Golf in The Villages

At the tee box on Cimarrone Golf Club's 12th hole, golfers face a dilemma: play a drive safely out to the right—where, at worst, the ball may stray into the rough—or attempt an aggressive shot over the water on the hole's left side, cutting off much of the dogleg and setting up a closer approach. With multiple bending fairways, deep bunkers, and a water hazard or marsh feature on every hole, the 18-hole, 6,891-yard course presents high-risk, high-reward scenarios at nearly every turn, delighting golfers who like to live dangerously and favoring those whose sand wedge moonlights as an actuary.

Before rounds, golfers can warm up swings at the club's driving range, a much-needed confidence booster before taking to the water-laden course or betting that they can outdrive the staff's resident T-shirt cannon.

Course at a Glance:

• 18-hole, par 72 course
• Length of 6,891 yards from the farthest tees
• Course rating of 73.5 from the farthest tees
• Slope rating of 137 from the farthest tees
• Five tee options
• Scorecard

Renowned golf-course architect Bobby Weed aims to fill his courses with the kind of rich details typically produced only by Mother Nature herself. His 2008 overhaul of The Deltona Club completely transformed the course: today, blowout-style native-sand bunkers bear roughly scalloped edges that call to mind a raw desert landscape, and the elevation rises in craggy steps as the course progresses, giving players a sense of conquering the land itself. The course's resulting beauty, sense of challenge, and secret bonus level snagged the club a spot on Golfweek's list of best Florida courses in 2012.

At West End Golf Club, the 3,940-yard executive golf course, driving range, and putting green are all fully lit, allowing players to tee it up during the day or night. Scott Dombeck oversees the pro shop, which has been arming golfers with equipment from brands such as TaylorMade, Ping, and Wilson for more than 30 years. The shop also helps golfers shave strokes with custom club repair, private and group golf instruction, and associations for men and women.

The splendid fairways of four scenic golf courses blanket the grounds at Orange Lake Resort, drawing in clubbers with layouts designed by some of golf's premier architects. The Reserve, originally crafted by Joe Lee, has since been refurbished by Mike Dasher to challenge golfers with more bunkers, water hazards, and pelicans trained to give bad reads on every green. Arnold Palmer's course-design company lent its skills to two fittingly named courses: The Legends, a 7,071-yard course that incorporates both open links-style elements and pine-lined woodland holes in a seamless layout, and Legends Walk, a nine-hole executive course with five sets of tees and lights for postsunset pin hunting. The nine-hole Crane's Bend course rounds out the quartet with an undulating utopia encircling a pristine lake where a central fountain showers the water with a steady mist and the freshly liberated spirits of drowned golf balls.

Skyview Golf & Country Club’s 18-hole, par 72 course unfurls an emerald map of fairways and greens that span 7,142 yards of lakeside scenery. With four sets of tees, the course offers up a fun, par-hunting test for golfers of all stripes. The club complements its 18-hole masterpath with a staff of instructors led by Director of Golf Peter J. Summers, from whom golfers can gain swing-honing wisdom in on-site lessons.

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.