I ended up with two 36-hole golf days on this trip, and Wednesday was one of them. As usual, I debated where to play. I heard good things about Victoria Hills Golf Club, which is located between Orlando and Daytona Beach. I’ve also had my eye on the LPGA International courses for quite some time.

Finally, I decided on a shorter drive and booked the first tee time of the day at Victoria Hills. Unfortunately, Wednesday turned out to be one of the coldest days in the Orlando area in quite some time. There was a short frost delay and the sun took a long time to break through the clouds. Go figure, a frost delay in Florida in November! However, that worked in my favor as I cruised around in 3 hours.

Victoria Hills was designed in the early 2000’s by Ron Garl, who has done most of his work in Florida. Garl also did Golden Ocala Golf & Equestrian Club, which is one I’d love to play someday. From what I read, Garl did some work under Joe Lee, another well-known Florida designer.

Victoria Hills continually turns up on the lists of the best public courses in the state. I found articles from as recent as 2015 and 2016 (from major golf magazines) which put Victoria Hills among the top 25 public courses in Florida. So, from everything that I could find, the course had potential.

I’ll say the design is definitely above average, even with some homes being built. Victoria Hills has a beautiful, sandy look to it. According to the starter there are 104 bunkers on the course and many of them have steep faces and jagged tongues. You’ll want to avoid the bunkers for a good score. Personally, I wouldn’t mind seeing a handful of bunkers removed.

No doubt the bunkers are the course’s main challenge. However, undulation in the fairways and large amounts of contour on the greens also increase the difficulty. I played the captain’s tees which are 71.4/135/6532.

The front nine’s design is solid, but nothing extraordinary. On the other hand, I really enjoyed the back nine! The back has more strategy and some uphill and downhill to it, highlighted by the 11th, 12th and 13th holes. The 11th is a pretty par-3 with rock features and a large bunker short of the green. Trees behind the green frame the hole and at 155 yards, it felt like I could be aggressive with the tee shot.

The 12th and 13th are par-4’s that offer options. Those holes are well-bunkered and you can hit driver or lay up from the tee. The 12th is the shortest par-4 on the course and allows you a chance to try to stick a short iron close. The 13th is downhill, just enough that you might have to take 5 yards off the approach.

Unfortunately, I found the conditions to be only so-so. The greens were looking good and rolled well. The bunkers had good sand in them and were raked. Everything else left a lot to be desired. There were large thin spots and I had my share of sandy and chunky lies, even in the fairways. It didn’t cost a lot to play here ($35), but the course deserves better!

I guess my recommendation is to hold off on playing Victoria Hills, at least for now. There are so many other quality courses closer to Orlando, which makes it tough to suggest a round at Victoria Hills until the conditions improve some. If the conditions get sorted out then Victoria Hills gets my nod.

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