Championship Golf in The Villages: Every Course, What a Round Costs, and How Tee Times Really Work

What are the championship golf courses in The Villages?

As of October 2026, the developer lists 15 open championship courses: 11 country clubs with 27 holes and four with 18. They run from Orange Blossom Hills, the oldest, opened in 1985, to Woodlands in the Eastport area, which took its first tee times in November 2025. Two more, Meadow View and The Palms, are listed as coming.

Championship golf is the second layer of golf in The Villages. The first is the executive trail, the shorter courses residents play with no green fee. The championship courses are full length, par 72 at all but one, and each sits beside a country club building with a golf shop and, at most clubs, a restaurant.

Two location labels can disagree, so the table keeps them apart. The village named is where each course page places it. The north or south group is how the automated tee time menu sorts the courses relative to County Road 466. Course names are used here only to identify them.

The 27-hole clubs are built as three nines, and you can play any two as an 18. That is why the scorecards list three separate 18-hole ratings. The 18-hole courses play as one fixed loop.

Course list, villages, holes and par from each course page on thevillages.com; opening years from the developer's Championship and Executive Courses Directory (March 2025); north and south groups from the developer's tee time flyer (December 2025). All accessed October 22, 2026.

Is championship golf free for Villages residents?

Membership is free, rounds are not. Every resident is automatically a member of all the country clubs with no dues, but each championship round carries a green fee. Only the executive courses are free to play, and even there a trail pass applies if you ride your own golf car instead of walking.

This is the single most misunderstood line in The Villages golf story. "Free membership" means you never pay an initiation fee or annual dues to belong to a club, and you can play, dine and shop at any of them. It does not mean free championship golf.

Ownership explains part of it. The District notes that the championship courses and the Golf Academy are owned and run by the developer, while the executive trail belongs to two community development districts. So championship pricing is a business decision by the developer, and its rate sheet says prices can change without notice.

The monthly amenity fee, which covers the executive golf and the recreation system, is a separate line in the household budget. Our cost of living calculator puts the amenity fee, any bond and the other fixed costs for a specific home into one number, and you can add a realistic golf budget on top.

From thevillages.com Championship Courses and Rates and Fees pages and the District's Executive Golf page, accessed October 22, 2026.

How much does a round of championship golf cost?

On the rate sheet for June 1 to December 31, 2026, a resident pays $54.50 plus tax for a morning 18 at most clubs, $58 at Havana, Palmer Legends and the three newest courses, and $44.50 at Orange Blossom Hills. Afternoon and evening times cost less, and nine holes cost half.

Price depends on three things: which course, what time you tee off, and if you hold an enhancement. The day is split into waves. At the 27-hole clubs the morning wave runs 7:28 to 9:28 a.m., the afternoon wave 11:56 a.m. to 1:56 p.m., and the evening wave 4:20 to 6:04 p.m. The 18-hole courses price by clock instead: before noon, from noon, and from 3 p.m.

A few rules on the same sheet are worth more than the headline price:

• Nine holes, all day. Nine-hole play is allowed at every championship course at any hour, at half the 18-hole rate.
• Unlimited evening golf. Pay the 18-hole rate in the evening wave and you can keep playing the same course for the rest of the day, space permitting. The golf car rental is not unlimited.
• Early birds. On most days the country clubs offer 9-hole early bird times from 7:00 to 7:20 a.m., booked only by calling that golf shop, up to three days ahead. The five 18-hole courses are excluded.
• Rain checks. Issued for the morning and afternoon waves only, with a full or half credit depending on how far you got.

From the developer's Summer 2026 Golf Rates sheet (June 1 to December 31, 2026), linked from thevillages.com Rates and Fees, accessed October 22, 2026. Confirm current rates with a golf shop before you budget.

What does the Championship Golf Enhancement add?

The enhancement is an optional paid upgrade that adds priority access to tee times, lower green fees and tournament eligibility. As of October 2026 it is listed at $146 a month, $691 for six months or $865.50 a year for one person, and $182, $866.50 or $1,082 for two. The executive trail fee is not included.

Think of it as a frequent player program. You pay up front, then every round costs less and you get first call on times.

The arithmetic is simple to run yourself. At a standard-tier club the enhancement saves $10 on a morning 18, $9 in the afternoon and $4 in the evening. On morning rounds alone, the single annual price of $865.50 works out to about 87 rounds before the discount covers it. The priority on tee times is the part that is harder to price, and for golfers who play often it may matter as much as the discount.

The same program has two cousins. The Championship Tennis Enhancement adds priority on the Har-Tru clay courts, from $345.50 a year for one person. The Country Club Pool Membership opens the country club pools, from $234 a year for one person. All prices are before tax.

Whether any of these makes sense depends on how often you will actually play, which only you can judge. Nothing here is financial advice.

Enhancement prices from thevillages.com Country Club Membership Enhancements and Rates and Fees; savings calculated from the Summer 2026 rate sheet; both accessed October 22, 2026.

How do you get a championship tee time?

Most championship times come through the automated request system, by phone at 352-753-4653 or online, four to seven days ahead. Times are handed out by points, not by who called first, so golfers holding the fewest points are placed first. Open times can be reserved one to three days out, and same-day play is booked with the golf shop.

Newcomers often call the moment the line opens and are surprised when that does not help. The developer's tee time flyer is blunt about it: when you call has no bearing on what you get.

How the points work

• Every reservation adds one point, and points stay active for seven days from the night the time was assigned.
• Cancel a reservation and you take an extra point. Cancel on the day of play and it costs two more, three points in all.
• Times are assigned three days before the day of play, and you confirm them within that window using option 4 on the phone menu.

Picking a course in the system

Each course, and each nine at the 27-hole clubs, has its own selection number. Each 27-hole club also has a code that searches all of its available nines, which widens your options. The 18-hole courses run straight tee times, with no choice of nines.

The system is offline from midnight to 1 a.m. daily. The developer also runs a free Good Golf School on making the most of requests; registration is through the tee time office at 352-750-4558.

From thevillages.com Tee Times and the developer's tee time flyer (December 2025), accessed October 22, 2026.

Which championship course is which?

They differ more than the shared par suggests. Orange Blossom Hills is short at 6,213 yards with small greens, Shallow Creek plays to par 70, and Palmer Legends stretches to 7,180 yards. Cane Garden circles a 140-acre eagle preserve, Belle Glade has the only island green in the community, and Lopez Legacy was Nancy Lopez's first design.

Here is what each course page says sets it apart, in our own words. Use it to pick the first few you try, then let your own game decide.

The historic side and the north

• Orange Blossom Hills. The oldest 18 in the community, 6,213 yards from the back tees, with mature trees and small greens that reward accurate irons. It sits in Orange Blossom Gardens on the historic side.
• Hacienda Hills. Bunkers on every hole and water on fourteen. Its address is on Morse Boulevard in the village of Hacienda.
• Tierra Del Sol. A long, open front nine and a back nine where nature preserves come into play on eight holes. Four sets of tees.
• Glenview Champions. More than 7,100 yards, laid out with input from senior tour professionals Tommy Aaron, Hubert Green and John Mahaffey, with real elevation change.
• Lopez Legacy. LPGA Hall of Famer Nancy Lopez's first course design, on rolling ground with live oaks and water, on Buena Vista Boulevard.

South of CR 466

• Palmer Legends. 27 holes totaling 7,180 yards, with plenty of water and bunkering.
• Cane Garden. A hillside clubhouse among oak hammocks and a course that plays around a 140-acre eagle preserve. It hosts the Pro Shoot Out on its Hibiscus nine, listed for November 20, 2026, from noon to 5 p.m.
• Mallory Hill. The clubhouse looks over 18 of the 27 holes from one of the highest points in Sumter County, and seven holes on the Virginia nine carry water.
• Havana. Rolling fairways and heavily contoured greens, up to 7,070 yards.
• Bonifay. Five tee sets from 4,763 to 7,090 yards and some of the more demanding green complexes.
• Evans Prairie. Six tee sets from 3,801 to 7,052 yards, built around the prairie it is named for, with a lot of target golf.
• Belle Glade. The only island green in The Villages, on the Tequesta nine, plus a Calusa nine set in a nature preserve.
• Southern Oaks. Three par 3s, three par 4s and three par 5s on each nine, from about 4,000 to 6,500 yards.
• Shallow Creek. The only par 70, with a 31-acre eagle preserve as a backdrop and its golf shop and restaurant at Sawgrass Grove.
• Woodlands. The newest open course, an 18-hole par 72 in the Eastport area.

From each course page on thevillages.com, accessed October 22, 2026.

Can guests and non-residents play the championship courses?

Yes. Guests of residents and non-residents can book championship golf at their own published rates, which run higher than resident rates. In the June to December 2026 sheet a morning 18 at a standard-tier club is $67 for a resident guest and $70 for a non-resident, plus tax. Guests need the appropriate guest ID.

The rate sheet uses two words that sound alike and are not. A non-resident is anyone living outside The Villages. A guest is someone living outside Marion, Sumter and Lake counties, or a resident's child or grandchild with an In-Area Guest ID. Players under 19 pay the same green fee as the resident hosting them.

Visitors who fly in without clubs can rent. A rental set is $45 for 18 holes and a golf car is $16 per person for 18, both plus tax. For how guest IDs work more broadly, see our first 30 days checklist.

From the developer's Summer 2026 Golf Rates sheet, accessed October 22, 2026.

Are more championship courses coming to The Villages?

Yes. The developer lists Meadow View, a 27-hole championship course, and The Palms, described as 27 holes in planning and design, as on the horizon. Separately, news reports in October 2026 said a roughly $180 million bond offering would help fund 27 holes of championship golf. No opening dates were published.

Woodlands, the most recent addition, took its first tee times on November 7, 2025. The next two are earlier in the pipeline.

• Meadow View. Listed as a 27-hole championship course and described as the newest addition, with construction updates on its page.
• The Palms. Described as in the planning and design stages with 27 holes. Its summary box shows 18 holes, so the page contradicts itself; we go with the description and expect the details to firm up.

On October 19, Insurance Journal, citing Bloomberg, reported that The Villages planned to issue nearly $180 million in unrated high-yield debt to fund 3,860 homes plus 27 holes of championship golf and recreation centers. Villages-News reported the same on October 21. Neither named the course, and we could not confirm the issuing district on a primary source, so treat it as news, not a schedule. If you are weighing a home in a newer district, our bond explainer covers how infrastructure debt shows up in what an owner pays.

From thevillages.com course pages for Woodlands, Meadow View and The Palms, Insurance Journal (October 19, 2026) and Villages-News.com (October 21, 2026), accessed October 22, 2026.

The local take

I was born and raised in Marion County, I am a Navy Veteran, and I represent buyers independently rather than from a sales office. Here is how championship golf should shape a home search.

Your membership is everywhere, your cart ride is not. Because every resident belongs to every club, buyers sometimes treat location as irrelevant. It is not. The course you can reach in a few minutes by golf car is the one you will play on a whim, and that is usually the one that justifies an enhancement. Map the clubhouse from the driveway before you fall for the kitchen. Our golf cart guide explains how the paths and tunnels connect.

The trade-off people miss is the rate tier. The three newest courses sit in the higher tier, and so do Havana and Palmer Legends. If most of your rounds will be at those courses, the $3.50 extra on every resident morning 18 adds up next to the amenity fee and, in newer districts, a larger bond balance. None of that makes a village better or worse. It just belongs in the same spreadsheet.

What I would check on a specific home: the drive or cart time to the two clubs you would use most, whether the lot backs onto a fairway and which side of it, the bond balance and the amenity fee for that address, and the 2026 rates at those clubs. If you want, I will pull that together for any homes you are considering.

Frequently asked questions

Can I play just nine holes on a championship course in The Villages?

Yes. The Summer 2026 rate sheet allows nine-hole play on every championship course all day, every day, at half the 18-hole rate for that wave. On most days the country clubs also offer 9-hole early bird times from 7:00 to 7:20 a.m., booked by calling the golf shop directly up to three days ahead.

Do I need a handicap to play championship golf in The Villages?

Not for a regular tee time. The developer's tee time flyer says registering for Championship Men's and Ladies' Day through the phone system requires being a priority member with a GHIN handicap. Ask a golf shop how that applies to you before you sign up.

Are the championship courses ever closed for maintenance?

Yes, briefly. The developer's 2026 greens aerification schedule listed one or two dates in June and again in July for each championship course, and the Turf Talk page posts maintenance schedules. Check it before you book in summer, since dates can change.

What is a Course Access Pass?

It is a card for golfers who hold a state disabled parking permit. Under the developer's guidelines, a CAP tag lets the holder drive closer to greens than other players, with limits such as staying 10 yards from greens and following cart path only days. Apply at the Golf Administration offices with the placard, a driver's license and registration.

Can I eat at a country club restaurant if I do not play golf?

Yes. thevillages.com says everyone is welcome to dine at the country club restaurants, and it lists ten of them, from Belle Glade to Palmer Legends, each with its own website for menus and hours. A Luxe Steakhouse and Cellar is listed as coming soon.

Which championship course is the cheapest to play?

Orange Blossom Hills. On the June to December 2026 rate sheet a resident pays $44.50 plus tax for a morning 18 there, against $54.50 at most clubs and $58.00 at the higher-tier courses. Evening play is the cheapest time anywhere, from $18.50 at Orange Blossom Hills.

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