee time at The Great Outdoors Golf Club, which was right on my way to the coast.

Great Outdoors is located in Titusville, not far from the I-95. The course is part of a “premier” RV resort and housing community. The homes here are fairly interesting because most have covered RV garages. I don’t have an RV, but it looked like a pretty cool concept. You basically back your RV into the living room!

Anyway, I paid my $40 and attempted to make my way to the first tee. Unfortunately, there was a little drama before before I took my first swing. The starter first had me put everything into one cart. Then he changed his mind and wanted me to share a cart with another single. I get it, carts are scarce with COVID. Not a big deal. What frustrated me was what happened next.

I asked to walk and was told that would be fine. The starter then changed his mind and said I couldn’t walk during the morning. That was immediately after he sent out a fivesome in front of our group and told the fivesome to keep up the pace! I called him out on that but he wouldn’t budge. There are pros and cons to each side of the argument, but whatever. I ended up sharing a cart with a 90 year old golfer, who was an awesome guy. He drove right to his ball, played quickly and made a few pars. He was an inspiration and I hope that will be me if I make it to that age!

In case you made it this far in my review, there isn’t too much to highlight about the golfing experience here at Great Outdoors. The setting stinks since the course plays through way too many homes. However, the design won’t beat you up too bad – so that is nice. Sadly, the fog didn’t burn off until about noon, yay.

Overall, Great Outdoors is a normal Florida course found in a housing development. The course works fine for the locals and I was happy to get in a warmup round before my afternoon tee time somewhere else. Ron Garl, an architect with many Florida courses in his portfolio, designed Great Outdoors. Garl seems to take a practical approach to his work, which I like.

I played the blue tees which are 70.3/123/6444. There is not much in the way of signature holes at Great Outdoors. My favorite hole was the 11th, a 138 yard par-3 that is all carry over water. The green slopes from back to front so it is a fun short hole. Sadly, there are probably fifty houses crammed into that section of the course and all those houses kind of ruin the excitement of the hole. The 13th is a reachable par-5 and another fun hole.

Regarding the conditions, the course was in great shape. It was wet so it was easy to chunk shots, but for $40 this time of year I thought the value was strong. The tees and fairways had good coverage and the ball sat up. The greens were beautiful and rolled well, at a medium pace. I don’t think anything was overseeded, but I could be wrong.

Great Outdoors is a simple and functional golf course. I actually mean that in a good way and liked being able to work on my swing while playing. With so many “championship” courses out there the more plain design here is refreshing to see. Still, unless someone is a local or visiting the RV park, Great Outdoors isn’t a course to seek out.

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