One of the best golf facilities is Champions Gate. Located about 20 miles east of Lakeland on Interstate 4, the development includes two
championship courses designed by Greg Norman, the "Shark". The facilities also include a beautiful clubhouse, office space, housing development and soon a hotel. Norman is known for wearing black as
his trademark, and that theme has been carried over to the golf course. The tee markers are black, including the ball wash buckets.
The International course, considered the more difficult layout, spans
7,406 from the championship tees.
It has the look and feel of a links-style layout in the British Isles, with bump-and-run fairways and
plenty of strategically-placed bunkers. The National Course is a classic par 72, 7,048 yard American-style layout, with wider fairways sprinkled with water traps.
Recently, members of the Executive Women's Golf Association tried out the National Course. Women are a growing market opportunity for golf courses, as evidenced by the 22 members who
showed up to this spur-of-the-moment weekend event. The course was in excellent shape and provided a definite challenge to the majority of players. It was exciting to learn that many of the
PGA TOUR players who live in the Orlando area have frequented Champions Gate. For more information, call Champions Gate at 1-888-558-9301 or visit www.championsgategolf.com.
PGA Village
Located in Port St. Lucie, just two hours from
Lakeland, this is the first golf club owned and operated by the PGA of America that is open to the public. This model golf facility offers sweeping innovations for the future of the golf industry.
Players of all levels can enjoy 72 Championship golf holes from the world's finest architects, Tom Fazio, Jim Fazio and Pete Dye, a 6-hole Short Course, plus the new state of the art 35-acre PGA Learning Center™.
The North Course, a Tom Fazio design, opened January 1, 1996 and offers rolling hills, pine groves and wicked water hazards for a distinctive Carolina feel. The South Course, by Tom Fazio, is a pure
Florida course with sharply sloped greens and tricky doglegs set against a backdrop of wetlands and palm trees.
The challenging Dye Course features fairways generously dotted with bunkers and moguls, and
large expanses of crushed limestone shells as waste areas.
But the biggest surprise is the PGA learning center. This extraordinary prototype facility provides
the ultimate learning experience for golfers of every level. With putting greens and courses, chipping areas and a variety of bunker styles and over 100 practice stations, this 35-acre golf park
provides the opportunity to learn how to execute every conceivable golf shot. Catering to individual golfers as well as groups, the PGA Learning Center features a unique lighting system that
enables golfers to practice in the evening hours. True to The PGA of America's mission to grow the game of golf, the PGA Learning Center is affordably priced and easily accessible.
For more information visit their website at www.pgavillage.com or call 877-519-6766.
magazine
The new Omni at ChampionsGate recently opened its doors. 
