The Green Gauntlet, Florida's #1 Rated course, is located in the town of Eustis, NW of Orlando in Lake County. There are several good courses in this county, but they went all out on The Green Gauntlet. Located in a sizeable park with the only other activities being a walking path around the large pond and what appeared to be an underused soccer field. The soccer field can be used for warm ups (shorter grass would be nice) and the walking path is used to access a few holes, but should only come into play on #10.

Two tees and two baskets on every hole. Nearly all of the tees are concrete and a good size, there were a couple rubber mats for tees (#2 White for one), but very few of these. The baskets are all DISCatchers, Red for the short location and Yellow bands on the longer position. Most of the tees are in front of each other, but about 5 presented a different look at the hole. Kind of the opposite on the baskets, most were in different positions, with just several in line with each other.

With 4 different combinations in play all the time, it really increases the number of players the course can accomodate. While there is very little elevation in play (and not every combination on those holes) this course gets its teeth from the green rough. There is no true "Gauntlet" hole, but nearly every hole is bordered on both sides by the rough. It most cases, its not the disc swallowing rough (looking at you Malabar!), but woods, palms and brush that will reveal your disc. (There are a few places with disc lost potential, I'll cover those in the Cons.) I felt the fairways were adequate in size, enough room to hit your line, even when throwing for distance. Of course, there are some tight shots to make, and several places with scattered trees in the fairways that have to be negotiated.

With the dual tees and dual baskets, there are a lot of split fairways. Some offer two ways to play the hole, some just one route from the tee. These can be very distinct like on #5 and #11, while others are more subtle, just requiring shot shaping around the fairway trees. Because of this, the variety of left and right turning holes balances out pretty well. I never felt I was throwing one way, more than the other.

Nice modern restrooms at the main parking area near #1. If you park there, you cut down on the walk from #18 when you are done, and you can go up on the soccer field and throw a few toward #1 to warm up.

Unique basket stack on #7, since the tees are in two different locations, after making the left dogleg, you see the Yellow basket, stacked on top of the Red basket. The elevated Yellow basket gives you that extra putting challenge.

The tee signs are very nice, hole layout, showing both tees and baskets and the distance to each. However, they are printed and inserted in plastic sheet protectors, about half of these are missing. For a first timer, this requires a few trips up the fairway to scout it out, but you would be OK after playing a couple of times. No, the UDisc map doesn't help much, since they normally don't show the doglegs.

There are a few places that looked to have high lost disc potential: left of #2, right of #3 and left of #6. A little more clearing of these areas may help with keeping players moving.

#3 could use some more clearing in other areas, the straight route from the White tee is a pretty tight throw (probably to increase that challenge, since it is the shortest route to the baskets), and the second area of brush in the fairway could be thinned out.

#18 finishes pretty far from the main parking area and over 1000' from #1 tees. Not too bad for most playing a normal round, but would be bad for a shotgun start event.

The little used soccer field would be a great gathering spot and warm up area, but the long grass makes that difficult. I played just a couple of weeks after Hurricane Ian devastated Florida, so I'm guessing the Parks crews have other things to focus on.

Since there is a creek on the property, and it is heavily wooded, mosquitos can be a problem. Plan accordingly.

This truly is one of the best courses I've played in FL. Mostly Par 4s, one epic Par 5, a couple of low risk pond holes and a few Par 3s to take an ace run on. It plays more like a Golf course than a Disc Golf course, and I am happy to see this change. The Par 4s require a placement drive to set you up for your upshot. If you miss the fairway, there are often chances to scramble for par, but not always.

I played the White layout (White tee to Yellow baskets) and it was #5 before my first birdie, a split fairway, then when they come together, the yellow fairway goes left and red goes right. It took a perfectly threaded upshot to park this hole.

#8 is just about the only hole that uses elevation from both tees to both baskets. From the White tee, a gap to the right of middle fairway brush, then uphill to the basket on the soccer field corner, behind that fairway rough. The red basket is through a tighter left gap, and up to the downslope off the hill.

#15, at 627'/809' is the longest hole and only Par 5 on the course. Its generally tight most of the way, then turns a little left and the fairway rises about 5 feet after your drive. Then the fairway widens and goes right to the red basket. To get to the Yellow basket, you must negotiate a couple of horizontal branches and a narrower fairway. A real challege on three dimensions.

After playing 14 of 17 holes bordered on both sides with rough, you come to #18 and a beautiful view of the large pond. Both tees are next to the walking path and the baskets are below, on the downslope leading down to the pond, down the right side of the hole. There are a couple of large trees on the right side, between the baskets and pond, so its not a wide open run at the baskets.

It's great to find such an outstanding course in a mostly DG only park, almost like a private course. Not only is it the best course in FL, its the best in a real good DG county. Just 15 minutes away is the better than average 9 holer, Nature Park and beginner friendly Lincoln Park in Mount Dora. Then 20 minutes to Lakehawk in Leesburg and 45 minutes to the next best course, Lake Hiawatha in Clermont. All of these in Lake County, north and west of Orlando. Since all these courses have dual tees and dual baskets on every hole, that's 288 unique holes, a pretty good collection in this rural/suburban area.

This course has been shooting up to the top of the best Florida courses list, and rightfully so. The course is set in a beautiful park with some mid-Florida elevation changes, a wonderful tree canopy, and a scenic lake.

Decent tees, good tee signs, easy navigation with plenty of trailblazer signs set in a mostly dedicated and isolated area. Typical Lake County style two tee/two baskets per hole layout which offers many different ways to play. Sometimes it was really quiet and peaceful and it was super fun to play!

Somewhat rustic with plenty of nature hikes between holes.

Mosquito alert. Be warned. There is a high probability that you will be assaulted by mosquitos here!

There is a long walk from hole 18 back to the parking lot (room for a couple of more water holes?).

This course is well-designed charming, and a must-play. This course is a long walk around but does come back by the parking lot on hole 8.

Lake County Florida is now a disc golf destination area with several must-play courses nearby.

This is a rustic course on a very scenic piece of land. Any player looking for a good challenge will not be disappointed as this course makes you work for every shot. Most of the course requires a combination of accuracy and power which can be frustrating or rewarding depending on how you are throwing. The majority of the course is wooded and some holes have very narrow fairways. While being wooded, most of the holes are par 4 and at least 350-400 ft from the white tees. All holes have multiple tees and baskets so you could play this course in multiple layouts. There are two holes that play over/near water that are both fantastic. This course will develop into a gem as more work gets put into it and cement pads are poured. The bathrooms were quite nice for a public park if you need to drop some weight before your round.

Most of the land has been freshly cleared so there are stumps and debris everywhere. If you go off the fairways you could easily lose a disc and or come into contact with the local residents. (snakes and spiders) Most of the cons to this course are simply because its a work in progress. Hole 1 is located across the field from the parking lot.

I thoroughly enjoyed my first playthrough of this course. I walked away with a +4 playing white/gold and was not unhappy with that score for a first playthrough. Some of the time I feel like I stepped into some sort of time warp because you will feel like you've played a whole round only to realize that over an hour has gone by and you're not even halfway through the round. It is quite long as well so bring good shoes and plenty to drink. My rating is based on what the course will be after some more work and cement pads. In its current state I would give it a 3.75-4. Thanks to everyone who put work into making this course happen as it is a must play IMO.

18 well-designed holes with dual tees (White & Blue) and dual DISCatcher 28s (Red & Gold/yellow). Each fairway plays 4 different ways at any given time, (72 options) thus catering to various skill-levels.
Clean, modern restrooms. Ample tourney parking. Multi-purpose field by parking lot for warming up. Practice basket on west end of parking, near hole #01.
Most of the course flows very well and has great directional signage, including arrows under many of the pins, and stand-alone 4"x4" posts with arrows to tees. (NavPosts)
Logs outline many of the fairways and transitions for easier navigation.

It took longer than expected to begin installing the concrete tee pads. As of 05-03-2020, 27 of 36 tee pads have been poured and are ready for play.
Some minor flow issues from 8 (parking lot) to 9 and a long walk from 18 back to 1.
As of this writing, most hanging vines and bramble piles have been removed, but several large logs and stumps remain.
People sometimes forget which basket they are throwing for. I cannot fault the course for this. Pay attention to which basket you are throwing for (Red or Gold), and you'll be fine.
The sprinkler system may come on mid day (on holes on or around the pond)

Carved from very thick woods, Palmetto Trails dgc was designed specifically to test a tournament-level competitor. Power can help, but the name of the game at Palmetto Trails, is to keep it in the fairways and hit the landing zones when necessary. 11 of the holes have fairly different looks from White to Blue tees. It is this designer's opinion that nearly all fairways @ PT are a fair challenge.
11 of the holes have widely varying pin positions (in height, or different fairways to pins) 11 par 4s. 1 par 5. 72 hole options. (Not including Green tees).
The park's southern border (Getford rd) is centered by a stocked pond surrounded by an asphalt track, which would also allow easy flow for a showcase-round gallery on holes 6-10 & 18.
Hole breakdowns:
#01: (par 3) Blue & White tees along grassy slope. Red pin drops off at steep angle. Gold pin sits low, but flag is visible.
#02: (par 4) Elevated Blue tee into woods tunnel across creek. White tee across bridge. (Will move left & up on mound in phase 2) Narrow fairway opens up, the splits left to Red pin and right to Gold pin.
#03: (par 4) Blue tees under (or over) oaken arch to fairly open fairway. (DO NOT GO RIGHT off the fairway!) White tees from different fairway to left. Tighter inside line to Red pin, outside line to Gold.
#04: (par 4) Blue tee (still needs adjustments) flex a flippy disc for an S-curve. White tee straight to left fade to set up 2nd shot. Red pin moved to right, with Palmetto hazard in front. Gold pin has 3 distinct attack lanes.
#05: (par 4) B&W have a left & right lane option. Right lane is a mid or putter to very specific landing zone, to set up 150-175' finesse approaches to pins. Left lane allows a bit more power to set up slow right turn to Red and right then left to Gold.
#06: (par 3) B&W tee in line, but Red & Gold have completely different fairways.
Red = tight turnover in the woods. Gold= sweeping turnover uphill. (Nasty rough to left on Gold fwy)
#07. (easy par 4) Very quick (but safe) transition from #06 Red to #07 White tee in the woods. Blue tee at NW corner of track, throwing N into woods tunnel to more open landing area. O.B.string on left.
(String will move left into woods more. It is deemed O.B.because this designer didn't want people throwing from the creek, which is managed by a somewhat strict water management board.
Some interestingly angled trees provide nicely framed approach shots. Baskets are stacked on the same pole. (Simply no room for a different quality pin position on this fairway)
#08: (par 3) White tee requires hyzer flip to Red, hyzer window to elevated Gold. Aggressive attack on Gold will likely park Red, with long, uphill return. Blue tee requires 'S-hook' flex to Red, tall turn-over in woods to elevated Gold. Blue to Gold is actually the shortest of the 4 options on #08.
#09: (par 4) Walk from #08 & parking, west across bridge to track (clockwise) past 7 & 6 to #09 Blue tee.
B tees from near track downward into woods into one of 2 lanes going right. Walk past Blue tee to palms, the left & down into woods for the White tee, where they can also shoot for 1 of 2 lanes.
Red pin is ahead to left, Gold ahead to right.
#10: (par 3) Temp tees are on flat ground throwing near the NE corner of the pond. White does not have to carry water to Red pin. White to Gold carries a bit of water. Blue to Red can stay over land on a flick to Red, but a RHBH can get you to Red or Gold. The pins are on a very steep grade, which can cause rollaways. (We hope to place large poles at lake's edge to prevent rollaways to water (O.B.)
#11: (par 4) B&W are stacked on RH hyzer line, but have different looks to the LH hyzer line. Left lane aligns with Red pin. Right lane aligns with Gold pin.
#12: (par 4) Blue tee requires a slight L-R flex shot to the LZ. White tee has 2 lanes turning right to LZ.
Left side is clear to both pins. Right side is "Scramble-ville") has several options to pins that will change, depending upon where you land.
#13: (par 4) Moderately open fairway in the woods to LZ. Red pin down fairway to Right. Gold pin has several approaches to left, fading a bit right. Red pin also has a back-door alley for those that blow past the main entrance.
#14: (par 3) Short wooded fairways Blue to left, White to right. W-R=easy slow turn mid or putter. W-G= L to R flex back. B-R= arching wooded turnover. B-G= tight gap neutral hyzer.
#15 (par 5) Blue RH turnover out of tunnel, clearing then back into woods. White tee is just outside tunnel. A solid LZ landing is near the Green tee. 2nd shot navigates tight left turn to clearing. Left and long of the island of trees will give you a straight shot to the Red pin. But if you stay right, to make the hard right turn, you might turn too early into the woods. Gold pin approaches through horizontal oak branches, forcing you to pick an approach height. (Scenic!)
#16: (par 4) Blue requires slow left turn RH hyzer flip or anny flick to LZ on Gold fairway. An accurate hyzer flick will get you on the Red Fairway. A RHBHr may also turn one over into the Red fairway, but may also throw into the Gold fairway, which allows a throw onto the Red, in the early stages.
The Red fairway also allows a shorter, but much tighter, route to the Gold pin.
#17: (par 4) Dead straight fairway. The left side of the fairway can eat discs rather easily. Red to right. Gold straight ahead.
#18: (par 3) At the SE corner of the pond. White tee (crosses track) doesn't have to carry water, but can.
Blue tee must carry water to Red pin. Must carry more water to Gold pin.
A set of 3 cypress trees divide the line between the Red & Gold.

Final synopsis: I feel that Palmetto Trails dgc will become 'the course to beat'. PT's 72 fairway options will allow you to pick & choose whatever sort of game you want to play.