Sweetwater Golf & Country Club

About
Sweetwater Country Club is situated amid the beauty of the Wekiva State Park. Sweetwater is one of Orlando's premier golf courses, boasting a challenging championship layout with some of the area's best greens. The classic links layout brings a taste of Scottish golf to central Florida. Mature oaks shade the golf course, lining the fairways and framing the greens. The 6,771-yard layout offers a good amount of length but it's definitely not a grip-it-and-rip-it course thanks to tight fairways that require accurate shot placement. The course is home to one of the longest par 5s in the Southeast, a challenging 625-yard hole that is aptly named the "Loch Ness Monster." The heavily tree-lined hole double doglegs around a large lake. There are some challenging holes but Sweetwater Country Club isn't overly punishing for the high handicapper.
Tee | Par | Length | Rating | Slope |
---|---|---|---|---|
Black | 72 | 6238 yards | 70.2 | 127 |
Blue | 72 | 6015 yards | 69.1 | 125 |
White | 72 | 5732 yards | 67.9 | 122 |
Yellow | 72 | 5273 yards | 65.7 | 114 |
Red | 72 | 5108 yards | 69.8 | 122 |
Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Black M: 70.2/127 W: 76.2/134 | 201 | 488 | 187 | 349 | 318 | 321 | 392 | 176 | 455 | 2887 | 354 | 611 | 293 | 346 | 524 | 190 | 497 | 183 | 353 | 3351 | 6238 |
Blue M: 69.1/125 W: 75.0/132 | 197 | 477 | 170 | 340 | 311 | 314 | 385 | 166 | 445 | 2805 | 345 | 564 | 284 | 315 | 512 | 182 | 483 | 179 | 346 | 3210 | 6015 |
White M: 67.9/122 W: 73.4/129 | 195 | 469 | 166 | 311 | 305 | 296 | 340 | 156 | 440 | 2678 | 336 | 533 | 275 | 308 | 460 | 175 | 460 | 170 | 337 | 3054 | 5732 |
Yellow M: 65.7/114 W: 70.9/123 | 185 | 436 | 139 | 281 | 299 | 266 | 319 | 141 | 428 | 2494 | 319 | 465 | 265 | 265 | 435 | 165 | 404 | 135 | 326 | 2779 | 5273 |
Red M: 64.9/112 W: 69.8/122 | 165 | 432 | 132 | 274 | 291 | 262 | 302 | 109 | 420 | 2387 | 317 | 461 | 256 | 255 | 430 | 157 | 398 | 131 | 316 | 2721 | 5108 |
Handicap | 3 | 7 | 9 | 13 | 17 | 1 | 5 | 15 | 11 | 12 | 4 | 18 | 14 | 2 | 8 | 16 | 6 | 10 | |||
Par | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 35 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 37 | 72 |
Handicap (W) | 7 | 5 | 15 | 13 | 11 | 1 | 9 | 17 | 3 | 8 | 4 | 12 | 18 | 2 | 10 | 14 | 16 | 6 |
Course Details
Rentals/Services
Practice/Instruction
Policies
Food & Beverage
BarAvailable Facilities
Clubhouse, Banquet FacilitiesAvailable Sports
TennisReviews
Reviewer Photos
Course needs work
Greens in bad shape. Trees branches blocking some fairways. New layout on hole 6 is horrible. Course needs a lot of TLC
Confusion on 6
The course change of hole #6 from a par 3 to a par 4 has players leaving the green to go backwards to the tee boxes on hole 7. With players on the #7 tee it can be a challenge. Most of the greens were in good shape, the fairways and tee boxes show a great improvement since my previous rounds. Cart beverage service is a plus in the summer heat!
Will not play here again.
There was not one redeeming quality that I can emphasize except for maybe the fact I wasn’t out too much money for playing here.
No driving range. No putting green. Chipping area only on the side of a hill.
Tee boxes were overgrown with weeds.
Fairways resembled most other courses first cut of rough.
Greens had weeds, bare spots, divots and even if you could find a clean line were so slow that even downhill putts wouldn’t make it to the hole unless you blasted it.
Not great
The whole back nine they kept the sprinklers on. I got doused by water any time I’d go to putt. I know the grounds workers are doing their jobs, but they were in the way often where I’d have to slow down and wait for them to finish up. Grass is treated well and it’s nice to putt and play on but the course layout is weird and hard to figure out with no map. Probably never playing here again even though it’s the closest to my house.
Getting better everyday
Getting better everyday. All the rain we have had the last two months has done wonders for the course. The restaurant is said to be opening soon in the clubhouse. Amazing layout. Cart girl on the weekends. I usually have the place to myself in the afternoons. Great value as well. See you there.
Phoenix rising from ashes!
Course has improved and steadily improving! 11th hole is one of the best in Central FL!
Course improving
Great layout and greens are recovering nicely. A few more weeks, a mow and roll and they should be much better.
Good Course with Some Reservations
Course is in a beautiful setting in a quiet neighborhood. The layout is not difficult, although there are some challenges. If you can hit in the fairway consistently, your round will go well. I had a hard time finding balls that went into the rough which is often long Bahia grass. I lost more balls than usual. I went in the late afternoon and their were sprinklers running on four holes. I was told by the staff that is was due to an equipment malfunction. They appear to be working on improvements to the course and dining facilities.
The greenser way better than they were months ago
The fairways aren't good condition too
DO NOT PLAY HERE
Would give a 0 if I could. This is the worst course I have played in Orlando. You could not pay me to play this course. Crab grass infestation all over the tee box’s and edge of the greens. Fairway rough is the same grass you can buy from Home Depot. Found multiple dog poop’s all around the tee box’s. Greens go from rolling slower than putting on a living room carpet to pinehurst on back to back holes. Truly feel sorry for anyone who pays for a membership here.
All in all considered
Seems they are working on it. Needs mowed badly, greens and fairways were very long. Had to hammer it when putting downhill.
Hopefully they get help for the apparently sole employee.
Wasn’t going to give a very good review, but when you see the conditions of the other courses in the area, it wasn’t that bad. When compared to Wekiva, Red Tail, Timacuan, Victoria Hills, and Black Bear it was playable where they are not. Hopefully they can the greens back and catch up on regular maintenance.
Rough Gem
Initial thoughts: Yes, this course needs work but when you look past the most obvious, this course is a real gem.
Course management: Trees and low hanging branches make this a challenging course. Most fairways leave you with a decision: go low under the mossy branches, layup to a better position, or work the ball around trouble? In any case, bunkers must be considered. Well placed bunkers throughout means you must commit to your decision and execute. This is not a complaint, but a unique challenge this course presents. It truly feels like a course made with the spirit of Wekiva/Apopka; from the trees to the surrounding scenery.
Amongst the trees and bunkers, the course provides variety with many doglegs and decent elevation changes. It also has its fair share of lengthy holes. You won’t feel like you’re playing the same hole over and over.
There is no driving range, but they do have a small chipping/putting green. They also have a snack cart roaming the course and good sized bar next to the pro shop.
The elephant on the course—Course Condition: The course is overall well maintained. Fairway grass is on the longer side but overall good. Roughs were deep and punishing. Bunkers were quite compacted, but it’s rained heavily lately.
Greens: All the greens have their rough patches, some have more than others, a few have quite a lot more than others, but they all suffer to some extent. Many greens had white dotted lines marking out the empty patches. The greens within those dotted lines were good…almost like a small green within the green. This is the only real negative on the course and is difficult to overlook.
Final remarks: Keeping in mind that 18 holes is currently $35, if you can get past the rough greens and a few weedy tee boxes, this course is a real gem. You will find a challenging yet picturesque course—especially the back 9 and especially hole 11. With continued support from local golfers, this course can justify better maintenance and continued green repair which will take care of the most obvious issues with the course while bringing out the best of it. With so many local courses closing, it’s important that they keep this open to the public and WE continue to support it. Lastly, you can’t beat the wildlife around the course.