Florida and Disney, Florida and golf . . . Florida and Disney and golf.
Golf courses were part of the original Walt Disney World plan, with two 18-hole courses built in 1971, the same year the theme park opened. Golf course architect Joseph L. Lee designed both the Magnolia and the Palm courses, which hosted the inaugural Walt Disney Classic in December 1971. (In June 1971, Lee's picture appeared in the New York Times, looking over course blueprints with Mickey Mouse.) Jack Nicklaus won the Classic that year, and the following year, and the year after that. The tournament is still part of the PGA Tour. This year the 37th Annual Disney Golf Classic will be held Oct. - Nov. on the Palm and Magnolia courses, with the final round on the Magnolia. In 1993, Disney brought Lee back to renovate the Magnolia, rebuilding the greens and planting a different kind of grass. The Magnolia has one of the "hidden" Mickey Mouses scatted across Walt Disney World with a mouse-eared sand trap on the 6th hole.
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Thanks for the Disney Golf-related post. There isn't much out there about the early history of the Walt Disney World golf courses and it was nice to see a succinct article about the topic.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, and thank you! It seems like a fairly specialized topic -- is there much interest in the golf courses among Disney enthusiasts?
ReplyDeleteIt depends on the fan...so to speak. My brother is a golfer and he found your site. We are linking to it for a post on our site that deals wit ha 1976 Walt Disney World guide map.
ReplyDeleteWe love Disney history and there isn't a lot of historical info outside of published resources.
BTW, the rest of the blog has some cool articles, too!