Orange County National, in Winter Garden, FL, is home to the Phil Ritson Institute, and hosts Q-school qualifiers every other year. Great facility, with one of the world's largest practice facilities, and 54 holes of golf.
Crooked Cat - the course I played today with ualtim, Sandwedge, and my friend Dan, is a fairly open links-style course, with wide fairways and strategic bunkering. Not an especially difficult course from the tees we played (70.8/126, 6326) but it does present enough of a challenge to be interesting. I can only imagine the challenge from the back tees (76.5/140, 7493). The greens were quite nice, rolling true and not too fast. Not a ton of undulations, but tricky enough with several shelfs on most greens, and some wicked tifdwarf bermuda grain.
It's a nice looking course, out in middle of nowhere. No houses, cars, or roads disrupt your game, and there are several quite picturesque holes, particulalry on the back nine.
We all had a good time, although teeing off at 9:30am did present us with a bit of a problem; it was hot as Hades by about the 10th hole! This is Florida summer golf, and you had better be prepared to sweat. I drank a ton of water, and a towel soaked in the complimentary on-cart cooler was a godsend.
I really wanted to break 90 today, but my usual set of "doh!" shots around the green prevented it. My 91 could have been better, and I did shoot a 43 on the back, with 3 pars, a birdie, and a (cough, cough....) 8. All in all, I was pretty happy with the way I was striking the ball. I hit 9 GIR, which is a definite step up from my usual 2 or 3. The new swing is taking shape. I just need to stay patient and keep practicing from 50 yards in.
(Oh, and my new HiBore XL? Money!)
Sandwedge put on a putting clinic with the Circa 62 I sold him. He was rolling the ball VERY nicely. The last thing he said to me was "it's staying in the bag." No kidding! This was the first time I'd teed it up with him, and I hope to do it again soon. It was a pleasure.
I enjoyed my third get-together with ualtim. He hit some really good shots today, especially with "Jesse!"
"Rodney was a JSD." I'll let him explain that one...
All in all, a fun time was had by all. I hope to get together with these guys soon and take on Panther Lake, which is a tougher course - much tighter fairways, and deep rough. I played that course late last year with Crossfire, and it humbled me a bit. Crooked Cat is much more forgiving. Crooked Cat is a pretty course. But Panther Lake is quite stunning. Anyway, here's a few pics for you:
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Sandwedge on the tee. 
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My friend Dan on the same tee. 
- - Come on Rodney! 
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Coming home. The 18th green and the clubhouse. 
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Rivalry? What rivalry? 