Red Tail Golf Club in Sorrento, FL
I grabbed my sticks this weekend and teed it up at Red Tail Country Club in Sorrento, Florida. In case you’re not from the Orlando area or even if you are, Red Tail may be one of the best kept secrets in the Sunshine state.
Designed by Dave Harman and opened in 2006, Red Tail is a pleasant surprise from the minute you drive through its secluded gate. Surrounded by countryside as you venture 30 miles off I-4, passage through a covered bridge before the entrance to the Rocky Mountain-style clubhouse, is your first clue that Red Tail is not your typical Florida golf club.
With rolling fairways and century-old magestic oaks, Red Tail offers an unusual natural setting that will test the most accomplished golfer’s shot making ability. The 7152 yard, par 72 links-style course offers six sets of tees that provide countless ways to set up the golf course. Hit it off the fairway and you may be posting a few unexpected doubles or triples and looking for the beverage cart early in your round.
Fresh off my non-stop consumption of the British Open coverage last week, my right brain was in the right place to practice some creative shot making of my own. A bump & run pitch shot off the second cut of rough at the 14th green, slammed into the cup, providing my only Watson-esque birdie of the day.
High marks to Red Tail for frequent and easy to find yardage markers and barber poles in the fairways along with well-defined and clearly staked hazard and out-of-bounds areas. All the things you expect at a private club.
The one issue I had with this course, and my pet peeve with courses in general, was seeing the pin placements. Generic white flags are difficult to see and determine depth perception. I don’t understand why superintendents don’t use colored flags and make them a standard practice to mark pin positions? Nothing against technology or the use of pin sheets, laser guns and GPS systems, but there is something simple and refreshingly uncomplicated about determining the location of the flagstick with the naked eye. Call me crazy, but red (front), yellow (middle), blue (back), work fine for me.
Overall, my experience far outweighed my score on this beastly hot summer day. As the sun was setting, I was taken by Red Tail’s breathtaking landscape, nestled within acres of beautiful farmland, complete with an overlooking gallery of cows and an old weathered homestead that sits uncompromising on a hill within this community of sprawling new country estates.
Red Tail’s interesting contours, waste areas, bunkering and natural vegetation provides a lay-out that requires local knowledge and a focused mind but is a fair & challenging track that will bring me back often and is a must play for any golfer in the Orlando area.
