Short Drive, Big Time: Daytona Beach's Inland Golf Courses Are a Treat to Play By Brian Weis

Short Drive, Big Time: Daytona Beach's Inland Golf Courses Are a Treat to Play

By Brian Weis

A Daytona Beach golf trip offers the opportunity to play within a 7 iron of the Atlantic Ocean, but for golfers willing to venture from the beauty of the coast, Volusia County is home to a trio of outstanding inland layouts.

While they fly under the radar, the area's landlocked courses are among Daytona Beach's best, delivering memorable architecture, outstanding conditions, and an unrelenting commitment to customer service.

If your group wants to challenge some of Daytona Beach's best and most underrated layouts, these three courses should be on your must-play list:

A former U.S. Open Qualifying host, DeBary Golf & Country Club has a different feel than its more coastal cousins. Water comes into play on only two holes - No. 9 and No. 18 - on a layout routed through land that was once home to an orange grove. While any mention of the U.S. Open conjures up images of difficult courses, DeBary, with five sets of tees ranging from 5,060 to 6,776 yards, is playable for golfers of all skill levels. The Lloyd Clifton design is worth the trip.

It might be difficult to call a course Golfweek has ranked among the Sunshine State's top 15 public layouts underrated, but Victoria Hills doesn't receive near the attention it deserves. The Ron Garl design, which features rolling property and pine tree-lined fairways, evokes comparisons to courses in North Carolina's famed Sandhills, distinguishing it from many of its Central Florida peers. Victoria Hills is a treat to play and DeLand is a charming town, offering the opportunity to soak up a little history and enjoy a great meal after your round.

There isn't a drop of water for golfers to contend with at The Deltona Club, minimizing penalty strokes on a course that has been ranked among Florida's top 20 public layouts by Golfweek. Combine the quality of Bobby Weed's design work with an unwavering commitment to keep the course in prime condition and the appeal of the Deltona Club is readily apparent.

A Daytona Beach golf trip provides players the chance to enjoy a variety of experiences, and golfers, despite the drive, are well served to keep the area's inland offerings in mind.

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Revised: 03/04/2022 - Article Viewed 1,993 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.