Rio Pinar Golf

Great day on the links. All the other golfers must of played early in the day. We only saw 4-5 other twosomes the entire day.

Great course to play, very forgiving. Only issue was that it hasn't rained in a while and the fairways were dry. Greens were in great shape. Starters, drink cart girl and rangers were really nice. Went to the restaurant afterwards and was disappointed with the new menu. Wasn't the same as the website or previous visits. Waitress was super nice but had her hands tied for substitutions and such. I doubt I'll go back there for food anytime soon.

Played Rio again yesterday to give it another go. However, the prices are outrageous and they wanted to charge me for my special need son who can’t be left at home to ride in the cart. This meant I needed two carts. The mgr. did refund me the money for the second cart however, they did let a group of five go out in front of us with three karts. They arrogance of the staff is was I’ll never pay for a membership. Pretty sad given I grew up in Orlando and to see this course get saved from death row and being close to level of arrogance is mind blowing.

1st, this is a gorgeous property. 2nd, the staff was very attentive- all of them from the outside guys, to the starter, the beverage girl, everyone. 3rd, the new owner is bringing this place back to glory. Greens were good, rolled true. Conditions were dry, but with the current drought that's understandable.

Our round started with us waiting close to 45 minutes past our intended tee time. There was a massive backup and didn’t seem to be much emphasis on getting it moving. After that, we had several issues with our golf cart due to the restrictions set. It really limits your ability to drive anywhere besides the fairway and the specified cart path. If you miss the fairway at all, you need to go explore the rough on foot to find your ball, which further slows the pace of play. We also had several instances where it had issues because we were driving on the edge of the fairway. We also experienced several times where it would completely stop working. We had to turn it off and back on again multiple times and sat there for over 10 minutes before it started moving again. I found out our cart wasn’t the only one experiencing these problems. Overall, the course felt overpriced for what you got. I wouldn’t recommend unless you can get in for a cheaper rate.

Greens are phenomenal. Fairways had some small issues in places. Overall, I was very impressed. Pace of play was a bit slow, but that was most likely due to the guys I was paired with. The clubhouse is gorgeous and the staff was great.

Awesome course. I personally love it. Everything was in excellent shape. Will go again soon.

Played for the first time April 24th, 2025.

Impressed by the layout and conditions. Fairways were excellant despite the dry weather as were the greens. Only one tee box was below par on the first nine. Great club house and very friendly staff. why have i never been here before? Tree lined fairways punish wayward shots so you have to be straight. Will be back.

First played the course 27 years ago through chance meeting of a Member! Great memories were created and me and Brit friends enjoyed playing with Art Witter’s and his pals at Rio, culminating with playing for the Eng/Us trophy!! So pleased to have returned and found the course back to its best. Great staff and hospitality, course and greens superb and can’t wait to come back next time I’m over in Florida!

This is an old school course built I think in 57 but the fairways are still fairly wide and the variety holes is very good. They tend to do a lot of tournaments and events so if you can check on that before you book a round that’s a good idea but otherwise certainly worth playing.

Played a round with a few guys who hadn’t been to this course in a few years, they said they were hesitant to come because of how bad it was previously. To their surprise the course is in great shape and is coming along nicely with the new owners, greens were pure and fast, fairways are nice, with the lack of rain I was happy with the conditions and the price to play is nice for this time of year. If you had a bad experience here before, check it out now. This was my first time and I would definitely play here again. I’m a stickler for course conditions.

Rio is in great shape. Greens are hard and slick but roll great.

Continue to have issues with pace of play however. There were some groups that had been shotgun started that we got stuck behind. Playing gold tees and could barely make the fairway. Slow slow play. Not sure why they would start them on 18. Should have started on 10.