Walt Disney's Magnolia Redesign Seeks to Keep Course Magical After Nearly 50 Years

An overhaul of a back-nine, four-hole stretch, plus reimagining of all 18 greens will ready the Walt Disney World Golf course and former PGA Tour host for its next era.

When Walt Disney sketched his initial concept for what would become the Walt Disney World Resort, he designated a large area next to the Magic Kingdom Park, resort hotels, convention facilities and man-made lakes for just one thing — golf.

That drawing was made a little over a half-century ago and even though Disney was not a golfer himself, he was a true visionary who somehow knew that the game would play a significant role in the development and growth of "The Most Magical Place on Earth."

Fast forward 50 years, and Disney has certainly been proved right. Some of the best players from the PGA, LPGA and PGA Champions tours have teed it up in professional tournaments hosted at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida, and more than 200,000 rounds are played annually on the resort's four golf courses, which are now operated by Arnold Palmer Golf Management.

As part of Disney's overarching mission to create the most magical experience possible for all guests and visitors at the resort, Walt Disney World Golf has also made it a priority to continually upgrade and enhance the facilities available to all golfers at what has come to be known as "The Happiest Place on Turf!"

The latest example of this is the most extensive redesign ever of Disney’s Magnolia Golf Course, which will involve a significant reimagination of all 18 greens and much of the finishing stretch over the course of this summer and early fall. As the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney World Golf, Walt Disney World Resort and Disney’s Magic Kingdom continues to be celebrated for the remainder of 2022, the expectation is that Magnolia's magical makeover will be completed by November or December of this year.

"We've assembled an incredible team that is devoted to creating the best possible experience for our guests from around the globe who travel here for a championship caliber golf vacation," says Bruce Gerlander, general manager of Arnold Palmer Golf Management. "For more than four decades, Disney's Magnolia served as a favorite stop on the PGA Tour and we have been methodically planning for this massive project for years."

The extensive redesign, led by One Club Limited and its head golf course architect, Ken Baker, has involved reconfiguring much of Magnolia's closing stretch — holes 14 through 17 — which played a key role in many exciting finishes during the venue's 42 years as a very popular PGA Tour stop. Additionally, all 18 greens are being upgraded to create an even more pristine putting experience.

"I can't even begin to tell you how excited we are to be making some design improvements to the finishing sequence of holes on such a historic golf course," Baker says. "We are creating a more dynamic collection of golf shots that also blend more seamlessly with the surrounding natural environment."

FINISHING HOLES

Here is how each of the finishing holes will be reimagined:

Hole 14: Currently a par 5, will become a par 4, with a new green location.

Hole 15: Currently a par 3, will shift location and become a long par 5 with a dogleg to the right.

Hole 16: Will shift location and remain a par 4, but will now have a dogleg to the left.

Hole 17: Currently a par 4, will become a par 3, with new tee box locations.

Holes 16 and 17 will be connected by a newly constructed golf cart bridge through the forest, creating picturesque nature views for golfers traveling between those holes. Several fairway and greenside bunkers are being enhanced while multiple new tee boxes are being added to test every level of player. The Magnolia course was last altered in 2015 when its bunkers and cart paths were upgraded.

Major championship winners Gary Woodland and Sergio Garcia recently got a sneak peek at the redesign of Disney’s Magnolia Golf Course and they both walked away visibly impressed.

"It will be amazing," said Woodland, who won the 2019 U.S. Open. "The 15th (becoming) a big par 5, 16 is a long par 4 and they've brought in water perfectly. You're going to have four closing holes down the stretch that will test every aspect of your game. It'll be a great finish here at Magnolia."

Garcia, winner of the 2017 Masters Tournament, added: "It's a fun course to play. When (golfers) finish their rounds, they can't wait to come back and I think that's a great thing the Magnolia course will have."

More than a decade ago, Walt Disney World Resort and Arnold Palmer Golf Management launched a 20-year strategic alliance underpinned by a commitment to continually upgrade and enhance the Walt Disney World Golf experience for all visitors. The major redesign of Disney’s Magnolia Golf Course in 2022 follows substantial course changes to Disney’s Palm Golf Course in 2013, Disney's Oak Trail Golf Course in 2014 and 2018 and Disney's Lake Buena Vista Golf Course in 2018.

"These are going to be dramatic changes to the Magnolia course that will create a playing experience that will be challenging yet fun for all golfers," says Faron Kelley, vice president of Disney Sports. "We know our guests expect a magical experience every time they come to play golf at Walt Disney World, and this redesign is part of our ongoing commitment to achieve that for every golfer who steps up to that first tee."

TOP-FLIGHT COURSE

As one of the two original Walt Disney World Resort golf courses, the Magnolia opened for play in 1971 and immediately became home to a PGA Tour event, the Walt Disney World Golf Classic from 1971-2012. This beautifully manicured, par-72 course has all the earmarks of a top-flight course: elevated tees and greens, rolling terrain and a very popular Mickey Mouse-shaped sand hazard on the 6th hole.

Located across from Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa, the Magnolia Golf Course was designed by Joe Lee and is aptly named for its more than 1,500 magnolia trees. With tee boxes ranging from 5,127 to 7,516 yards from the tips, it is the longest of the four Disney golf courses.

"Joe Lee created much of the existing design dynamic of this course with 'push-up' golf feature areas," Baker says. "The existing tees, greens and bunkers typically rise above the surrounding terrain and create a classic look and feel to the course. We've gone to great lengths to ensure that the new holes maintain this classic appearance and feel, while also incorporating subtle design features that will create new and exciting challenges in the future.

"We're excited to be bringing a bit more magic to this 'Disney Classic,' an intentional reference to the name given to the former annual PGA Tour event held here. The reimagining of holes 14 through 17 is just the start of many steps that Arnold Palmer Golf Management is taking to create a more environmentally friendly, visually dynamic, and vastly improved experience for golfers of all skills." 

And the magic doesn't stop there. Golf carts at Disney’s Magnolia are equipped with complimentary touch-screen GPS units to provide overviews of every hole, along with yardage from the cart to the flagstick and many other pertinent design features. And families can play together when they interact with Donald Duck, Daisy Duck and Pluto in Disney character-themed four-seater golf carts.

Walt Disney World Golf also features a fleet of SoloRider individual adaptive carts to help facilitate pace of play and keep mobility-impaired golfers in the game.

As Disney himself realized a little over 50 years ago when the Walt Disney World Resort was still a dream in the making, golf was always going to play a fundamental role in the growth and development of "The Most Magical Place on Earth."