Deer Island Country Club

Deer Island Country Club (formerly known as International Golf Club, and before that Deer Island CC), is located in an area of large lakes an hours' drive to the north-west of Orlando, This excellent course straddles the length and breadth of Deer Island, surrounded by the large expanses of Lake Dora and Lake Beauclair.

Laid out on relatively open flat terrain, an increasing number of properties flank some parts of the course, but generally there's an open natural feel to this "easy on the eye" layout. Good width flattish fairways are attractively mounded and bunkered with smooth-lined, sharp-edged, stylish bunkers. The elegantly crafted greens and green surrounds are always presented in excellent condition.

In this watery lakeside environment, no surprise to find water in play on most holes, with many small lakes skirting the greens and fairways. In this wonderfully peaceful environment, it must have originally felt like golfing in an undisturbed wildlife sanctuary. In recent years the addition of more housing around the course has inevitably lessened the layout's natural radiance ... although not entirely.

Pick of the holes: the short, risk-reward, par-5 16th is one of several excellent golf holes. Here you'll find swamp and woodland lining the hole's right side and a menacing cluster of bunkers and a pond guarding the green.