What instantly strikes you about Southern Dunes is the sheer scale of the land and the dramatic vertical movement. For many golfers, it’s a shock to see such significant elevation changes, cresting near 100 feet, which just isn’t what you expect in the Orlando area. Smyers designed this course to be thought-provoking, not just a brute-force test of distance. The fairways are wide, almost invitingly so, but they’re also extremely undulating, which means you’re constantly dealing with tricky lies.

The true defense of this course, however, is the remarkable number of strategically placed bunkers, well over 170 of them, and the enormous, complex greens. They’re famously fast and often feature dramatic internal contours. On the front nine, you’ll find the routing pretty open, really encouraging you to take a thoughtful approach off the tee and focus on setting up a precise second shot. The back nine, in contrast, tightens up a little and feels more demanding, with the par five 13th and the closing stretch offering a thrilling finish. It’s easy to see why it consistently ranks among the state’s very best public courses; it’s a design that rewards intelligent play on every single hole.