Pinecrest Golf Club

About Pinecrest Golf Club

Pinecrest is an old-school Florida course in Avon Park: no condos, no winter homes, no hotels along the fairways, just orange groves, woods and a lake without a building in sight. The course's own line is that there are no waterfalls and no tricked-up island greens. The fairways are fairly open, so the work is in the approaches and on the greens. It's par 72, 6,719 yards from the black tees (71.4 rating, 120 slope), and five sets of tees go down to 4,972.

It goes back to the Florida land boom. Col. Royal Page Davidson started Pine Crest Lakes on the south shore of Lake Lotela in 1925, and Bert Way of Cleveland was hired to design the course. Nine holes opened on December 16, 1926, with a tournament of more than 100 golfers from towns across the area. New owners took over in 1935 and finished the 18, with orange and tangerine trees along several fairways and a stream through the middle.

In December 1959 NBC filmed a World Championship Golf match-play event here, hosted by Bing Crosby's brother Bob, with a $171,000 purse, one of the largest in golf at the time. All eight players were Ryder Cup men, and Cary Middlecoff won. It's on the Florida Historic Golf Trail.

It's one of 9 courses Yoink watches in the Sebring & Lake Placid area, and the closest alternative is Highlands Ridge Golf Club - North, about 3 miles away — handy when your first choice is booked solid.

Booking a tee time at Pinecrest Golf Club

Call the golf shop at (863) 453-7555 for tee times. Rates change by month, highest January through March, with lower prices after noon and after 2 p.m.; the rate page shows no year, so check before you go. There's a range and short-game area, and the Sandhill Grill is open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.

How to get a tee time at Pinecrest Golf Club