Lake Nona golf: the private club, Eagle Creek, North Shore and the public courses near Orlando airport

Lake Nona golf starts with a club you probably cannot play: Lake Nona Golf & Country Club is a private Tom Fazio course where guests play only with a member. The public golf here is Eagle Creek and North Shore, both close to Orlando International Airport, plus a string of cheaper east Orlando courses. Lake Nona is about 30 minutes from downtown and 27 from Disney Springs.

For most visitors the area matters for one reason: it is the closest golf to MCO, which makes it the natural first or last round of a trip. Prices were seen in November 2026 unless dated, and they change.

Quick facts

• Private: Lake Nona Golf & Country Club (Tom Fazio, 1986); member-hosted guests only.
• Best public course nearby: Eagle Creek, a par 73 of about 7,200 yards, from $40 on GolfNow.
• Airport rounds: Eagle Creek is about 15 minutes from MCO; North Shore is by the airport at Lake Hart.
• Tour event: LPGA Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, February 4-7, 2027.
• Closed nearby: Hunter's Creek (auction November 2026), EastWood (about 2020), Meadow Woods (about 2007).

Lake Nona Golf & Country Club

Lake Nona Golf & Country Club is a private Tom Fazio course that opened in 1986 and is known as a base for tour professionals. It hosted the 1990 Solheim Cup and the 1993 World Cup of Golf, plus the Tavistock Cup (Wikipedia). Guests play only when hosted by a member, and directory summaries say the club has an on-site lodge for members' guests. Our files show no resort, rental or public route in.

The one way most visitors see it is the LPGA's Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, the season opener with a celebrity division, on February 4-7, 2027. HGV's ticket page lists February 1-7, which likely includes pro-am and ticket-package days. That week fills Lake Nona hotels, with little effect elsewhere. See Orlando golf events and private golf clubs in Orlando.

Public Lake Nona golf: what you can book

GolfNow "from" prices are single-day snapshots, the cheapest time that day. Drive times are free-flow and ignore traffic.

Eagle Creek

Eagle Creek is the strongest public course on the east side. Ron Garl and Howard Swan built a long par 73, about 7,200 yards from the tips, with more than 60 bunkers, bulkheaded water and five sets of tees. It is Audubon certified, has a proper clubhouse and runs a golf academy with coaching and club fitting. There is no rate card on its site; GolfNow showed tee times from $40 for November 5, 2026. It is about 15 minutes from MCO, so it suits an arrival or departure day, and roughly 30 minutes from Disney via SR 417. See the Eagle Creek course guide.

North Shore

North Shore is a daily-fee course by the airport at Lake Hart, booked on GolfNow, from $49.99 for November 5, 2026 (an earlier snapshot was from $39.99). The research calls it convenient more than memorable. It is the sister club of Harmony Golf Preserve, east of St. Cloud. See the North Shore course guide.

Ventura, Rio Pinar and the east Orlando value courses

• Ventura Country Club: an inexpensive community course near the airport and SR 436, from $31.99 for November 5, 2026 and $27.99 on October 22. Google rates it 4.5.
• Rio Pinar: a 1957 parkland club with real tour history: Palmer, Trevino, Boros and Irwin won the Florida Citrus Open here, the forerunner of the Arnold Palmer Invitational. It sells daily green fees, has a floodlit TrackMan range with covered bays, and is renovating bunkers, greens and tees in 2026, so ask what is affected. See the Rio Pinar course guide.
• Stoneybrook East: a classic Florida layout with wide fairways, big bunkers and a hard finishing stretch the club calls "The Final Four" (holes 15-18). GolfNow hot deals ran about $31 to $45 with cart from August to October 2026; prepaid hot deals need a $10 non-refundable deposit. Its Google rating is low, at 2.8.
• Fairways Country Club: a budget course on East Colonial near UCF, from $20.99.
• Wedgefield: a rural 1965 course on the way to the Space Coast, cheap and quiet, too far out for most trips.

The resort course nearest Lake Nona

The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club at Grande Lakes is about 21 minutes from the Courtyard Lake Nona. It is Greg Norman's resort course, open to the public at a premium price (a 2025 guide listed $299-375 for the public), and it hosts the PNC Championship on December 14-20, 2026. See the Ritz-Carlton golf guide.

Closed courses on the east side

Old listings still show several east and south Orlando courses that are gone:

• Hunter's Creek Golf Club: a broker listing read November 4, 2026 describes the former par-72 course on 187 acres as currently closed, offered at a reserve auction (starting bid $1.25 million) with bidding on November 2-4, 2026, for possible residential redevelopment.
• EastWood Golf Club: its owners announced it would close in August 2020 for a 304-lot subdivision; GolfPass lists it closed.
• Meadow Woods Golf Club: listed closed around 2007.

More are in closed golf courses in Orlando.

Where to stay for Lake Nona golf

Rates for both were not read. The Courtyard is a modern base near the airport and Lake Nona's restaurants; the Hampton is a first-night or last-night stop rather than a base for a whole trip.

Lake Nona and MCO

Orlando International is about 28 minutes from downtown and 29 from Disney Springs. It handled about 57.7 million passengers in 2025, and Wikipedia's airline table lists Canadian service from Air Canada, Air Canada Rouge, WestJet, Porter and Flair (some seasonal) and UK flights from British Airways and Virgin Atlantic. Lake Nona is the closest golf to the terminal. A common pattern is to land, play Eagle Creek or North Shore, then drive to a Disney or Kissimmee base; reverse it on the way home. See flights to Orlando for golf.

Off the course, Lake Nona Town Center has dining and shopping and Boxi Park, an open-air shipping-container food park that works for groups. There is a Golf Galaxy on Lake Nona Blvd, and Cask & Larder inside the airport is the last pint before the flight.

When to play

Lake Nona shares Orlando's climate: about 72F highs in January, about 92F in July. November is the driest month, with about 1.8 inches of rain on 6 days. June to September brings afternoon thunderstorms most days, so book the first tee times. The LPGA week in early February is the one time Lake Nona hotels fill for golf.

Who Lake Nona golf suits

Lake Nona golf suits anyone flying into MCO who wants a round on arrival or departure day, and groups looking for cheap east-side golf. It does not get you on the famous club. For a full trip that starts here, see the Orlando golf trip itinerary, and for more value rounds, cheap golf in Orlando.

Plan it on the map

Open the Orlando golf map to see Lake Nona golf, the airport courses and the east Orlando public options. The $49 plan can put an Eagle Creek or North Shore round on your arrival and departure days and fill the days between.