FORE! The SATURDAY SIX Plays A Round of GOLF at Walt Disney World

Over the years we’ve covered many of the world class mini-golf courses that can be found in Orlando, including Hollywood Drive-In Golf at Universal Citywalk and Disney’s whimsical WinterSummerland, but today we are leveling up and looking at the fine sport of actual golf at Walt Walt Disney World, also known as….

# 6 – The  Happiest Place on Turf

There are four golf courses on property that you can book tee times at, with three of them located around the same area. These three courses are Magnolia, Palm and Oak Trail.

The three courses are located across the road from Disney’s Grand Floridian and Polynesian resorts, and can be accessed by driving to Shades of Green. These are high caliber courses, and have been used for many PGA Tour events over the years.

It’s important to know that because Shades of Green is run by the US Department of Defense, every single person over 18 in your party MUST have photo identification when checking-in at security. If you’re staying on-site at Disney, complimentary taxis are provided to and from the golf courses. Let’s take a bird’s eye look at the area to put everything into context…

The fourth golf course at Walt Disney World is Lake Buena Vista, and is located next to Saratoga Springs.

# 5 – Distinctively Disney

At the Magnolia/Palm/Oak Trail courses, there is a fun warmup area before you hit the links. It is an 18-hole putting green referred to as the “Greatest Green Ever Played.”  The name itself is a reference to the Disney film, The Greatest Game Ever Played, which was based on amateur golf champion Francis Ouimet (played by a young Shia LeBeouf) and his surprise victory at the 1913 U.S. Open. The hole locations on this green regularly change, making it a fun challenge before you tee off.

The putting green even has drink holders!

Mickey branded scoring pencils and golf tees? CHECK.

The tee markers at the start of every hole have a small Disney touch…

…as do the Drop Zones for each hole.

The aerial photo we posted in this article by blogger-in-the-sky @bioreconstruct was taken in the summer of 2023 when the Magnolia course was undergoing a major refurbishment. That refurb included the addition of the Greatest Green Every Played plus a whole bunch of fun Disney references throughout the actual course. Each hole actually has a name related to a Disney movie, such as “The Mouse Trap” which happens to have a Mickey shaped bunker.

Theme park references at a golf course is ::chef’s kiss::

As you can imagine, playing golf on Disney property isn’t cheap, but for theme park fans like those reading this article, seeing the small Disney touches throughout your day make it a little easier to justify the cost.

 

# 4 – The Locker Room

Over the years  – in all aspects of society – we have seen dress codes become much more casual. From fine dining at Victoria & Albert’s at the Grand Floridan or “Formal Night” on any cruise, the days of dressing up in tuxes and ball gowns is all but over and we need to consider ourselves lucky if the family next to us isn’t wearing tank tops and Crocs.

Disney’s golf courses are NOT like that and there are still strict dress codes that all players must adhere to. Proper golf attire means that denim jeans or shorts are not permitted. Men may wear Polo-style shirts with collars, turtlenecks, or mock turtleneck shirts, slacks or Bermuda-length shorts. Women may wear Polo-style shirts with collars Suitable shirts or blouses (with or without collars) slacks, skirts or Bermuda-length shorts.

Let’s check out some of the Disney details in the locker room that you can change in.  Each locker is numbered, and many include references to PGA events that took place at Walt Disney World over the years. This includes Jack Nicklaus himself winning the Walt Disney World Open back in 1971. That’s right, golf and Walt Disney World have been together since DAY 1.

Tiger Woods was in the news recently for things he has done outside of the world of golf, but spending some time in the locker room is a good reminder of what a tear he was on in the world of golf for over a decade.

You’ll also see pictures of professional golfers, including Tiger, adorning the walls at a restroom on site.

Arnold Palmer Golf Management runs the golf courses at Disney, and there is a dedicated locker in his honor paying tribute to The King.

An icon in the sports world, Arnold’s fanbase was known as “Arnie’s Army.”

While Arnold Palmer passed away in 2016, his impact on the world of golf and America itself (how many people have a drink named after them?!) is everlasting.

# 3 – Mickey Golf Cart

The greatest golf cart in the HISTORY of golf carts. Period.

There are few things in this world that when anyone passes them they immediately think, “I have to get a photo of that,” but the Mickey golf cart is one of those things.

So many great details.

I mean that gas pedal alone is what – to me- defines the “Disney Difference.”

This E-Ticket golf cart has even been put on t-shirts and other items, which leads us to our next section…

# 2 – Merchandise

Going to the Disney golf courses is the only way you can get your hands on some pretty cool pieces of golf related merchandise.

Donald Duck’s hot temper is always a good character to use on any sports related merchandise, because we’ve all been there, whether as a player or as a fan watching.

One addition made to the Magnolia course during it’s refurb is Grumpy’s Gauntlet. The “gauntlet” is a series of four challenging holes (14-17) on the course.

Like Donald Duck, Grumpy is a character tailor-made for the frustration involved in any sport, but particularly golf.

There is also food and drinks available at Chip ‘n’ Dale’s Deli. This quick service restaurant is in the center of the photo below, and the large building in the background is part of the Shades of Green Resort.

There is a limited amount of seating in and around the restaurant.

While you are on the various courses, you may see one of the refreshment carts driving around. From these you can get a variety of drinks.

These might be the most reasonable drink prices in all of Walt Disney World. Forget the “Grumpy Gauntlet,” who’s ready for the Burgan Back 9 Bar Crawl?

They should have “mobile refreshment carts” for some of the longer theme park attraction queues. Have someone pushing a cart filled with ice cold Cokes and lemonades while you’re standing in a one to two hour standby line that seems to be barely moving.

# 1 – A Good Walk, Spoiled

While the above line is often used jokingly to describe the sport of golf, the actual walk around a Disney golf course is one of the best you can have in Florida. Not only are the grounds impeccably maintained, but Disney goes out of it’s way not to infringe on the surrounding nature. This allows you to see pretty much the most amount of wildlife this side of Animal Kingdom and Fort Wilderness Campground.

Not only do you have a chance to see a wild turkey…

…you may see a couple wild turkeys. In fact, you just may see…

…a whole rafter of them! This actually reminds me of that scene in Jurassic Park where they see the dinosaurs for the first time. Just something you never expect to see in the real world.

If seeing a deer doesn’t immediately make you feel better, I don’t know what to say.

With this amount of wildlife around, we might even get @bioreconstruct to start walking these courses. Just need an osprey or two to make their way over…

Honorable Mention –  Foot Golf

Over the years in this fine blog series we’ve joked many times about what the true “Best Kept Secret” at Walt Disney World, but for me it might actually be that Foot Golf can be played. Making it’s debut at WDW in 2018, Footgolf is a combination of soccer and golf. Players kick a regulation soccer ball on a golf course with shortened length holes and MUCH bigger cups. FootGolf rules are pretty much the same as the rules of regular golf; and there are bunkers, hazards and traditional golf course characteristics that help make the game more challenging.

You can bring your own soccer ball, or rent one from Disney.

Here we have a regular golf ball in a FootGolf hole to show the scale.

So there you have it: The SATURDAY SIX Plays a Round of Golf at Walt Disney World! See you next weekend for the latest installment of the SATURDAY SIX, where we’ll look at something fun from the world of Disney and Universal. If you enjoyed yourself, be sure to check out the THEME PARK ENJOYMENT INDEX, giving a monthly recap of all the theme park news you need to know (and a lot more you don’t need to know, but we’re gonna tell you anyway). You can also follow Your Humble Author on BlueSky (@derekburgan).

If you enjoyed this article, you will surely like the following: 

Theme Park Turkeys of the Year Archives

The SATURDAY SIX Celebrates 10 Years of @bioreconstruct

SATURDAY SIX Tribute to Josh easyWDW

SATURDAY SIX Tribute to Ian Barritt

TPEI Tribute to Bret Taggart (AKA @Schmoofy)

Special Thanks to The Elite Brandon Glover, Digital Maestro Scott Walker, the bio-est of all reconstructs @bioreconstruct, Captain Cruiseline Scott Sanders of the world famous Disney Cruise Line Blog, my personal protege Hunter “Elvey” Underwood, artist @SonderQuest, the mighty maven of merchandise Hedgehog’s Corner, the SAT SIX Fun Squad of Parkscope Joe and “the Dadalorian” Nick, hot shot Michael Carelli, charter member of the Universal Four @Nitro230, the permit princess Alicia Stella, master cartographer Tommy Hawkins, and Hermione Granger’s tutor Megan Thickey for their invaluable assistance with this article. Absolutely no help was added by SeaWorld Influencer @SuperWeenieHtJr. The SAT SIX is inspired each week by goofballs Aengus Mackenzie and LitemAndHide and you Potterheads will enjoy Meg’s other blog work over at the Central Florida Slug Club.