Disney World - The Online Guide

Disney's Palm Course

Elevated greens and tees and an abundance of water await golfers at the 6,957-yard Palm course.

Like "sister courses" Magnolia and Lake Buena Vista, the Palm requires careful club selection.

More than the other Joe Lee-designed courses at Walt Disney World Resort, however, the Palm uses water hazards as a penalty to errant shots. Water comes into play on nine holes. Flamboyant Chi Chi Rodriguez, upon tumbling from the lead of an early Walt Disney World Golf Classic when play moved to the Palm, announced, "I'm allergic to water."

The water challenge is nowhere more evident that at No. 6. This 412-yard par 4 requires avoiding water left off the tee, and water fronting the green on approach. Meanwhile, thick Florida forest on the right requires players to tread lightly along the water's edge.

The Palm is shorter, but tighter, than its neighbor, the Magnolia, and overall is characterized as a precise layout carved from dense woods.

Opinions about the toughest holes vary. No. 6 carries the No. 1 handicap rating. No. 18, a long par 4 to a small, forward-sloping green, has been a nemesis for PGA TOUR players, ranking among the 10 toughest holes on the entire TOUR four times since 1986. It is the No. 2 handicap hole.

Larry Nelson, winner of the Walt Disney World Golf Classic in 1984 and 1987, rated No. 4 toughest. It's a 422-yard par 4 that oddly enough has no water hazards. "For me it's hard to find a driving spot," Nelson said. "It's hard to drive it in the fairway."

Another toughie, Nelson said, is the 450-yard No. 10 -- "especially as a starting hole."

And then there is No. 18, a par 4 that measures 454 yards from the tips. Trees to the right and a hazard to the left swallow tee shots that stray from the fairway. Then it's a long approach over water to the green.

There is also water to the right of the green, water behind the green, and a series of sand bunkers hugging the fringe of the green on three sides.

The Palm has been listed by Golf Digest in the nation's top 25 resort courses and rates as a 'classic' Florida course.

Facts and Figures about the Palm Course

Course opened in 1971

Par is 72

Course record: 61 (Mark Lye)

Length ranges from 6,957 (pro yardage) to 5,311 (forward tees); men's yardage: 6,461

Course rating from the men's tees is 71.6

Slope index from the men's tees is 130

Water figures in the design of nine holes

Greens are Tifdwarf

Fairways are Tifway 419

Palm is one of three Walt Disney World Resort courses designed by Joe Lee; others: Lake Buena Vista and Magnolia

The Palm course shares clubhouse facilities -- including a pro shop and locker rooms -- with the Magnolia course

Among the prestigious events that have called the course "home": the PGA TOUR Walt Disney World Golf Classic (1972- ), the Bryant Gumbel/Walt Disney World Celebrity Tournament benefiting the United Negro College Fund (1989-91) and the AJGA/Polo Golf Junior Classic (1995- )

Palm No. 18 has ranked among the toughest 50 holes on the PGA TOUR eight times since 1983

Palm is part of a 99-hole Walt Disney World golf resort complex honored as one of America's Silver Medal Resorts by Golf Magazine (1998 biennial survey)

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