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Rio Pinar Country Club

Coordinates: 28°31′30″N 81°15′54″W / 28.525°N 81.265°W / 28.525; -81.265
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Rio Pinar Country Club
Club information
Rio Pinar Country Club is located in the United States
Rio Pinar Country Club
Location in the United States
Rio Pinar Country Club is located in Florida
Rio Pinar Country Club
Location in Florida
Coordinates28°31′30″N 81°15′54″W / 28.525°N 81.265°W / 28.525; -81.265
LocationRio Pinar, Florida, U.S.
Established1957, 67 years ago
TypeSemi/private
Total holes18
Events hostedFlorida Citrus Open
Lady Citrus Open
Designed byMark Mahannah (1957)
Lloyd Clifton (1995)
Par72
Length7,001 yards (6,402 m)
Course rating73.9
Slope rating130 [1]
Map

The Rio Pinar Country Club is a semi-private golf club located in Rio Pinar, Florida, a suburban subdivision of Orlando.

The golf course at Rio Pinar was initially designed by Mark Mahannah in 1957, and featured medium-sized greens, strategically placed bunkers and narrow fairways framed by pine and oak trees. Lloyd Clifton was hired by the club in 1995 to give a refresh to Mahannah's then forty-year old design. Clifton put a focus on enlarging the greens and reshaping bunkers while staying true to the original vision for the course.[2]

Florida Citrus Open

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Established in 1957, the golf course was the original site of the Florida Citrus Open (now Arnold Palmer Invitational) on the PGA Tour from 1966 through 1978. with the initial purse being $110,000, with a $21,000 cut for the winner.[3] The winner's share increased to $40,000 by 1975.[4]

In the 13-year span that Rio Pinar hosted the Open, the tournament was a popular stop on the PGA Tour, with winners of the event including Lee Trevino, Hale Irwin, Julius Boros, and Arnold Palmer, all of which are members of the World Golf Hall of Fame. Palmer's win in the 1971 Citrus Open was his first of four wins during the 1971 PGA Tour, which would be his final tournament wins as a solo player. After purchasing the nearby Bay Hill Club and Lodge in 1974, Palmer lobbied PGA officials to move their Orlando tournament to his course, which they did in 1979.[5]

After the departure of the PGA, Rio Pinar was the site of the LPGA Tour's Lady Citrus Open from 1979 to 1982 until the tournament moved to the Cypress Creek Country Club in 1983. The event was dropped from the LPGA schedule altogether after the 1984 tour season. Plaques commemorating winners of both tournaments and other course record-holders sit just outside the club's pro-shop.[6]

Scorecard

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Rio Pinar Country Club[7]
Tee Rating/Slope 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In Total
Black 79.3 / 130 569 380 414 194 391 410 566 213 422 3559 507 420 165 385 412 515 221 355 429 3409 6968
Gold 72.2 / 127 538 369 407 180 358 399 549 171 409 3380 484 398 151 359 388 490 197 342 401 3210 6590
Blue 70.4 / 125 520 353 391 159 344 384 533 152 389 3225 458 373 135 338 359 468 180 324 383 3018 6243
White 67.0 / 117 457 304 309 154 329 328 477 136 365 2859 424 339 100 308 299 418 163 280 307 2638 5497
SI Men's 1 3 11 15 13 7 5 17 9 6 12 14 16 10 2 18 8 4
Par 5 4 4 3 4 4 5 3 4 36 5 4 3 4 4 5 3 4 4 36 72
SI Ladies' 1 3 11 15 13 7 5 17 9 6 12 14 16 10 2 18 8 4
Blue 76.2 / 135 520 353 391 159 344 384 533 152 389 3225 458 373 135 338 359 468 180 324 383 3018 6243
White 72.0 / 128 457 304 309 154 329 328 477 136 365 2859 424 339 100 308 299 418 163 280 307 2638 5497
Red 71.0 / 125 453 300 304 141 315 324 473 129 352 2791 412 326 96 295 290 401 149 270 294 2533 5324

Tour winners

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PGA Tour

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Year Player Country Score To par Winner's
share ($)
Purse ($)
Florida Citrus Open
1978 Mac McLendon  United States 271 −17 40,000 200,000
1977 Gary Koch  United States 274 −14 40,000 200,000
1976 Hale Irwin  United States 270 −18 40,000 200,000
1975 Lee Trevino  United States 276 −12 40,000 200,000
1974 Jerry Heard (2)  United States 273 −15 30,000 150,000
1973 Buddy Allin  United States 265 −23 30,000 150,000
1972 Jerry Heard  United States 276 −12 30,000 150,000
Florida Citrus Invitational
1971 Arnold Palmer  United States 270 −18 30,000 150,000
1970 Bob Lunn  United States 271 −17 30,000 150,000
Florida Citrus Open Invitational
1969 Ken Still  United States 278 −10 23,000 115,000
1968 Dan Sikes  United States 274 −14 23,000 115,000
1967 Julius Boros  United States 274 −10 23,000 115,000
1966 Lionel Hebert  United States 279 −5 21,000 110,000

Note: Green highlight indicates scoring records.
Sources:[8][9]

LPGA Tour

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Year Player Country Score To par Winner's
share ($)
Purse ($)
Orlando Lady Classic
1982 Patty Sheehan  United States 209 −7 22,500 150,000
Florida Lady Citrus
1981 Beth Daniel  United States 281 −7 15,000 100,000
1980 Donna White  United States 283 −9 15,000 100,000
1979 Jane Blalock  United States 286 −6 15,000 100,000

References

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  1. ^ "Course Rating and Slope Database™: Rio Pinar CC". USGA. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
  2. ^ "Rio Pinar Country Club: A fixture on the Orlando golf scene for more than five decades". OrlandoGolf.com. Retrieved 2023-12-26.
  3. ^ "Dickinson takes lead in golf". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. March 19, 1966. p. 12.
  4. ^ Lenoir, Bob (March 6, 1978). "McLendon dream pays off - $40,000". St. Petersburg Times. p. 1C.
  5. ^ By (1996-07-14). "TWO GOLF COURSE COMMUNITIES BUILT ON COW PASTURES HAVE RICH HISTORIES". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 2023-12-26.
  6. ^ Revell, Jay (2018-05-24). "A Small Slice of Paradise". Medium. Retrieved 2023-12-26.
  7. ^ "Rio Pinar Country Club - Detailed Scorecard | Course Database".
  8. ^ Arnold Palmer Invitational - Winners - at www.pgatour.com
  9. ^ Arnold Palmer Invitational - Winners Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine - at www.golfobserver.com
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