Course Review: Bay Hill – February 17, 2024
I had the opportunity to play Bay Hill at Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club and Lodge in mid-February.
The easiest way to play the course is to stay at the Lodge. This was my 5th trip to Bay Hill in the past 3 years and I found the stay and play to be a nice experience.
My experience last year gave me pause to stay and play again but, I decided to give them another chance and I’m glad I did.
Out of the five recent visits, last year we experienced shoddy service and it now seems like an anomaly.
We stayed at the Lodge Monday through Thursday, but were only able to play one day. Mid-February is peak season as the Arnold Palmer Invitational will be played in early March. The course conditions were perfect and tee times were in big demand.
Getting to stay at the Lodge and getting a tee time are separate events and it is very much a catch-22. You book your stay at the Lodge and then you ask to speak to the golf shop to see if they can provide a workable tee time for your stay.
As much as I like the lodge, I do not foresee any situation where I would want to stay there and not play the course.
The lodge stays are getting more expensive since Covid but are still reasonable. My Covid period stays were about $200/night plus tax and they are now $425/night plus tax but still very reasonable given the area and time of year.
However, the golf was expensive ~ a little over $2,000 for a foursome. The fee does not include a forecaddie ~ which is required with every guest ~ and must be paid in cash.
We asked for and had Oscar to be our caddy. Oscar, who caddies in the greater Chicago area in the summer, has a very pleasing personality and really reads people well.
I know for sure he saved me 4-5 strokes and he helps you without getting in the way or over caddying in anyway. I still think he is the best caddy I have ever had.
Because the course was closing for the annual tournament, the play was cart path only which I despise. However, Oscar hustled like hell, and we all knew our yardage and only had to bring one or two clubs.
I never needed to go back to get another club. That was a huge deal for me and diminished a lot of the negatively of cart path only.
I wasn’t expecting much out of my game as I had not picked up a club for seven weeks until this trip to Florida.
However, I kept to the fundamentals on the range and had a good session.
My foursome was announced, and I went to the first tee. Full of confidence, I hit an extremely long and accurate tee shot around the corner on the first tee. I missed my second shot and ended up with a bogey but felt good about my game.
If you like golf like I do and will be watching the API on TV, pay attention to the 1st tee shot.
It plays 459 yards for the Tour event and is a dogleg left. The longer hitters will be able to hit driver over the trees on the left and have a short iron approach.
The shorter hitters will have to hit 3-wood short of the right fairway bunker and be left with a much longer approach.
There are many shots like this on the course I don’t think a below average driver (distance) of the ball has a real chance to win the API.
On the second hole, a very difficult par 3, I smashed a 5-iron right on the green ~ actually the very first time I have hit this green in five attempts.
I played solidly. I remember that I played stupidly last time here and went pin seeking when I should not have and turned pars into doubles.
Knowing the course was in tournament condition and giving it the respect that it deserved served me well and I carded an 83 which given my break from the game and the tournament difficult conditions made me very satisfied.
After the round, our foursome sat outside and enjoyed a drink on the deck.
I think my 3 guests really enjoyed themselves.
My takeaway is that we played a world-class course in tournament conditions and we all will enjoy watching the Arnold Palmer Invitational on TV in early March.
We played at 6,441 yards and that was all we could handle.
The Tournament will be played at 7,409 and my prediction is 10 under will be enough to take the title and you will see some world class players shoot in the 80’s and do some trunk-slamming on Friday afternoon.