The country club of orlando, founded in 1911, is one of florida's oldest country clubs, and their old donald ross-designed course has undergone many upgrades over the years, the most recent of which was completed by forse design in late 2017.

Is it true, however, that donald ross planned the course? The donald ross society seems to think so, but adam lawrence of golf course architecture isn't so sure:

âĢľthe history of golf and golf courses isn't quite as simple as it seems. Much of this is due to the fact that tradition has not been a major issue for the majority of golf's life. even without the clubhouse fires that have wiped out so much history, the number of clubs with few to no archive content from their early days is remarkable from today's viewpoint.

One such example is the country club of orlando (cco). It is one of florida's oldest courses, dating back to 1911, and predates legends like seminole and mountain lake. The club began with nine holes designed by architect tom bendelow, which were extended to eighteen in 1918. Cco has long speculated that the famed donald ross was behind the project, but proof of ross' presence is difficult to come by. Ross may have toured the site and sent a layout for the new-look course, but bendelow continued to re-plan the course, according to reports from local newspapers at the time. However, one of the obvious implications of the club's era is that the course is golf-only, with no accompanying real estate; this is uncommon for florida nowadays.