Golfers seeking a relaxing golf experience in the Orlando area will enjoy Mission Inn Resort, one of two resorts I visited on a Florida golfing trip in April 1999. The other was the exceptional but more urban Bay Hill Club, just minutes from Walt Disney World.

Located 40 minutes northwest of Orlando in the Florida hill country in the tiny hamlet of Howey-in-the-Hills, Mission Inn's seclusion, scenic rusticity and tranquility provide an attractive setting in which to hold a retreat, small business group meeting or family reunion. With its Spanish-Mediterranean style architecture, the resort, perched on a hill, looks monastic and one could easily imagine robed monks strolling the grounds silently reciting Scripture.

But at Mission Inn, you will not see the likes of Thomas Merton, just vacationers unwinding by the pool and spa, or golfers quoting another scripture -- yardage books.

Mission Inn's signature course is El Campeon (The Champion) built in 1926 by the Troon, Scotland designer Charles E. Clarke. He was commissioned by Illinois farmer William J. Howey to build the course on the hillsides flanking the Hotel Floridian, built two years earlier. Howey, after whom the town was named, came to these hills to create an agricultural empire based on citrus. The town and hotel grew up around the company. Much later, cold weather forced the citrus growers south, but orange trees remain extant on the property.

In 1964, an Illinois stock broker, Nick Beucher, bought the hotel and course and undertook major improvements and expansions including the clubhouse that includes a casual restaurant, and a small convention center. A second course, Los Colinas (The Hills), designed by former Tour player Gary Koch, was added in 1992. Today, in addition to the courses, Mission Inn Golf & Tennis Resort consists of 132 hotel rooms, 19 one- or two bedroom suites, 30,000 square feet of meeting space, a tennis complex, and three superb restaurants, all managed by the Beucher family whose primary aim is to make the resort as personal and uncommercial as possible. In that, I think they have succeeded.

El Campeon

El Campeon, the venue of state and national events, is a classic design that should appeal to traditionalists. A playing partner of mine remarked, "The charm of this course is its age." The course features a half dozen holes with 85 foot elevation changes, the steepest in Florida. Put snow on these fairways and they could double as beginner ski slopes.

The course is tree-lined yet spacious enough on most holes to accommodate the scattered shot. There are no forced carries and the course is kept in fine condition. Water comes into play on a few holes including the magnificent 10th, a 569-yard dogleg right around a lake with a large oak tree prominently situated in the middle right of the fairway about 450 yards out.

The Signature 17th, called "Devil's Delight," will delight players seeking a golfer's version of a thrill ride. On this 538-yard double dogleg, you drive from a wooded tee box to a very narrow landing area guarded on both sides by trees and on the left by a bunker. From there you have to thread another needle to set up a careful wedge to the green which is fronted by water and guarded by beach bunkers. A large oak in the middle left of the fairway 130 yards from the green makes the second shot a real tester.

Los Colinas

Los Colinas is enjoyable for the accomplished player but the layout was specially designed for the less serious golfer. With wide rolling landing areas, modestly bunkered fairways, and greens that take different kinds of approach shots,

Los Colinas is relatively unpenal. Among its many awards, Los Colinas received Golf for Women magazine's "Top Fairways" recognition as one of the U.S.'s most women friendly courses.

Laid out on former citrus groves, the course has a fairly flat front 9 and a back 9 that has a couple of pronounced elevations. The signature 12th, called "Alligator's Alley," is as beautiful as it is merciless. Bring your camera to this one. At less than 500 yards, this hole will test your mettle, but use an iron off the tee. You couldn?t get a camel through the landing area it seems so narrow. Thick trees line both sides of the fairway leading to a fairly tame green.

After golf, resort guests can relax aboard La Reina, the Inn's restored 1930's river yacht which cruises regularly around Lake Harris from the resort's nearby marina. Lake Harris is a huge lake and one of a chain linking the area to the inland waterway.

For reservations and more information about Mission Inn, call 1-800-874-9053.

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