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Naples is known just as much for its golf as it is for its famous beaches. With more than 35 courses right in the city and over 50 more championship courses in the surrounding area, Naples is the state of Florida's self-proclaimed Golf Capital. The city claims to have the highest ratio of golf courses to golfers in the country.
Located in Ave Maria, Panther Run Golf Club is less than 30 minutes from Naples but it has a much more secluded feel. The course was built with a strong dedication to preserving the landscape's beautiful natural features and significant environmental resources, even as residences started being developed.
Tom Fazio designed both of the championship golf courses at Bonita Bay East. The courses, Cypress and Sabal, have both been certified as Audubon Signature Sanctuary courses for their carefully preserved landscape covered with mature pines, oaks, and cypress trees.
Stonybrook Golf Club boasts seven sets of tees, making it a truly versatile course that any skill level can play. The layout features wide fairways with generous landing areas leading to large, undulating greens that are bordered by intimidating bunkers and contoured mounding.
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Beyond its vibrant nightlife and arts scene, West Palm Beach is also an excellent destination for golf. Palm Beach National is a classic, player-friendly layout that is a local favorite. West Palm Beach G.C. is another popular play. This public course stands out thanks to the abundance of palms, pines, and oak throughout its landscape. And just up the road is PGA National Resort & Spa, host of the Honda Classic. If those offerings aren't enough, the famed Breakers hotel is just across the bridge.
The Palm Beach Par 3 Course is situated right along the beach, offering stunning views of the Atlantic and the Intracoastal Waterway. The tropical setting is perfect for a round. Originally opened in 1961, the golf course underwent a major redesign in 2009 headed by Hall of Fame golfer Ray Floyd to make it more challenging and improve its playability.
Palm Beach National stands out from other south Florida golf courses thanks to a stunning landscape blanketed with mature stands of live oaks and laurels, Royal and Queen palms, and cypress trees. The course has a traditional landscape with wide-open fairways and elevated greens.
Atlantis Country Club has a central location in Palm Beach County that makes it conveniently accessible, but its unique setting will make you feel as though you're in North Carolina. Unlike many other golf courses in the area, Atlantis enjoys a lush landscape covered with enormous banyan trees, mature pines, and towering oaks.
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Anyone who's been there will tell you that Jacksonville is one of the best-kept secrets on the eastern seaboard. A vibrant, midsize city with an enviable waterfront setting and an NFL franchise, "J-ville" as locals call it, often plays second fiddle to Atlanta, Charlotte, and even instate rivals Tampa and Miami in the Southern city popularity contest.
Grand Haven Golf Course in Palm Coast is a Jack Nicklaus-designed championship layout that sits just minutes from the ocean, providing scenic views of the Intracoastal Waterway from nearly every hole. The layout features all of Nicklaus' trademark features including generous, player-friendly fairways.
The Golf Club at South Hampton is considered one of the best values in the area. Unlike many other courses in northeastern Florida, there is actually some movement in the landscape, which was fully utilized in the design.
Queen's Harbour Yacht & Country Club in north Jacksonville surrounds a freshwater basin that is connected to the Intracoastal Waterway with miles of scenic marshland between. The golf course epitomizes Florida coastal golf with century-old live oaks draped with Spanish moss and towering pine trees throughout.
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The Daytona Beach area boasts miles of white-sandy beaches and hosts more than 8 million visitors each year. They come not only for NASCAR races and Speedweeks, but summertime concerts, Biketoberfest, the Halifax Art Festival and - of course, for some amazing golf courses.
Venetian Bay Golf Club is part of a unique residential community with a Mediterranean theme. Colorful buildings, mosaics, and Mediterranean vegetation surround the championship golf course. The biggest challenge for the designers was transforming what was formerly a cow pasture into a lush, challenging course.
Grand Haven Golf Course in Palm Coast is a Jack Nicklaus-designed championship layout that sits just minutes from the ocean, providing scenic views of the Intracoastal Waterway from nearly every hole. The layout features all of Nicklaus' trademark features including generous, player-friendly fairways.
Walkabout Golf Club was a collaboration between LPGA Tour champion Jan Stephenson and Perry Dye. The course is an homage to Stephenson's Australian heritage. It gets its name from a term signifying a rite-of-passage ritual of the Australian Aborigines. The layout wanders across a verdant, rolling landscape, abundant with native vegetation and wildlife.
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The Bradenton-Sarasota region of Florida fits the definition of overlooked and underrated by both tourists and golfers alike.
The 18-hole Sarasota Golf Club in Sarasota, FL is a public golf course that opened in 1969. Designed by Wynn Tredway, Sarasota Golf Club measures 7066 yards from the longest tees and has a slope rating of 120 and a 73 USGA rating.
Designed by former PGA Tour player Bob Tway and Lee Singletary, Bobcat Trail G.C. has been ranked among the top public golf courses in Florida. "The Cat," as it is known, is a collection of risk-reward holes, utilizing a variety of water hazards and bunkers.
The 18-hole The River Club in Bradenton, FL is a semi-private golf course that opened in 1988. Designed by Ron Garl, The River Club measures 7026 yards from the longest tees and has a slope rating of 144 and a 74.4 USGA rating. The course features 5 sets of tees for different skill levels.
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Why do so many of the world's best golfers call Orlando home? Well, there are 123 courses within a 45-minute drive of downtown, and many things to do off the course. Plus, the weather is always great for outdoor activities, with an average annual temperature of 72.4 degrees. In short, it's a great place to work on your game -- or forget about it altogether.
This Robert Trent Jones Sr. design is one of the area’s most venerable venues. The fluid beauty of MetroWest provides for a challenging but playable experience. Wide rolling fairways give all levels of players the opportunity to find the short grass, and the four sets of tees working from 7,051 yards down to the 5,325-yard forward tees make hitting greens in regulation a reasonable endeavor.
Las Colinas is one of two championship golf courses at Mission Inn Resort. It is less challenging than the other course, El Campeon, but both provide enjoyable and unique rounds. Las Colinas sprawls across gently rolling hills with elevation changes that are less startling than those found throughout the older El Campeon course.
The 18-hole Falcon's Fire Golf Club in Kissimmee, FL is a public golf course that opened in 1993. Designed by Rees Jones, Falcon's Fire Golf Club measures 6901 yards from the longest tees and has a slope rating of 125 and a 72.5 USGA rating. The course features 4 sets of tees for different skill levels. The greens are tifdwarf bermuda and the fairways are bermuda grass.
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Florida's Emerald Coast, from Pensacola and Panama City across the panhandle to Destin and Tallahassee, has emerged as a golf destination and now features more than 1,000 holes to enjoy on its golf courses, not to mention sandy beaches and the sparkling Gulf of Mexico. Thousands of families visit the area each spring and summer to indulge in the powdery sand and consistently ideal weather.
Destin is recognized as a top golf destination, and no where is it better represented than at beautiful Emerald Bay. Designed by Bob Cupp, Emerald Bay is a 18 hole championship course believed by many to be one of northwest Florida's very best.
After carving the masterpiece called The Links Course, Tom Jackson returned to Sandestin to develop the course we call Baytowne. As Jackson himself says, "Each hole has a personality all its own." And that's what makes this course so special.
The Nicklaus Course at Bay Point Resort is the first and only course designed by Jack Nicklaus in Northwest Florida. The course sprawls across a gently rolling terrain covered with scrub oaks and tall Florida pines. Saltwater marshes and sandy white waste areas also accent the landscape.
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Miami's warm ocean breezes and colorful culture highlight the easygoing yet energy-filled atmosphere of this city where you can do everything from relax at the beach to exploring an ancient Spanish monastery all in one day. Naturally, the sandy coasts and marshy wetlands provided an excellent opportunity for some world-class golf courses.
Bonaventure Country Club in Fort Lauderdale offers two championship courses, the East and the West. The East Course is the original layout at Bonaventure. Designed by Joe Lee, this classic layout has been ranked as one of Florida's top 10. The golf course weaves through swaying palms and towering hardwoods.
Opened in 1925, Biltmore Golf Course has a traditional layout designed by Donald Ross. The course has a timelessly challenging design that has made it one of Miami's most favored layouts.
Woodmont Country Club offers two championship golf courses, the Cypress and the Pines. Both have challenging but playable layouts that have hosted several PGA Tour events. Mature trees line the fairways and the greens have subtle but tricky undulations, making accuracy another essential element for doing well. Both courses at Woodmont have plenty of variety and five sets off tees make them approachable to a wide range of skill levels.
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Central Florida doesn't always mean Mickey and Orlando. Historic Sebring is a much-relished oasis of peace and quiet, full of charming, laid-back golf courses like Harder Hall Country Club and Highlands Ridge.
The 9-hole Westgate River Ranch Resort in River Ranch, FL is a public golf course that opened in 2005. Westgate River Ranch Resort measures 6642 yards from the longest tees. The course features 3 sets of tees for different skill levels. Greens and fairways are bermuda grass.
The 18-hole Bartow Golf Course in Bartow, FL is a semi-private golf course that opened in 1921. Designed by Donald Ross, Bartow Golf Course measures 6613 yards from the longest tees and has a slope rating of 126 and a 72 USGA rating.
The 18-hole Sebring Golf Club in Sebring, FL is a municipal golf course that opened in 1941. Sebring Golf Club measures 6204 yards from the longest tees and has a slope rating of 120 and a 69.
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To an outsider looking in, the Tampa Bay area has it all. The enormous, sugar-white beaches of St. Petersburg/Clearwater are some of the best in the world. The peaceful, warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico and Tampa Bay are a veritable maritime playground. The area is home to an intriguing collection of golf courses that will appeal to any skill level and income bracket.
The Rolling Oaks Course provides the second world-class layout at World Woods. An entirely different, yet no less enjoyable experience than playing Pine Barrens, this course's name also gives clue to its design.
The Saddlebrook Course is one of two Arnold Palmer championship designs at Saddlebrook Resort, located about 30 minutes north of Tampa. The 18-hole, par-70 layout is tighter and flatter than its sister course, the Palmer, so hitting it straight off the tee is key.
Much of the Brooksville Country Club golf course, a 6,871-yard, par-72 track that opened in 1971, weaves through mature live oak trees with rolling fairways and elevated tees.
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As you might expect, the Space Coast of Florida got its name because that's where NASA launched its rockets and shuttles for the last half century or so. But the region has far more to offer than an education on America's space program. It's an area that stretches from Ormond Beach to Vero Beach with a coastline that offers great surfing and spring break locations, big-time auto racing, deep sea fishing and a pretty good golf scene.
Walkabout Golf Club was a collaboration between LPGA Tour champion Jan Stephenson and Perry Dye. The course is an homage to Stephenson's Australian heritage. It gets its name from a term signifying a rite-of-passage ritual of the Australian Aborigines. The layout wanders across a verdant, rolling landscape, abundant with native vegetation and wildlife.
Bordering the Indian River, Viera East Golf Club sprawls across a landscape of sparkling blue lakes and native marshland that is accented with towering pines and cypress trees. The well known layout is considered one of the best and most affordable public golf courses in Florida.
The 18-hole Savannahs Golf Course in Merritt Island, FL is a public golf course that opened in 1989. Designed by Gordon G. Lewis, Savannahs Golf Course measures 6507 yards from the longest tees and has a slope rating of 135 and a 72 USGA rating.
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Tallahassee revolves around two things: Government business at the capital, and Florida State University. And while the capital city may not be the golf capital of the Sunshine State, it boasts a handful of top-notch courses with terrain reminiscent of the Carolinas.
The 18-hole Golf Club of Quincy in Quincy, FL is a semi-private golf course that opened in 1968. Golf Club of Quincy measures 7045 yards from the longest tees and has a slope rating of 140 and a 74.
The 18-hole Golf Club at Summerbrooke in Tallahassee, FL is a semi-private golf course that opened in 1993. Designed by Dean Refram, Golf Club at Summerbrooke measures 6845 yards from the longest tees and has a slope rating of 140 and a 73.
The 18-hole Don Veller Seminole Golf Course in Tallahassee, FL is a public golf course that opened in 1959. Designed by Bill Amick, Don Veller Seminole Golf Course measures 7147 yards from the longest tees and has a slope rating of 131 and a 74 USGA rating.
Tampa's executive golf courses offer plenty of challenges
Great greens make Panther Run Golf Club a bargain just east of Naples
