Huntington Hills Golf & Country Club

I chose to play here on a rainy day and let me tell you what! Probably the best round of golf I e played in years. I had the entire course to myself. No one breathing down my neck and still finished 18 in about 3 hours. Wonderful!

it took 6.5 hours to finish 18. This course looks awesome, but you can definitely tell theyre doing everything they can to recover losses.

I have never in all my years of golf, seen tee boxes SO jammed up.

tee off @ 10am didnt finish until 3:15.

how is it possible to have 12 carts at a tea box

How is it possible to have five groups of players on one hole?

How is it possible to take an hour and 10 minutes to play two holes?

A disaster from start to finish the new ownership needs to address

Await took 20 minutes missing teatime to even

The car garage was completely empty

Total disaster from start to finish

Owner of course books 7 min between tee times. Had to quit after 9 holes as that took 3 hours- staff didn’t care - said rounds are taking less- maybe they also work at a different course - I’ve been in Lakeland since 1985 and play at many nice courses around FL. Can’t play here again until I’m retired and/or unemployed since I’ll have 6 1/2 hours to play 18 holes.

Such a shame as it’s a nice layout with great residents- they deserve better.

A twosome was inserted in front of our tee time even though all morning times were booked. Someone's friends I'd guess. Their antics made for a very slow and annoying round.

The greens and fairways were some of the very best around this area. Great practice and club house updates and improvements underway. Wish we lived closer. We'll be back

Good value for the money. Course was in good condition, greens were quick which I like. A couple of funking holes. Several pin placements were just stupid, Not placed where the architect intended I am certain. On top of ridges or on the edge of the green at the top of a slope. We literally had a handful of putts role back toward the hole after they were putted past the hole. I am all about hard pin placements, these were placed by someone who is uneducated in golf design. Ruined the day. I will not return.

WHEN YOU BOOK TEE TIMES IN 7 MINUTE SPACING THE PACE OF PLAY IS CERTAINLY GOING TO BE AFFECTED. OUR ROUND WAS 5 1/2 HOURS, LONGEST ROUND OF THE WEEK. YOU CAN SEE THE IMPROVEMENTS GOING ON THE COUSE AND IN THE CLUBHOUSE. ONCE THEY ARE DONE IT SHOULD BE A BEAUTIFUL PLACE TO PLAY IF YOU DON'T MIND LONG WAITS AT EACH HOLE. FOR THE COST ITS A VALUE COURSE AND WILL REQUIRE YOU TO USE EVERY CLUB YOU HAVE IN THE BAG! ONCE THEY GET IMPROVEMENTS DONE WILL GO BACK AND GIVE THEM ANOTHER SHOT BUT NOT TILL THEN.

It was an all day golf safari. Took exactly 3 hours to complete the front nine. Three groups waiting on some tees. This same problem existed a year ago when we played here. Spoke to the GM and he said “it is what it is.” Offered no solution or compensation which he should have considering they state right on their scorecard that rounds take 4 hours there. Southern Hospitality is a figment of the past. Course was in so-so shape. Tees and fairways are in rough shape. Greens were very healthy but extremely slow. Nothing like the practice green beside the clubhouse. Paid $75. Should be $45 at most.

It took 1 hour to play 2 holes , 7 minute tee times suck . I don't have 9 hours to play 18 holes

Huntington Hills impressed me as a well-rounded golfing experience, primarily for its blend of challenging holes and distinctive features, a combination that exceeds the norm for Florida layouts. With impressive bunkering, hilly fairways, and the careful design variety applied by Ron Garl, the course will test the skills of all golfers.

Strengths of Huntington Hills Golf and CC:

–Good mix of longer and shorter par-4s throughout the course.

–Impressive bunkering with great variety

– Nearby residential development on many holes, yet seldom does it feel too close to golf course

–The hills, unusual for a Florida track, add character, interest, and difficulty. The mounds and hills make for many interesting green complexes.

–-Four challenging par-3s; averaging 175 yards from the blues; two of them play uphill significantly.

–Staff friendliness was commendable. The gentleman I met at the front desk was helpful; I found his comments interesting, especially about Scottish golf.

–Nice putting green and driving range; attractive clubhouse.

Best Hole: 15, par-5, 480 yards/blues: Running straight uphill, the rugged fairway here threatens with OB/left and some massive bunkering on the right. For most golfers, this plays as a three-shotter from tee to green, requiring a precise wedge for the third. It’s about as good as a par-5 gets.

Most interesting hole: 3, par-4, 363. Not long, but the #1 index because of its forced carry over Duff Pond, which fronts about a third of the green. The green, fairly enough, runs long front-to-back; it’s receptive to longer approaches.

General Comments:

One of the defining characteristics of HHCC is the ample and well-used bunkering. Architect Ron Garl clearly sought to exploit a variety of bunker types: lateral, staggered, hidden from view, clustered or grouped, huge and sprawling, large and small. A few bunkers almost cross fairways entirely. Another key to the layout is water, although it plays a secondary role. Two larger hazards are the dominant Duff Lake, which comes into play at four and five; then another pond of similar scale near the sixteenth and seventeenth holes. Other than that, look for the creek–a cross-hazard–on holes 12 and 13.

Still, a nice balance is achieved between threatening hazards and the somewhat broad driving zones, which are favorable on nearly every par-4 and most of the par-5s. Yet this is also a surprisingly hilly course for Florida; and Garl ups the ante by infusing lots of mounding on fairways and around greens. The fairways themselves move and undulate smoothly–and that’s something not always inherent in Florida layouts.

Undulation and ground movement is carried through to the green complexes. I noticed that greenside contouring and mounding made chipping/pitching difficult from many areas. These large and often undulating greens nearly always have a high side that makes uphill or downhill putts tricky. Of course, these are qualities found in nearly all of the best layouts, reaching all the way back to the American Golden Age.

Conditions:

On this fairly gentle afternoon, the course was basically dry but well maintained overall. Greens, bunkers and tees were excellent; greenside areas proved good; the average roughs and fairways lagged the rest. The course has been conducting ongoing restoration after last fall’s hurricanes, but management seems well on its way to finishing them. The greens were essentially comparable to those at the Dye Course/PGA Village in Port St. Lucie, where I played four days prior.

Some Conclusions:

I had a great day among my golfing company–in an ideal foursome with three excellent gentlemen (and very capable players). We enjoyed some laughs, some discussion, and some playing highlights. And this is sometimes the best part of playing our fine game.

Ron Garl is a modern designer, but he always applies an encyclopedic knowledge–as well as visual artistry–to his golfing landscapes. This adds the kind of complexity that many designers seem to miss. Hole three offers, as well, a unique challenge (though it’s not overwhelming) that piqued my interest. No wonder that his work appeared so commonly across Florida, but also in many far-flung venues in this country and around the world. Another important facet of Garl’s architecture, which corresponds with the later work of Jack Nicklaus, is his penchant for suiting course difficulty to the average golfer rather than the touring pro. Despite its challenges, HHG&CC does that without question.

My 2nd visit was better than the 1st. Greens were in great shape, and while they're working hard on course repairs, they do not affect play. With all the ridiculous pricing for golf in the Orlando area, it's wonderful to find such a nicely conditioned and challenging layout on the outskirts of the I4 tourist trap.

It’s been at least a year or more since I played Hh. The course was in great shape with tons of improvements. New carts, range was in better condition, and many future improvements in progress. The course has a diversity of challenging and easier holes. Be ready to play from a lie that isn’t “flat”, (mostly my fault) Hills is in the name for a reason.

Gilded here on a Sunday morning paid for my teetime like normal. Recently checked my email to find that the course notified GolfNow that I “never showed up” for my teetime so they charged me for a no show. So I was charged for a full round that I didn’t even play. Will not go back until this is fixed

This was the second time I've played Huntington Hills this winter. It is by far the best conditions I've played. Greens have plenty of slope but it's still a fun course to play.