ChampionsGate Golf Club — International Course

The International at ChampionsGate is the closest thing to links golf you'll find in central Florida, a Greg Norman design from 2000 (with Matthew Dusenberry and Tad Burnett, remastered by Norman in 2016) that holds the highest course rating in the state at 76.3. Norman committed fully to the concept rather than diluting it for the resort market, and you can feel that commitment from the first tee. You're playing at the Omni Orlando Resort, which also operates the parkland National Course on the same property.

You're playing 7,363 yards, par 72, slope 143. The fairways are kept hard and fast, so the ball runs and your tee shot has to account for both flight and ground. Pot bunkers turn up at the distances Norman wanted them, framed by sandy dunes that visually have more in common with the Carolina Sandhills than with anything else in Orlando. Wind is a constant variable on this exposed terrain.

The 2016 remaster sharpened the bunkering and improved playability from the forward tees, but the fundamental honesty of the design held. This is a course that rewards a controlled draw or fade and punishes a single shot shape that can't adapt. Bring your best ball-striking day, or the score will get away from you in a hurry.