Orange County National — Crooked Cat

Crooked Cat is the tougher of the two championship courses at Orange County National, sharing the same 900-acre golf-only facility outside Orlando and the same Phil Ritson, Dave Harman, and Isao Aoki design team that built Panther Lake. At 7,388 yards from the tips with a 76.0 rating and a 139 slope, Crooked Cat sits just behind ChampionsGate International for the highest course rating in the Orlando area, and it offers a stern examination for accomplished players.

Where Panther Lake channels golfers through more defined corridors, Crooked Cat opens up slightly wider playing areas with less obvious strategic direction, asking you to identify the correct line without being guided to it. That subtlety is the course's defining characteristic. First-time players may find Crooked Cat less immediately impressive than Panther Lake, but repeated play reveals a design that offers more options and more nuanced risk-reward than its more popular neighbour.

Length matters here. At nearly 7,400 yards, the course demands two solid shots on most par 4s to reach the vicinity of the green. The par 5s offer strategic variety, with some reachable in two for long hitters and others presenting a genuine three-shot challenge. The par 3s test a full range of irons, with distances and green complexes that require precise distance control.

Conditioning matches the Panther Lake standard, which is to say it is exceptional for a public facility. The same 900-acre infrastructure and dedicated golf operation supports both courses equally well. Greens run at consistent speeds, fairways are firm without being punishing, and bunkers are maintained to a standard that ensures clean lies for legitimate bunker play.