A Blossoming Original

(from The Villages LIFESTYLE magazine - winter 2003)

While golfing greats Nancy Lopez and Arnold Palmer continue to make their mark on The Villages, the legendary Orange Blossom Hills can still stake its claim on being the first in this community.

Spending the better half of a warm November morning working in their garden, Ed and Linda Muhs had to clear away quite a bit of vegetation to find one of the bed's original plants a tall, proud flower donning bright, orange blossoms.

It was the purest form of subtle symbolism, really. The flower garden and the Muhs entire backyard flanks the left side of the third hole of The Villages Orange Blossom Hills 18-hole Golf and Country Club) the first one built in a retirement community that now boasts several.

"It's historic, yes, but first and foremost it's beautiful," says Linda of her extended greenery. "Every day we sit on the porch and watch the golfers. We can even see them from our kitchen window. Ed comes out here and sleeps every once in a while because it's so peaceful."

With older, majestic trees, quaint bridges and a few small, rolling hills, the Orange Blossom Hills course is paradise and history rolled into one. Softshell turtles swim along a pond adjacent to the 13th hole tee box the course's signature hole. On the 12th hole, a mammoth, cathedral-like tree stands in the middle of the fairway, nearly 200 yards from the green. "The aged trees give this place so much personality," says Marie Armading, looking out at the course she's been playing on for 12 years. "There's so much history here. It's a challenging course to play, too."

Dan Schmidt knows the history of the course better than most. He began working at the country club in 1989 after he moved to The Villages from Dearborn, Mich., in 1987.

"I never swung a golf club before I moved here," Schmidt says, standing behind the counter at the ORB Golf and Country Club. "This course got me motivated to learn. I took lessons from the very first professional who ever worked here, John Gilliam. I remember looking out and it was all cow pasture."

The front nine holes of OBH were completed in 1985. The back nine holes were constructed in 1986 and 1987, along with Silverlake executive course. "I know back then you had to walk through a lot of woods to get to the back nine," OBH's Professional Golf Manager Greg Hightman says. There have been quite a few changes made. All the greens were rebuilt five years ago and the tee boxes have been moved to different locations. It is a very pretty course, very pretty."

Along with the necessary upgrades, the course remains a quiet beauty that has aged gracefully. Bob Hawley can't believe the course has, for the most part, stayed original. It's the reason he's played the course at least once or twice a week for 10 years. "I've been golfing this thing for a long time and a lot hasn't changed," he says. "Sure, there are subtle changes but if they're trying to preserve history they're doing a good job. It was built a long time ago. It's still nice and quiet."

The course, which is a total of 5,780 yards from the blue tees with four par 3 holes, nine par 4s and five par 5s, plays a major role here. The course plays host to The Villages Cup in October - the premiere resident tournament and the annual Red, White and Blue Golf Invitational in November

"I guess because it's more historic residents don't realize it's over here," Hightman says. "Once they play, though, they understand the design is unique. It's much shorter than all the other courses, but you still have to maintain a high level of play."

For Schmidt, who reveres the golf course as a sacred place, although the holes are a little more dressed up and a few more golfers are playing its fairways and greens, its personality hasn't changed. "It's still the same as it was when it was first built," he says. "It's special and I love it."

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