Florida Golf

Orlando is home to some of the world's best golfers including 30 PGA Tour players, the likes of Tiger Woods, Corey Pavin, and Ernie Els. Add golfing legends Arnold Palmer and Gary player, and about a dozen LPGA Tour regulars, and you've got a pretty talented neighbourhood.

Why do so many of the pros prefer Orlando? Well, there are 123 courses within a 45-minute drive of downtown, and many things to do off the course. Plus, the weather is always great for outdoor activities, with an average annual temperature of 72.4 degrees. In short, it's a great place to work on your game - or forget about it altogether.

Orlando is as much a Mecca for the golf purist as the family vacationer. The area has long been legendary for courses designed by two of golf's greatest players - Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer. It also is one of the country's fastest growing golf regions, with dozens of new courses opened in the past few years, from designers like Tom Fazio, Pete Dye and Rees Jones.

You want to improve your game? Orlando is home to six golf instruction academies, headed by renowned teachers like David Leadbetter and Rick McCord. Through personalized teaching and the latest technological advantages, these schools may help you find the silver lining to your game.

In downtown Orlando you'll find a combination of skyscrapers, quiet parks and gardens, excellent museums, and the bustling shops and restaurants of Church Street Station. Nature buffs like to escape to the Ocala National Forest or the Florida Audubon Society's Centre for Birds of Prey, just north of Orlando in Maitland. Art devotees head for Rollins College's Cornell Fine Arts Museum or the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art. Oh, yeah, there's also that place called Disney world!

Orlando has long been known as a place that brings out the kid in everyone, with attractions and theme parks beyond compare. But today it's a place for serious golf as well. Whether you want to play great courses, learn from top teachers, or watch the best compete, Orlando has it all. Just ask the Tour pros who call it home.