In my extensive travels to central Florida over the past decade-plus, one fact has become painstakingly clear – good golf deals are very tough to find in the area.

Particularly in the winter and shoulder seasons, soaring demand from the constant throng of tourism in Orlando has pushed greens fees above $200 for just about any semi-decent public course.

Venturing a bit off the beaten path can bear fruit for the budget-conscious golfer, though, and I’ve found the place that just might offer the best value of any destination near Orlando – Mission Resort + Club in the secluded, historic community of Howey-in-the-Hills.

Mission Resort + Club: The Orlando Area’s Best Public Golf Deal?

Only about 40 minutes northeast of Orlando, Mission Resort + Club is home to two challenging and interesting 18-hole courses, and its affordable rates make it one of the best options in the area if you’re on a budget.

While standard greens fees clock in around $120 at this destination, its stay-and-play packages offer a truly elevated value for central Florida, including an unlimited golf with lodging option at just $272 per night.

And there’s more to this destination than golf – full accommodations including a hotel, spa and dining are available onsite. The hotel grounds are particularly impressive, with beautifully maintained gardens and pools set to Spanish Colonial architecture.

The golf is fun and engaging, with its original course, El Campeón, generally considered the flagship property. The golden age layout features surprisingly interesting topography for central Florida, rolling across hilly land with plenty of water hazards to avoid.

In the fall of 2024 I visited and played El Campeón, and was impressed with how the George O’Neill design maximizes the topography to create unique challenges and risk/reward opportunities.

On another family trip to Disney last fall, I made it a point to return to Mission Resort + Club to play and photograph its second course on site, Las Colinas.

“Las Colinas” translates to “The Hills,” a testament to the rolling topography that’s rare for the region. In fact, the Howey-in-the-Hills area is also known as the “Florida Alps.” Once part of an ancient seabed, sand deposits created hills as the ocean receded to yield the Florida we know today.

“Alps” is a severe exaggeration to describe the moderate hills in the area, though – you won’t find any ski slopes here (even if snow were commonplace in the South) and the elevation changes don’t even rival most of Wisconsin’s topography. But compared to the flatland you’ll find throughout Florida, the land does possess a lot of movement.

A 1990s design by former PGA Tour player Gary Koch, Las Colinas feels nothing like El Campeón.

First, the property is highly irregular, divided between a residential area and a more natural, wooded section compared to the self-contained footprint of El Campeón. The routing works hard to move between the two sections while still returning to the clubhouse after each nine, prompting long distances between greens and tees (I’d highly recommend taking a cart).

Second, the bunkering and design elements differ greatly between the two layouts, something to be expected given the different architectural eras represented. While El Campeón challenges with raised, heavily-bunkered greens, Las Colinas leans more on topography, tight fairways and forested waste areas to defend par.

The residential half of Las Colinas feels more like traditional Florida golf, with condos and ponds often bordering both sides. Despite trouble on the periphery, flatter topography and wider landing zones yield the most scorable stretches in the round.

The other half of of the routing cuts through dense forest while jumping across hills, giving this course its namesake. Here, you’ll find more oddities in the design, with severe doglegs, infringing trees and semi-blind shots calling for smart play and sound shotmaking.

Coming into the round, I heard that Las Colinas is the “easier” of the two courses, but I had exactly the opposite experience.

No doubt, El Campeón is a beast, but I actually found Las Colinas to be slightly tougher, with tighter holes in the forest, a prevalence of OB, water hazards and waste areas, and undersized greens that require pinpoint iron play.

Mission Resort + Club frequently hosts amateur championships, and my visit on Halloween morning was the day before the club hosted the Optimist International Tournament of Champions, a high-level junior event attracting some of the best young golfers across North America.

The course was full of competitors playing practice rounds, and I don’t say this often, but I felt like the worst golfer on site. My 13-year-old playing partner, set to play in the Optimist, piled up greens in regulation and cruised to a mid-70s round while my unrefined golf game alternated between blowup holes and pars.

Her parents were walking along with us, who also happened to be actuaries (like yours truly in my non-golfing life) – so I at least got to nerd out a bit talking insurance and math with them, lightening the mood after frequent poor shots.

Course Overview

Mission Resort + Club – Las Colinas

Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida

Architect: Gary Koch (1992)

Yardage/Course/Slope Rating: Black – 7,139/75.4/132; Blue – 6,753/73.7/130; Historic – 6,276/70.9/126; Challenger – 5,970/69.5/124; Gold – 5,546/67.6/121

Las Colinas at Mission Resort + Club – Featured Holes

#5 – Par 5, 500/488/463/437 Yards

The fifth is a reasonably short par five, bending slightly right around dense forest. It might be tempting to steer away from OB right, but trees on the left infringe with low-hanging branches that would complicate recovery.

While shorter on the scorecard, laying up is the smart move – a pond sits just short of the green and approaches will need to carry all the way to the surface. It’s also important to find the correct section of the three-tiered green – my wedge approach limped on to the front side and I faced an uphill 100-foot putt with 20 feet of break, predictably ending in a three-putt.

#8 – Par 4, 441/418/389/342 Yards

After a long journey from the 7th green to the 8th tee (pay attention to signage as you traverse through the neighborhood!), the routing returns to the residential area of the course at this longer par four.

Playing blind over a ridge, the tee shot at the 8th needs to favor the right side. Take dead aim over the tree line or else a well-struck drive will easily run through the fairway towards OB – a lesson I learned the hard way.

A well-executed, aggressive drive will bound downhill into perfect position, leaving a short iron with an ideal angle into an accessible green. On the other hand, punching out from the left side proved taxing – I had to lay back about 40 yards to avoid running out into a pond.

#9 – Par 4, 380/362/352/290 Yards

While shorter on the scorecard, the ninth is a stout challenge to conclude the front nine. I’d opt for a “fairway-finder” if you have one (something I absolutely do not possess), as the tight fairway is closely bordered by waste area left and restricting foliage right.

The approach is no picnic, either, playing to a narrow, diagonally-oriented green with a steep runoff into sand short-left and a hazard area just off the back edge.

#12 – Par 4, 402/392/363/333 Yards

The 12th kicks off the second journey through the forest at Las Colinas, an extremely tight mid-length par four. A towering pine sits on the front-left edge of the fairway, making a draw the only shot shape available unless you have the trajectory to carry the tree.

The corridor opens up ever so slightly on approach, but a large front-right greenside trap can easily snag a slight mishit.

#14 – Par 4, 497/468/433/370 Yards

The 14th is a near-90 degree dogleg playing from one of the highest points on property to a green nestled in a valley. It struck me as the type of hole you’d typically see on a classic-era design, not one from the 1990s, with tall trees blocking out most hope of cutting the corner. I’ve seen a few similar designs in Wisconsin (e.g., #14 at Old Hickory or #8 at Evansville), lacking options that might’ve existed decades ago before the foliage matured.

Indeed, you’ll probably need to lay back to the corner off the tee, as my playing partner demonstrated when her hybrid flew through the corner into an abyss.

The descent downhill will make up for some of the distance loss from a conservative drive, though, even if approaching from 200+ yards. The convex green offers only a sliver of short grass running up its left flank, with sand covering the rest of the entrance. With that said, I’d err a little left unless you possess high trajectory with your long irons.

#17 – Par 4, 416/396/378/314 Yards

The 17th is a beautiful mid-length par four with a large fairway trap up the right side and water left. The most generously wide corridors exist on this area of the course (as evidenced by my -1 finish on the last 5), and this a particularly good spot to rip driver.

The green site sits in a peaceful spot adjacent to a pond, sheltered by stately oaks and palm trees on its back and right sides.

Closing Thoughts

While I definitely prefer El Campeón overall, I enjoyed the variety that Las Colinas adds to Mission Resort + Club. Traversing a scenic property across hills and through forests, I can’t say I’ve seen a golf setting quite like this anywhere else in Florida.

Pay no attention to other reviews that label this as the “easier” of the two courses, though – the tight corridors, abundance of hazard areas and infringing trees make this a thorough test that easily matches the challenge of El Campeón. So bring plenty of balls and a lighthearted attitude, and enjoy your time on this beautiful property.

Mission Resort + Club has proven its chops as a sound alternative to the more popular public options closer to Orlando. Its reasonable greens fees will keep your wallet well-stocked, especially if you take advantage of the unlimited golf package.

Its short driving distance from other hot spots in the area (Disney, Universal, etc.) will certainly have me coming back in future trips and while I’ve started finding some other compelling, affordable courses nearby (like Winter Park from last January’s PGA Show trip), Mission Resort + Club might offer the most volume of quality golf at a moderate price point.

Are there some other hidden gems in the Orlando area you’ve come across? As someone who frequents the area, I’d love to hear all about them, so drop us a comment!

Mission Resort and Club Website