Disney World - The Online Guide - Disney's Eagle Pines Course

Disney's Eagle Pines Course

Pete Dye had one goal in mind when designing Eagle Pines golf course at the Walt Disney World Resort: make it unique.

"Really, when you go to the different resorts, you don't like to see the same thing all the time," he relates. "It's like here -- Disney World's got so many attractions -- and when people come to play golf, they love to have the variety."

With that resolve, the world-renowned golf architect went to work, laying out an impressive "low-profile" 18 holes just east of Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort. What exactly is a low-profile course? Simply, it's a design where the course is built on the same level as, or lower than, the surrounding land.

Dye is no stranger to developing low-lying links. As a matter of fact, he used many of the ideas he put into his famed design of the Old Marsh course in Palm Beach County, Fla.

Transition areas of pine straw and sand are common between the tee boxes and the fairways, and the concave fairways maintain proper drainage into the natural wetland areas that are prevalent throughout the course -- in fact, 16 holes boast water. Eagle Pines features Dye's signature undulating greens, which are well-guarded by strategically placed bunkers. The result is a visually intimidating course which is a complete joy to play.

The course has a wide variety of distances and hole designs. For example, the par-4 holes range from 296 yards to 463 yards from the back tees.

According to Robert McCord's The 479 Best Courses to Play in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean, "Shot-making and course management rather than length are important on this course. By the end of the round, you will have used every club in your bag, but it will be helpful to bring along your short game."

Facts and Figures about the Eagle Pines Course

Course opened in 1992

Par is 72

Course record: 61 (Jay Overton)

Length ranges from 6,772 (pro yardage) to 4,838 (forward tees); men's yardage: 6,309

Course rating from the men's tees is 70.1

Slope index from the men's tees is 129

Water figures in the design of 16 holes

Greens are Tifdwarf

Fairways are Tifway 419

The course shares Bonnet Creek clubhouse facilities -- including a pro shop, locker rooms, the Sandtrap Bar & Grill and a function room -- with the Tom Fazio-designed Osprey Ridge course

Among the prestigious events that have called the course "home": the PGA TOUR Walt Disney World Golf Classic (1994), LPGA Tour HealthSouth Tournament (1995), Bryant Gumbel/Walt Disney World Celebrity Tournament benefiting United Negro College Fund (1993-)

Eagle Pines 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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