On Sunday I met a friend and we played ChampionsGate Country Club that afternoon. We played there last year so I won’t re-review that course right now. It is still a fun course, just with more building going on. I had time for a morning round somewhere along the way and The Monarch at Royal Highlands is right off U.S. Route 27, so I figured what the heck.

I booked an early tee time, around 7:30am, and was the second golfer out. Another single led the way and I never caught up to him. I’m glad I went with such an early time, because golfers swarmed the course later in the morning! Still, it felt like I had the place to myself as I played in 2 hours 45 minutes.

I found some recent reviews which indicated that Monarch was in good shape. That was my experience as well and I was pleasantly surprised by the conditions. The fairways were cut down and the greens were nice. The morning dew slowed the greens up, but they were cut tight and quality surfaces. The tees were more spotty with some sanded spots. Off the fairways and tees, it looks like the crew has worked to kill off the invasive grasses/weeds.

The design turned out to be more interesting than I expected. The course is set back into the community, well away from the highway and the front nine runs along the edge of some wetlands. The 1st and 2nd holes play near the clubhouse, then you get to a great little section of the course. The 3rd is a short par-4 with water to the left and options off the tee. Once you get to the 4th, things get a bit tighter as you end up golfing right next to the wetlands.

The 4th is a 198 yard par-3 that was one of my favorite holes. It plays over a natural hazard, to a green that is tucked into the swamp. Most of the green’s surface was blind from the tee and the hole has a jumbo flagstick, because of the junk you have to carry.

The 5th through the 8th are also located on this small section of land, between the swamp and the houses. I thought that this was the best stretch of holes at Monarch and it will help to shape the ball both ways when playing them.

The back nine at Monarch has a different feel to it, as it is more hilly. The 11th, 12th and 13th climb up to a high point before the 14th and 15th drop down next to a natural area. These holes are more like what you’d find at nearby Sanctuary Ridge Golf Club, with a mix of uphill and downhill holes surrounded by homes.

Probably the one knock against Monarch is that it is a short course. From the “tiger” tees it is only 6,018 yards. The rating is 68.9 and the slope is 119. The majority of the par-4’s play somewhere around 330 yards, so it isn’t the most testing course. I’m fine with that periodically, but I’m sure some will think the course is too easy when the shortness is combined with the forgiving design.

Monarch won’t compete with the attraction courses closer to Orlando, but it has a bit of interest to it and is fairly playable. It wasn’t a bad choice to round out a 36-hole day. For the $30 green fee, Monarch turned out to be a good deal.

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