Bay Hill Club (Challenger & Champion)

Bay Hill was originally developed from a Floridian orange grove and the property is located close to downtown Orlando. The Bay Hill Club & Lodge was the brainchild of a group of investors from Nashville and they commissioned architect Dick Wilson to design the course. 18 holes opened for play in 1961.

Bay Hill was home to the “King” himself. Arnold Palmer fell in love with the place after the Tennessean owners invited Jack Nicklaus, Don Cherry, Dave Ragan and himself to play in an exhibition match in 1965 to promote the club. In 1976, Palmer bought Bay Hill Club & Lodge and it remained his winter home until his passing in 2016.

The Florida Citrus Open dates back to 1966 and it became a PGA Tour favourite and a forerunner to the Masters. In 1979, the event moved across town to Bay Hill and the Bay Hill Invitational was born. Today the event is known as the Arnold Palmer Invitational and it attracts big sponsors and the top pros.

Bay Hill Club and Lodge is a 27-hole facility and the Champion, Challenger and Charger are the names of the three loops of nine. The Invitational is played on the Champion and Challenger loops and this long, tight track is considered one of the toughest courses on the Tour, most notably the two long par threes on the back nine (14 and 17), which have dashed the hopes of many would-be champions.

The Bay Hill Invitational (now called the Arnold Palmer Invitational) has certainly seen its fair share of Tour excitement, but statistically the climax to the 1990 event (then called the Nestle Invitational) was pure Disney fantasy. Tour rookie Robert Gamez was one stroke behind Greg Norman and Larry Mize when he reached the tough 441-yard par four 18th on Sunday. Gamez knew victory was unlikely but after a perfect drive he left himself 176 yards across water to the hole. Gamez then proceed to hole a 7-iron for an eagle and first prize cheque of $162,000. We think this may be the longest winning shot in the history of professional golf… be sure to tell us if you know otherwise. See footnote.

Palmer and his partner Ed Seay altered much of Dick Wilson’s original design, so today’s Bay Hill is very much the King's creation. In summer 2009, Palmer again updated his classic course. “Bay Hill is a great golf course. We don’t want to change it – let’s tweak it", said Arnold Palmer. “Let's get the greens closer to the water and take the sand where you can see it.”

After a four-month renovation, Palmer’s revised Bay Hill now sports newly positioned bunkers with proud sand faces, re-grassed greens with flatter edges for more pin positions and new tees which now stretch Bay Hill to a whopping 7,400 yards.

If you stay in one of Bay Hill’s lodges, you become a member of the Club, sharing in membership privileges, which includes the golf. One thing's for sure, you're bound to feel the spirit of the King, which will live at Bay Hill forever.

Footnote December 2020: Nicholas commented as follows: "Jonathan Byrd made a hole in one on the fourth playoff hole from 196 yards to win the 2010 Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open."