Rio Pinar Golf

Even though the course at times looks like a construction site, the bargain basement pricing and clear improvements make this course worthwhile. I can't wait to see what else the new owners have in store. They have already hired the most affable and positive staff I have ever come across. Carts now have GPS, so I have that going for me...which is nice.

I used to love playing at Rio! It's a nice and easy layout with forgiving misses and has a lot of history. It was recently bought within the last few months and new ownership is putting a lot of money into making it a wonderful place to play again.

That being said, playing here now was awful. The course was in the worst shape I've seen central Florida offer. There is construction everywhere, the greens are beat and dead (there are 4 temp greens as well), the grass hasn't been cared for, and the carts have wildly inconvenient Geo-fencing enabled. Pace was slow since you could barely take the carts off the fairway, and we'd often get to places where we'd be in the fairway and be locked out of moving forward with the carts. Not to mention the entire clubhouse, practice facility, and course are all concurrently going through construction. There's open debris, piles of dirt, and the sound of trucks or contractors wailing away all the while.

In a year or two, this place will be a great course with a delightful clubhouse and facility. Until then, steer clear. Not worth your time to go there to play in such conditions on such a storied facility. I'll be back in 2025 with some optimism. The discounted rates they are offering right now might be tempting given the deal, but I wouldn't play here unless it was less than $20. It's real bad.

We're all rooting for you Rio! See ya soon

When I called to schedule a tee time the day before, they referred me to the GolfNow app. What they failed to mention was not only was the range closed, but they were re-doing multiple greens. What they did to supplement this issue was make a 20 foot green in the middle of the fairway which was not only in terrible shape but impossible to putt on. They did this on 3 or 4 separate holes.

Their golf carts also shut down if you go 5 feet off the fairway, more of an annoyance than anything.

If the representative that I spoke with on the phone would have told me all the issues with the course at the moment, I would not have booked a time, and definitely wouldn’t have shown up an hour early to be told the range is closed and that there is no way I’d be able to tee off at an earlier time.

Only good I can speak on was the bar staff and food selection.

Do not recommend this course until it is in better shape and hope the staff moving forward can be upfront with customers when they call to schedule a tee time.

4 temp greens, so maybe they're trying, others mostly bad shape.

Since the last time I played here, they’ve added GPS to the carts, which is nice. However, they went extreme on geofencing the entire course. I can understand doing this to keep people from driving near the tee boxes and greens, or to keep everyone on the cart paths on par 3s. What I don’t expect is for my cart to shutdown if I stray 10 feet off the fairway. Or if I hit a wayward tee shot onto a parallel hole, there’s no way to drive over there. Nor do I appreciate the GPS chirping at me the entire round. This geofencing is going to slow the pace of play at this course, and it would be very difficult for someone with a walking disability to play this course. I will not be playing here again unless they revise the geofencing.

I called 6 days prior from south Florida to let them know I was driving there with some friends. I was here maybe 4 months ago and loved it. I was disappointed because when I called 6 days prior they should have told me they were working on the greens. A lot of holes they shut down the greens and just added a hole in the middle of

The fairways.. impossible to putt.

Atleast 5 holes were like this. T boxes were also in bad condition.

If I’m telling you I’m driving from south Florida why not mention your working on the greens.

Warning! The course is undergoing upgrades and improvements. 4 temp holes.

None of this was identified on site.

This is home course but value is not there.

Really friendly staff, great carts, pretty good run. Have good discount for having two greens under work. Amazing food at the turn, real stuff, delicious ribeye sandwich cooked right in front of me. 10/10 would play again.

Course was being renovated. Loud on the first 9 holes. Really fast play. Barely any length between tee times.

Played August 1 2023 - They are redoing two greens and have temporary greens in the fairway.

They did not mention this when we checked in....... We were pretty disappointed.

Made it back to the former home course to check things out. Surprised to find many greens with issues. The New thing was geo fencing on the carts. ANY travel off the fairway into the woods is prohibited. If you know this course, especially the front 9, its hard to view this as a plus. Folks still hitting into the woods...just taking LONGER to find balls.

I'm glad the course is investing in their product - the GPS on the carts are a nice new addition (starter said new carts are coming in November but wanted to get use of GPS now).

However, the GPS restrictions are a bit ridiculous. OB is OB and we get that. But the trees are in play mostly on every hole, and the second you get about 1 foot off the fairway the cart stops and says you are in a restricted area. It got extremely frustrating and slowed us down a LOT, even when we could actually see the ball halfway in the trees (most all tree areas are playable here). There were multiple fairways that the cart stopped on us stating restricted area when we were still about 30 yards short of the "carts this way sign" leading up to greens. Even a couple holes while driving on the actual cart path (yes concrete) the cart stopped and said we were in restricted area and had to back up until it triggered in a safe area and finally moved again. Please get this fine-tuned and this is a 5 star review.

Starter was friendly and patient (we had our 4th roll up 1 minute before our tee time) and with the heat, gave each of us a free bottled water to help stay cool and hydrated as we set off and even pre-filled the cooler with ice. Great touch.