Tag: Grand Cypress

TaylorMade Performance Labs – Why You Need To Go

Not too long ago, I had a chance to visit the Grand Cypress Resort to play the fantastic New Course. Grand Cypress is a top notch golf facility, especially with the world class pros available at the Grand Cypress Academy of Golf. Click on the link to read my review of the Grand Cypress Resort’s New Course. After our round, we wandered over to the Academy to see Travis Kent at the TaylorMade Performance Lab. This state of the art facility performs high-tech club fitting and swing analysis for golfers of any level, from weekend hacker to PGA Tour veterans. With Camera in hand, my friend Lindsay and I let Travis take us through a fitting, and the results were eye opening.

Have you ever played the Tiger Woods video game for Playstation, Wii or another platform? Have you ever wanted to take your golf swing and digitize it like they did for Tiger’s swing? Well now you can. Using the same infrared motion capture technology as the video games and movie makers use, the master club fitters at the TaylorMade Performance Labs can create a digital representation of your golf swing. This digital “you” lets the staff fit you for the right equipment and help you fix your swing by showing you what you are doing. This technology takes video analysis to the next level by allowing you to see and manipulate your swing in near real time.

[caption id="attachment_1015" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="The sensor suit"][/caption] The club fitters start by suiting you up with the sensor jacket and apply sensors to your wrists, elbows, knees, feet and head. The little reflective balls all over your body are picked up by several IR cameras set up all around the room to capture your swing from all angles. Once calibrated, the club fitter has you make several swings with a special club outfitted with the same sensors. Along with a swing monitor computer to track club head and ball stats, the club fitter is able to show the golfer his swing from every angle and collect many stats about the swing. In fact, the system is so precise, figures such as swing speed and ball speed are measured to the millionth of a mile per hour. There is certainly plenty of data to digest, and it's why we have talented professionals like Travis on hand to digest this info and recommend the proper equipment for you. [caption id="attachment_1018" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Before & after swings compared side by side"][/caption] My guinea pig Lindsay made several swings and he noticed right away that his back swing was much longer than he thought. In his case he was over turning and losing power, so Travis compared his swing side by side with PGA golfer Jason Day to show how a short back swing and aggressive hip turn can produce more power. After making a few setup changes we compared the before and after swings, and he started hitting the ball more solid. On the right, you can see the new, shorter back swing with a more restricted hip turn vs. the old swing. Golfers spend so much money playing golf every year, it blows me away that the vast majority of players play with clubs they bought off the shelf. For over a hundred years, the average golfer's score has remained at 100. With all the advances in technology like graphite shafts, titanium club heads, longer golf balls and more training aids than you can shake a stick at, the average Joe still has trouble breaking 100!? How can this be? I think one of the issues is people aren't playing with properly fit clubs. A guitar player doesn't simply pick up a guitar and start playing, he tunes the guitar first or it will sound horrible and out of tune. Similarly, golfers shouldn't simply take a club off the rack and start playing or they wont play their best. It's hard to explain to the average golfer how much of a difference it can make to have your clubs properly fit by a qualified club fitter like Travis at the TaylorMade Performance Lab. Properly fit clubs are easier to hit solid, leading to increased distance and consistency. Lindsay's irons and woods turned out to be well fit to his swing, but his putter was too upright, with the toe in the air at address. A toe up lie can lead to pulled putts, so we bent it a few degrees flat. Like many people, Lindsay's wedges were off the shelf, with cheap stock shafts. It was also recommended he switch shafts to match the rest of his set. A fitting session at the TaylorMade Performance Lab is a great way to get your equipment dialed in, but it's also like a mini-lesson. Travis and Lindsay were able to correct a few swing flaws and see the results almost immediately, thanks to the video capture technology in the lab. He was given a folder with his complete fitting and specs for every club in the bag, and a CD that holds a viewer software to watch his digital swings at home. The data from his swings is also available, down the the 5 decimals. True, we probably don't need to know our swing speed is exactly 102.22536 MPH, but it's there for the tech junkies out there. I highly recommend taking the time to have your clubs fitted, from the driver on down to the putter. A session at the TaylorMade Performance Lab is as much fun for the experience as it is for the results. Seeing your golf swing in digital form is fun, even if you don't have textbook form. For a visual learner like me, it's the best way to fix swing faults. At the very least, you'll get properly fit clubs and play better without changing your swing. You can even take your fitting data and order a new set of clubs direct from Taylor Made.
Gift certificates are available for full fittings at the Orlando location. (407) 238-0577 Call now and receive 50% off the full fitting price when you order by September 30th, 2010. Fitting certificates are good from 1 year of purchase date. They made great holiday gifts! For more info and directions, click here.
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August 12, 2010
Orlando’s 10 Best Golf Courses
Living in central Florida provides me with an opportunity to play golf year round. Since May of 2007 I have played in over 50 golf tournaments all over the state, which has allowed me to enjoy many different courses. Florida’s golf courses have great variety, despite having very little elevation. In fact, the highest point in FL (in the panhandle) is only 345 feet above sea level, and the mean elevation is 100 feet above sea level. Heck, the highest point in the state south of Orlando is a land fill, so it should come as no surprise that most of the elevation and contours on the golf courses have to be manufactured by bringing in dirt or digging lakes to give the designers dirt to play with. Florida has almost 1500 golf courses, and some of the best in the state are within a 30 minute drive of Downtown Orlando. Being one of the most popular vacation destinations in the country not named Hawaii (Check here for Hawaii tee times) there is no shortage of things to do when not playing golf. Tourists from all over the world come to Disney World, Sea World, Universal Studios, Cypress Gardens and nearby Busch Gardens. With that in mind, I will present my list of the ten best golf courses or destinations in the greater Orlando area.

This was not a scientific study, just a subjective list based on my personal experience and the feelings of some of my fellow Floridians. Most of these courses have been a mainstay of the Orlando top ten list for years, and some are newcomers. Tee times at many of these courses can also be booked at discounted rates through Orlando Tee Times. So, without further ado...
Ten Best Greater Orlando Golf Destinations
There you have it, in no particular order. Before the discussion starts and everyone throws a list of courses that should have made it on the list my way, I'll present my list of Honorable mentions, since there are many fine courses worth playing.
Honorable Mentions
The amount of quality courses in the Orlando area makes it very difficult to select the best courses, since there are probably another 10 or 15 courses that deserve mention. I've listed 20 courses or resorts here that any visitor will enjoy, with greens fee ranging from $35 to over $200. I could have listed more, or moved a few of the honorable mentions into the top ten list, and Sugarloaf Mountain almost didn't make the list because of the unfortunate condition of their greens lately, but the design stands on it's own as one of the best in the area, and would probably make my top 5 list. So with my opinions put to paper - let the discussion begin! {This post was originally written on 18 June, 2009 by John Duval}
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March 6, 2010
Course Review – Grand Cypress Resort’s New Course

Putting green and clock near the first tee

The Grand Cypress Resort has been a mainstay of the Orlando resort scene since the mid 1980s. Recognized for its AAA four diamond accommodations and world class golf courses, the resort has hosted numerous tournaments, such as Greg Norman’s Shark Shootout (1986-1990), the World Cup (1990), the LPGA’s HealthSouth Inaugural (1998, 1999) and many others. The resort features much more than 45 holes of Jack Nicklaus designed golf – It also offers a full service racket club, health club, in-room spa services, two pools, rock climbing wall, fishing, 9 hole pitch n’ putt course and more.

The accommodations at Grand Cypress are top notch, with a 750 room hotel and 146 villas. The four diamond rated villas feature private terraces, high speed internet and LCD TVs. Most enjoy golf course views and plenty of room to spread out. In my opinion, the Villas at Grand Cypress are the best place to stay in Orlando. You are minutes from Disney or downtown, with so many dining options in the area it will make your head spin. It also helps that the beds are very comfortable, with thick heavy comforters and plenty of fluffy pillows.

The first green and swilcan burn

If you want to work on your game, the Grand Cypress Academy of Golf ranks as one of the best in the nation. Top 50 instructor Fred Griffin and his highly accomplished staff have a state of the art facility to work with, and there is even a Taylor Made Performance Lab on site for the total fitting experience. The Academy has 21 acres of practice areas, putting and chipping greens, 3 practice holes and several covered hitting bays with computer analysis. If you are lucky, you might run into one of the PGA or LPGA pros that call Grand Cypress home.

As mentioned before, there are 45 holes of championship golf designed by Jack Nicklaus. In 2007 and 2008, Jack returned to rework the original North & South course. Along with the East course, the three nines combine with the 18 hole New course to offer a truly diverse and challenging golf facility. I visited The Grand Cypress Resort last weekend to play the New Course with a few buddies, and the experience was fantastic. [caption id="attachment_955" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Pot bunkers, mounds and gorse on the 4th hole"][/caption] Set in an open meadow, Nicklaus fashioned the New course as an homage and tribute to the Old Course at St Andrews. The course is an original design, with the exception of the first and last holes, which are replicas of the first and eighteenth at the Old Course complete with the Swilcan Burn and Valley of Sin. The course is complete with massive double greens, stone bridges and walls, gorse mounds, burns, and pot bunkers as deep as 12 feet. If it weren't for the 90 degree temperatures and bright sunshine, you would think you were in Scotland. There are few trees and little water in play. If you can manage to stay out of all the bunkers and what little water there is, you will probably have a good day. The course measures 6773 from the tips, with a rating and slope of 71.5 and 122, respectively. The white tees measure 6181, which will be fine for most golfers. Although intimidating to look at, with the semi blind shots and deep bunkers, the New course is surprisingly friendly. Most holes don't have any rough, and several holes run parallel to each other, creating 100 yard wide fairways. Even though the fairways are very generous, they are littered with bunkers that must be avoided. Stray from the wide fairways and you will find mounds of gorse, which makes hitting back to safety a crap shoot. Nicklaus wanted to make the course look like the routing occured naturally and has been there for hundreds of years. As such, you will have some uneven lies in the fairway and very undulating greens. The stone paths and bridges also were made to look like they are very old, and although they look great, they aren't very friendly on the 'ol tailbone when riding a cart! Putting at the New Course is unlike anything in the state of Florida. There are seven double greens, and a wayward shot to one of these massive putting surfaces can leave you with a putt of over 100 feet! This is exactly what happened to me a few months ago on the 6th hole, a 496 yard par 5 that shares its green with the 12th hole. After a decent drive, I was left with a 235 yard shot, which I pull hooked way left. It rolled up into the group that was putting on number 12, and I was left to ponder my 150 foot putt that descended 4 feet into a huge valley and back up a slope, then to the right along a ridge to the hole. The greens on the New Course are large and undulating, with some false fronts and even false backs sprinkled in to make things more interesting. With the speed of the greens usually in the 9.5 to 11 range on the stimp, you had better be sharp with the flat stick if you want to score well here. After laughing with my playing partners about the huge putt on 6, we all took a shot at the 150 foot putt once we arrived on the 12th green. After missing an 18 inch putt for par, I rolled in the 150 footer! I wish he had caught it on video, as I don't think I could ever duplicate that lucky shot! [caption id="attachment_956" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Tee marker, looking out to another generous fairway"][/caption] Like the other 27 holes, the New course at Grand Cypress resort is always in pristine condition. With the sheer volume of grass that has to be mowed, it must take quite an impressive array of maintenance equipment and a sizable crew to maintain it. The gorse and rough areas around the course are meant to look wild and unmaintained, but ironically it takes a great amount of time and effort to achieve this appearance. Being a former greeskeeper, I tend to notice the small details in course maintenance that often go overlooked by most. My hats off to the superintendent and his crew for keeping this huge track in tip top shape year round. Our day on the New course started with the first tee time of the day at 8 am. We had the whole course to ourselves and the weather was perfect. I brought two friends that had not played the course before, and both left the course raving about the design and how much fun it was to play. I managed to make 6 birdies and shoot a tidy little 68, my friend Lindsay shot 73 and my other friend Dave from orlandogolfblogger.com shot his career low of 89. The staff as always was very friendly and accommodating, and we enjoyed our day thoroughly. After the round, Lindsay and I proceeded over to the Taylor Made Performance Lab to meet Travis, who would put us through the complete fitting experience, the Taylor Made way. If there is one small negative about this course, it is that the grasses used in Florida and the climate in the Southeast don't allow the course to play as a true links course. Being a resort course, it is kept well watered and green, which is the polar opposite of a true Scottish links. As such, the use of the bump and run shot that is so useful in Scotland is virtually useless here. However this is only a small annoyance, and most American golfers never employ such a shot anyway. [caption id="attachment_957" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="An interested spectator on the 13th tee"][/caption] The Grand Cypress Resort has been wowing guests for 25 years, and there is no end in sight. With the world class golf, four diamond accommodations, plenty of excellent dining and leisure activities and the proximity to Orlando's attractions, Grand Cypress should be at the top of anyone's list of must plays in the Orlando area! Enjoy the slide show of all my photos of the Grand Cypress New Course below, and don't forget to subscribe to our RSS feed and email updates for the latest news and reviews! < p style="text-align: center;">
To book a tee time and find great deals on rounds of golf all over the nation, use the affiliate link below to save some dollars! I've seen tee times at the New course discounted at 40% or more.

November 5, 2009