Rio Pinar Golf

Overall I’d give it a strong 3.5. Amenities….Range looks great. Typical Top Tracer set up. I say typical l as it seems these have been installed everywhere. The company did a great job selling their product. But it’s good. Just no longer unique.

Restaurant/Bar area looks tremendous. Truly a great job in there. Men’s lounge/grill room is great too. Excellent place for lunch/dinner after a round. Clubhouse is nice. Real nice. Temporary (?) Proshop is small but it seems they’re just not done with the real one on the east wing. Practice area will be nice tho as it surrounds that wing.

Course. Quickly….Greens very good. Fairways are getting there and better than expected. Bunkers still need some work. Tee boxes and rough need more that a little work but usually the last part to get proper attention.

Routing is a gem. Bringing it back to its former glory will be nice. It’s almost there. Pricing seems right in line with what you get so the overall value of the course right now is tremendous. I’ll be back and often. Right down the road from Ventura CC and very much comparable in value and progress. Very happy to see this part of town back on the golf map of Orlando. It’s been too long. Congrats.

They have done an excellent job improving the course and clubhouse. They have successfully brought 1957 back to life

Enjoyed my round the greens were excellent fairways were really nice sand traps a little on the hard side but ok the tee boxes on the other hand are pretty beat up some were like extra sand traps I'm sure they are doing the best they can to remedy the situation tracman range not up and running yet but range is open and short game areas are great . I wish they could solve their booking issues maybe corridinate golf now and call ins better keeping the info in the same place would help and if your gonna set someone's time back by 20 minutes comp them some range balls to use that time up. All in all I had a great time and will be back.

This is my 4th time playing this course. I live in Orlando and play most of the tracks in the area. This will unfortunately be my last time playing here.

I booked a 6:30am 2ball. Upon arrival at 6:05, no one was in the pro shop to check us in. The starter let us know that he would make sure we are sent off regardless of if the pro shop was open or not.

No problems there.

There was the 6:39 group, and the 6:48 group in the parking lot as well, waiting for the pro shop to open as well. We were all discussing the issue as a group, and how were we going to be able to even hit the range to warm up if we couldn’t check in, etc. When the starter overheard this, he went OFF on one of the guys in the 6:39 group! Literally yelling at the guy, “I told you I would make sure your were sent off on time! I’ve heard you say 3 times now that the pro shop isn’t open, and what do you want me to do?!!”

Weird move for a starter. Especially at 6:10am. Everyone was blown away.

Moving on….

I try to hit balls at the range, but the dispenser wasn’t Unlocked to access the range balls. Had to wait another 10minutes for someone to come open that.

Once I finally got my range balls, we were able to hit literally 5-6 balls before we were told we had to tee off.

Odd, but ok… moving on.

The 1st tee, a par 5, I hit my drive into the fairway. When we get to my ball, I notice the maintenance person on the mower in the fairway in front of me. I wave to get his attention before I hit my 2nd shot. I hit my shot. He SEES the ball land in the fairway about 20 yards in front of him. He then drives RIGHT over my ball, ripping it to shreds. I hit a provisional, because I knew he mowed right over my landing spot. I hit this one more to the right (my left) of him. (I was laying up on this par 5).

He mows right over this ball as well!!!

When I drive up to find and confirm that my two shots were mowed over, I confront the maintenance person. He literally shrugs his shoulders and keeps going.

Horrible way to start.

Moving on…

The tee boxes were ALL dirt. There was not one level tee box on the entire course. The carts are ridiculously limited. You can barely drive a few yards off the fairway before they slow down or even stop, forcing you to reverse out. You have to walk to find your ball even when it’s 5 yards off the fairway.

Makes for a terribly slow and rhythm killing round.

Moving on.

The greens were the best part of the course. They rolled true.

At the end of our round, we pull up to our cars and see the starter yet again. We let him know of the maintenance personnel that we had to deal with on the 1st tee. I show him the golf balls that were shredded by him (ProV left dashes. Not the cheapest ball out there)

He apologized for the guy, and then proceeds to say “my normal maintenance guy is black, and super cool” Odd for him to even mention this. I am African American, so maybe that was his way of trying to find a common thread? I don’t know. Very odd and off putting nonetheless. He then says “You all are always welcome here when I’m here. I mean well you are always welcome here period.”

Very off-putting. I noticed in his face that he wished he could take those words back. But it was too late.

Before driving off in his cart, he asks us to go inside the pro shop to officially “check in” for our round that we already completed. Remember, the pro shop wasn’t open to check any guest in that morning until after 6:30 or so.

My friend and I go into the pro shop to complete that and to complain about the overall experience. No one was in the pro shop!! This was at 10:00am! It was open, but no one was there to help us! We stood there for about a minute, then left.

We are not about to wait around an extra second to allow this staff to do the job they should be doing already.

We leave. I know that in the least, Golf Now would just charge me for the round either way, so we would be ok.

I got notification from Golf Now later that day confirming my earlier assumption. I was charged for both tee times. No big deal.

The bigger issue was the staff, the off putting comments, and the way they spoke to guests. It was the craziest, most uncomfortable, annoying golf experience I’ve had in all my years of playing this game I love.

I will never play Rio Pinar again. They are pumping a lot of money into marketing and other things to paint a picture of change in the culture and quality of this course, but it is all smoke and mirrors. I wish them the best, as I am only one person. But my money and time will be much better spent at any of the other courses here in the Orlando area.

Completely new course than the one I played two years ago. In great shape and new range is cool. Choppy tee boxes would be my only complaint.

WOW- what a difference a new owner, an investment in the course and a few months has made.

The subtle redesign of a few holes (most noticeable the former #1, no more creek fronting the green and bunkers on several other holes are a welcome change.

They have installed a small practice green next to now the 10th tee in case of a back nine start.

The greens are in excellent condition, as are the bunkers and fairways.

There was no issue with the carts other than they are set up using geofencing, so the speed of the cart is severely impacted if you are searching for a shot in the open wooded areas.

They have a renovated range with the track man system that can be synchronized to your phone. We did not get the chance to try it out, but the covered facility looks 100# better.

The biggest complaint against RIO has always been over booking T times and rounds that take tooooooooo long. We teed off early on the 4th and played in 3:50.

After not playing here for months, we we be back again as I expect the course will keep getting better.

Had we tried and liked trackman- RIO might have gotten 5 stars.

Recently got into playing golf about a year ago and Rio Pinar was definitely one of the better experiences I’ve had so far.

The moment I got out my car a staff member greeted me and came over with a cart and attended to me.

From there, I checked in with no problem for my 9:20 tee time(was about 40 min early) and hit the range which is equipped w/ tracker technology, shade, fans, and just an overall great practice facility. A medium bucket was $10.65. They also have putting and chipping greens.

I started my round with no issues, although I wasn’t told who I’d be playing with. (I didn't see a starter but maybe I missed them or it was just a super slow day - I’m not sure) I ended up teaming up with another solo with the same tee time. We were behind a foursome and pace of play was okay but ultimately ended up teaming with the 2 behind us to even things out.

Course was great, nice fairways, greens were in a good shape, 5 tee boxes to play from and overall just a nice course to play.

I definitely recommend and the food is great!!

The course is in really good shape right now. The new driving range is a nice touch.

Great deal for this course. Greens were great, Fairways Great also. They had big rain the night before and casual water several places. Staff was out there cleaning up. Only complaint would be young lady in pro shop wasn't very friendly. Pro shop not very well stocked. Definitely will play there again.