MetroWest Golf Club Review

Texas Outside Rating: 8.4

Golf - Public Course · 18 Holes · Par 72
Orlando, Florida
Website

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MetroWest Golf Club Review

Wow, what a fun and interesting layout in the middle of Orlando. MetroWest Golf Course is a pretty typical Robert Trent Jones, Sr. design – wide open off the tee box; small, tight and well protected greens; avoidable fairway bunkers; and a playable rough. His philosophy seems to be “make it easy off the tee box and tough on the approach and putting.” MetroWest is a Champions Tour Qualifying Site and has received a number of awards and accolades, some of which include: voted #1 Public Golf Course by Orlando Magazine; Best Greens by Florida Golf Central; 4 stars by Golf Digest Places to Play; and Golf Digest's Pace of Play commendation.

What makes Metro West a memorable round of golf is:

  • several elevated tee boxes
  • rolling, sloping, and contoured fairways
  • small greens a number of which are elevated
  • some challenging risk reward opportunities
  • blind shots, water on 10 holes, steep faced bunkers, and dog legs

. For example, #4 is a 610 yard par 5 with a sharp dog leg right around a lake to the green – a long drive presents an opportunity to risk carrying the lake to shorten the hole or you can try the equally risky shot to a narrow approach to the green with several bunkers waiting for a bad shot. The 562 yard par 5 #14 is another fun hole – the second shot is a blind downhiller to a small green surrounded by water. And #18 is a good finishing hole where unseen water encroaches into the fairway in front of the green and around the right side.

The fairways are tree lined, road lined, or play by some homes and pastel apartments/condos. The fairways were dormant when we played in February and conditions weren’t the best thanks to some unusually harsh cold weather prior to our visit. From what we hear, normally MetroWest is in above average condition. The greens are small with minor slope and undulation and were a little slow and bumpy when we played – again, thanks to the bad weather.

This is a course where you can let-er-rip off the tee box and then bring out your “A” game for the approaches and putting. It presents an opportunity to score well and have a very fun and memorable round. We played MetroWest as part of a fun filled seven days in Orlando where we rode in an Indy race car, saw alligators on an air-boat ride, sky dived in a wind tunnel, flew a 1946 World War II fighter trainer, para-sailed, swam with the manatees, ate too much good food, enjoyed some fun nightlife, golfed 9 different courses, and got very little sleep! Read our Orlando Vacation article to learn more about this adventure packed vacation.

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Course Slope & Ratings

Tee Box Yardage Rating Slope
Blue 6,619 71.1 132
White 6,104 68.8 123
Gold 7,051 74.1 132
Red 5,325 70.3 122

Course Information

Course Architect:
Robert Trent Jones, Sr.
Greens Condition
8.5
Greens Difficulty
8.0
GPS:
Yes
Walkable:
Yes
Beware of water on 10 holes and the 79 sand traps.

Texas Outside Rating

Overall Rating:
8.4 out of 10
Beauty:
7.5
Difficulty:
8.0
Variety:
9.0
Fun to Play:
10.0
Value:
9.0
Condition:
7.0
Front Nine Rating:
8.0
Back Nine Rating:
8.5
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FEES & AMENITIES

Approximate Weekend
Rates: $55.00 to $95.00

Golf World listed MetroWest's pro shop in the 100 Best Golf Shops, the practice facility is adequate, and the service is friendly.

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Here's How Texas Outside Determines the Scorecard Rating

The Texas Outside rating scale ranges from 1 to 10 – a perfect 10 course would be something like this:  links along a cliff overlooking the Pacific ocean and bordered by tall trees; lush fairways on rolling hills with lots of natural hazards; water (which is crystal clear) on most of the holes; immaculate greens (but they are undulating and tough); lots of variety and character (each hole is completely different and includes blind shots, elevation changes, doglegs, and significant challenges); perfectly manicured traps with the whitest and prettiest sand you’ve ever seen; a nice club house with great food and a 19th hole; a GPS; plenty of beverage carts or your own cooler and ice; and it only costs $40 bucks! What this means is that you probably won’t find any 10s in Texas – try Cabo San Lucas, Pebble Beach, or some of the Hawaii courses! 
Texas Outside rates courses on the following:

  • Beauty – tall trees, rolling hills, beautiful houses, waterfalls, and similar stuff would score high; a 1 would be flat, bushes or cactus instead of trees, and some grass but mostly weeds
  • Difficulty – a straight, 300 yard par 4 with no traps or hazards, no out of bounds or water would probably get a 1; if it is a 460 yard par 4 over two ravines, with water along one side, natural hazards on the other, strategically placed traps or that dreaded tree right in the middle of the fairway, we are talking a 10. 
  • Variety – what would you give a course where all the holes looked and played exactly the same (“I thought we just played that hole!”); were side-by-side, which is good for finding or dodging other people’s balls, but not much fun; and you can see the flag from every tee box?  That’s right, it gets a 1.
  • Fun Scale – a 10 is where you walk off the course and say “now that was fun” and you can’t wait to get back, or you immediately turn around and play another 18 holes
  • Value – a 5 is $50 to $60, a 10 is $20 to $30, and 1 is $200 or so – of course all of this is dependent upon how you liked the course.  For example, if a run down, boring municipal course, with six players on each hole was only $10; it would still get a value rating of 1.
  • Condition – this one’s pretty easy – what condition are the fairways. A 10 commands very lush perfectly manicured fairways, compared to a 1, which has fire ants, weeds, and more dirt than grass!
  • Condition of Greens and Difficulty – very hard to read greens with lots of undulation and tough pin placement, rate very high on the difficulty scale.  Condition is self-explanatory.  

All of the above determines the overall score for the golf course.  In other words, we like courses that are pretty, fun, very challenging with a lot of variety, and fairways and greens in excellent condition – all for $40.  We also tend to play the courses that are affordable for the masses, which means in the $30 to $80 range. We rate hard and we haven’t found a 10 in Texas yet – don’t worry we haven’t given up and we’re still looking.