Golf in Apopka

Tree Tops Golf curates competitive fun and practice at a sprawling facility that encompasses a driving range, a miniature golf course, and batting cages. Airborne golf shots take flight at the driving range, where grass tees appeal to those who prefer a natural feel and artificial hitting mats cater to prima donna pitching wedges that demand a perfect lie every time.

A canopy of vibrant palms forms cool shadows over the 18-hole mini-golf course as putters tap orbs across a winding circuit of artificial turf lined with brick rails and rocky outcrops. Two Iron Mike pitching machines lob high-arching, slow-pitch softballs in two batting cages, helping batters to prepare for their next opportunity to ruin a water-balloon-toss competition.

The Golf Hub is helmed by teaching professional and owner Steve Roberts, a player who has championed a number of section PGA tournaments over his career. Roberts lends his time-earned expertise to golfers looking to improve through lessons or the outfit's offering of irons, apparel, and accessories by such brands as Nike and Titleist. During individual instruction, Roberts analyzes each player's personal swing profile with TrackMan technology, identifying issues in skills such as backswings and follow-throughs. The Golf Hub also punches up each ball's individuality by performing custom labeling onsite, emblazoning orbs with anything from personal photos to company logos to lost-cat flyers.

When picking the location for the championship course at Zellwood Station Golf Club, architect George Maddox discovered hilly terrain not often seen at Floridian links. He made the most of this undulating ground as he designed four doglegs that loop around a dry lake, nicknamed Crater Junction, and also devised a treacherous ninth hole. Known as the Train Wreck, this obstacle is infamous for its long fairway and sharp dogleg left. Today, head golf professional Christopher C. Tyler presides over the course’s bermuda-grass fairways and its expansive greens, which putt fast and true. Before facing down the landscape, golfers can figure out which of their balls are afraid of heights by sending them flying from one of a dozen hitting stations at the driving range.

Despite its impressive course and welcoming clubhouse, Zellwood Station Golf Club isn’t resting on its laurels; the club has plans to debut four new holes, a 10,000-square-foot practice chipping-and-putting facility, and a new driving range before the end of 2012.

Harmony Golf Preserve is an award-winning golf destination that prized as a Top 10 Orlando Golf Course in 2011 from Golf Orlando Florida. Course architect and US Open Champion Johnny Miller designed a layout that would work in concert with the local wildlife. The result is a sprawling championship course that melds seamlessly with the natural wetlands and wooded thickets of the 260-acre wildlife preserve that surrounds it, earning the distinction of a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary.

While acting as a haven for feathered and furred animals, the course challenges golfers with tricky doglegs and undulating terrain, culminating in the course’s signature 9th hole, whose treacherous sand bunkers and water to the left of the green demand precision off the tee or a generous bribe to the mulligan maestro hiding in the thickets.

During course play, players can stop at a beverage cart or at the Grill on the Turn to refuel. After penciling in their final score, golfers can savor artisanal dishes and bask in the elegant, old-Florida atmosphere maintained by Graze, the clubhouse restaurant. Harmony Golf Preserve also helps players of all stripes cultivate their skills and clubbing techniques at The Performance Academy, while budding golfers can equip themselves with brand-name equipment and apparel from the pro shop.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 72 course
• Length of 7,428
• Course rating of 76.1
• Slope rating of 136
• Take a virtual course tour
• Five sets of tee boxes

For more than half a century, salty breezes off the Atlantic have rustled the fronds of the palm trees that arch along the fairways at New Smyrna Golf Club. The 18-hole, par-72 layout—originally dreamt up by course architect Donald Ross—more recently underwent renovations by Bobby Weed, updating them for 21st-century expectations such as an absence of pack horses. Before driving and putting their way across the 6,567-yard course, golfers can warm up at one of the driving range’s 30 hitting stations or acquire gear from Titleist, Callaway, and Nike at the pro shop to fill their club quivers.