One of the finest and most popular golf courses in Florida, Rio Pinar Golf and Country Club is just eight miles from downtown Orlando and just 15-minutes by car from the Orlando International Airport. A semi-private golf club that offers a membership package with exclusive perks, Rio Pinar, however, welcomes all golfers to its must-play Orlando golf course.
Introduced in 1957, Rio Pinar Golf and Country Club’s 18-hole championship course was designed by Mark Mahannah, Sr., and Lloyd Clifton. Rich in history and tradition, Rio Pinar’s par 72 layout has become a favorite tournament venue through the years. From 1966 to 1978, Rio Pinar Golf and Country Club played host to the PGA Tour’s Florida Citrus Open. It has also been, from 1979 to 1982, the site of the LPGA’s Lady Citrus Open. In fact, some of golf’s greatest legends have graced the greens, including Arnold Palmer, Julius Boros, Lee Trevino, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Hale Irwin, Patty Sheehan, Nancy Lopez, and Beth Daniel. As such, it is often said that to play at Rio Pinar’s golf course is to walk in the footsteps of champions.
Rio Pinar Golf and Country Club’s expertly designed course is both challenging and a joy to play on whatever a golfer’s skill level or age. The 7,000-yard layout has multiple tee lengths. The back tees offer a tough challenge to even scratch golfers, while the front tees are much more manageable and give beginners a game they can enjoy.
Rio Pinar Golf and Country Club’s amenities revolve around one theme – CHAMPION. Aside from its historic championship course where champions of the game once played, the country club also operates four championship hard surface tennis courts as well as a first-class restaurant called, oddly enough, the Champion’s Grill and Lounge. Rio Pinar also has one other attraction – a unique Florida-shaped swimming pool.
Other facilities of the golf club are a Pro shop, a driving range, an Indoor Trackman Experience, a Technogym Fitness Center, a Short Game Complex, a Club Car Fleet, a well as golf instruction in collaboration with Core Golf Academy USA. Experienced caddies are also on hand to assist players to navigate the course.
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Although its initial blueprint called for the simultaneous development of the golf course and the neighborhood, Rio Pinar arose as East Orange County’s first ever country club community only in the late 1970s. With the establishment of the Rio Pinar East Residential Community, followed by Rio Pinar Lakes in 1981, and by Villages of Rio Pinar in the early 2000s, the community is now a thriving golf community.
Family-friendly and favorable to over 55s because of its rural and old-fashioned atmosphere, Rio Pinar Golf and Country Club’s dining scene is a buffet of ethnic cuisine served up in small restaurants scattered all around the community. In contrast, Rio Pinar shopping is concentrated in retail plazas lining the main roads of Lake Underhill and Goldenrod.
Although athletic activities proliferate at the South Econ Recreational Center and at Capehart and Community Parks, the main sports hub is the semi-private Rio Pinar Golf and Country Club’s 18-hole golf course. Launched in 1957, the club includes amenities like world-class tennis courts, a Florida-shaped swimming pool and authentic country club dining.
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