Disney ’ s Redesigned Magnolia Course Offers New Challenge
by LISA D . MICKEY
PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE COURSES
GOLFERS SEEKING A LITTLE MORE SUNSHINE AND WARMTH THIS WINTER can add a championship-caliber course to their wish lists as they head to Florida in the new year .
In conjunction with Walt Disney World Resort and Magic Kingdom ’ s 50th anniversary celebration in 2022 , Walt Disney World Golf has added a little more Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah to its course complement with the renovation of the storied Magnolia Golf Course in Orlando , Fla .
Opened for play in 1971 , the Magnolia course hosted the PGA TOUR ’ s Walt Disney World Golf Classic from 1971-2012 . And while the course does boast a Mickey Mouse-shaped bunker on the sixth hole , there is a reason some of the world ’ s top players on the PGA , PGA Tour Champions and LPGA Tours have been challenged here in professional competition over the years .
Among those milestones was the win by Jack Nicklaus at the inaugural 1971 Walt Disney World Open Invitational and the memorable artificial lighting of the 18th hole at the rain-delayed 1993 Walt Disney World Oldsmobile Classic , won by Jeff Maggert .
Two future World Golf Hall of Famers also cut their teeth as pros on Disney courses .
Tiger Woods , then a 20-year-old rookie , won his second career PGA TOUR title at the 1996 Walt Disney World / Oldsmobile Classic , played on Disney ’ s Magnolia , Palm and Lake Buena Vista courses . Another young rising star on the LPGA Tour , rookie Karrie Webb of Australia , won her first LPGA tournament at the 1996 HealthSouth Inaugural on Disney ’ s Lake Buena Vista course .
“ For more than four decades , Disney ’ s Magnolia served as a favorite stop on the PGA TOUR and we have been methodically planning for this massive project for years ,” said Bruce Gerlander , general manager of Arnold Palmer Golf Management , which operates the Walt Disney World golf courses .
At the heart of the Magnolia ’ s renovation will be the reconfiguration of four of the course ’ s last five finishing holes . Led by One Club Limited ’ s lead golf course architect , Ken Baker , the par-five 14th hole will become a long par 4 with a new green location .
N OVEMBER / D ECEMBER 2022 | V IRGINIA G OLFER 31