Black Bear Golf Club

I’ll be short and quick, staff was friendly and pace was excellent because nobody was on it and you would understand why if you saw the course. The greens were so bad I wouldn’t let a flat graze on them. It was the overwhelming majority of them. I took two years off from playing here because the conditions slipped. Just go to Zellwood or Forest Lake if you want a lower cost course that is actually maintained and worth it. This was a $25-30 course at most.

Not a chance that the good reviews are real accounts. This course is horrible. Do not drive here or spend your money. I’d rather go to Congo River.

First time playing this course. Clubhouse, pro shop, and staff were all great. Nice restaurant, staff was friendly, and the pro shop is well stocked. Now for the course…..the layout is what it is. It was hard to tell where the fairways were on a few holes due to the condition. Not much grass in a lot of areas that was not poa annua. What grass was present was super thin. Greens were below average condition for the most part. Most courses have a signature hole. Couldn’t tell if this one has one or not. If it does, it was not obvious to me.

So overall, good experience at the clubhouse. Would not recommend the course at this time. May be due to the winter weather, but not sure.

Challenging course, very undulating, greens were very small and in poor condition, I was told by a member that when it gets hotter the greens will be better,

Played black bear many times and always love the layout...different from many other central Florida courses because of some elevation changes and some challenging green complexes with tough approaches. Mid March is peak golf time ,and also dry time, but the fairways are pretty nice and green,and on an afternoon approaching 90 degrees no problem with pace of play.

I played here a lot, and I do enjoy the course and I do enjoy the layout!!

Matter fact, I was really excited to play, but when I got here and started playing, I was a little upset. Last time I played the greens were in great shape, but this time there was way too much crab grass… It really took away from being able to enjoy the greens, which I like by the way… I just hope you make a speedy comeback so I can play here again without all that crab grass. I was shocked.

That was my only disappointment. Other than that everything else is top shelf!!

Have played this course many times over the last 20 years and it used to be pretty good. Practice facilities are nice, but the course must be better. The greens are virtually unputtable for any realistic scoring as they are literally overrun by clumps of poa. Fairways are also being overrun by the same thing. Treatments for this condition are available. I don’t intend to return until this is addressed. This is by no stretch a four star course. Do better.

This course is unique and fun to play. Except the 18th hole. It’s a lousy finishing hole and it just seems they were confused and didn’t know what to do with it. Suggest just build a couple nice tee boxes and make it a par three with a shot over the water. Otherwise has some nice holes. The fairways actually had grass on them which is more than I can say for many of the Florida courses we have played. The greens though were really slow and need to be cut or something. Pace of play was great and all in all it was an enjoyable round.

I’ve played blackbear well over 100 times. It was always a great course to play. Now the course is virtually unplayable. The fairways are in terrible shape and the greens are inundated with weeds. There is no smooth putt anywhere and very hard to score. This course is difficult with good conditions.

This course was an amazing surprise. It is the most undulating and challenging course I have played in the Florida, Orlando area. With postage stamp sized greens and tight layout it was great fun.

The course overall was not in it’s best condition when I played, winter cold spell had prevented work, but still wonderful and frustrating fun.

Greens were terrible - cold weather and unwanted growth made the greens next to impossible to putt. Fairways / rough typical winter season conditions very playable! Staff was very professional and friendly

If misery loves company, Black Bear has plenty of company. The drought and frost has hurt most of the central Florida courses and Black Bears suffers with all the rest of the dried up and burned up courses. That being said there is little can be done about the grass.......tees, fairways and greens are suffering. What bothered me was little or nothing is being done about the problems that can be addressed. The starter shack is in poor repair and needs paint. The cart paths have too many holes and bumps. The bunkers need work and some had no rakes. You can't change the weather but there are other things to be addressed