Orlando —
Palmer, Nicklaus, Norman, Watson. All within an hour.

Orlando's golf depth is a function of the resort economy that grew up around Disney: a city built to accommodate millions of visitors inevitably attracts the best architects to fill the demand. Bay Hill Club and Lodge is the emotional anchor — Arnold Palmer's longtime home, famously hilly for Florida, host of the Arnold Palmer Invitational on the PGA Tour each spring. Reunion Resort pulls off something rare: three separate signature courses by Palmer, Nicklaus, and Watson on one property, each with distinct character. The Watson Course is the most celebrated — bold elevation changes and exhaustive bunkering in the Scottish tradition. ChampionsGate's Norman pair (International and National) is the workhorse resort offering near the convention corridor. Orange County National in Winter Garden sits at the opposite end of the experience spectrum: public access, no resort markup, two championship layouts (Panther Lake and Crooked Cat) that routinely rank among Florida's best values. Shingle Creek and Waldorf Astoria round out the quality mid-tier, both Rees Jones-adjacent and both better than their tourist-adjacent zip codes suggest.