Ventura Country Club is a Semi-Private Country Club located in Downtown Orlando designed by Mark Mahannah in 1981. Mr. Mahannah designed many courses in Florida from the 1960’s through the late 1980’s with the plan of keeping Florida’s natural landscape intact. This attention of preserving the landscape is ever present at Ventura Country Club, built on the former site of the Raper Dairy Farm, who supplied Orlando’s larger TG Lee Dairy for many years. Ventura’s lush layout weaves its way through the pines, canals and natural wetlands all located here in the City Beautiful, Orlando FL. Although the first three holes are lined by a lucky few homeowners, the rest of the course is very player friendly with homes in sight but not easily in range of a player’s errant shot.
Ventura Country Club has always been the hidden gem of Orlando. With the addition of all new Champion Bermuda Greens, Ventura Country Club is on its way to becoming the Best Conditioned, Best Value and the Most Player Friendly golf course in the Orlando Area! Champion Greens are known for a smoother, faster, and a firmer putting surface. More than a dozen PGA Tour Events are being held on Champion Greens, including the PGA Tour Championship held at the prestigious Atlanta Athletic Club.
Josh Bennett, Director of Golf, has been part of many of the changes over the last 26 years including the recent installation of Champion Bermuda Greens and has set some lofty goals for Ventura Country Club. “The competition is fierce with so many golf choices in the Orlando Area and we are striving to be the Best Conditioned Semi Private Golf Course in Central Florida,” says Mr. Bennett.
Ventura Country Club for many years has been known as “Orlando’s Best Kept Golf Secret” primarily due to its location and the presence of the Security Gates. “Everyone thinks that the course is private with three gated entrances. The community is private but the golf course is open to the public. Golfers simply need a tee time to enter and take advantage of one of the few golf courses that are owned by the Homeowners Association where all owners take pride in the facility. It is extremely rare that a golf course is owned, managed and maintained by the Homeowners Association. We do it all In-House and we all take great pride in the golf community we have built here in Orlando. Whether you live in Ventura or outside the gates, our goal is to make everyone feel at home.”
You may look at the scorecard and think Ventura is going to be a push over, but once you get into the game, Ventura’s risk / reward design puts your game to the test. The plush fairways are narrow, the rough is tough and the pars 3’s are strong.
From the tips the Par 3 16th hole plays 212 yards to an elevated green guarded by water on both sides and two strategically place greenside bunkers.
Ventura’s Signature 6th hole, like many of the par 5’s isn’t extremely long, but a forced carry over water, a fairway bunker, the jail house of palms and a hard dogleg left present a real test of your course management skills. The question here isn’t “Should I, its how much should I cut off and how hard can I swing”? This is a hole where eagles can soar and bogies can double! Ventura Country Club hosts many golf events, corporate outings, fundraisers and with the golf course and the beautiful Lake Ventura as the backdrop, the Grand Ballroom and Gazebo are the perfect settings for weddings and special events.