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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.
A Robert Trent Jones Jr. design, the Eagle Golf Course at President Golf Club boasts championship Bermuda greens. Jones also lined the fairways with coquina and accented the course with pampas grass, both of which help bring out the beauty of the natural landscape.
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.
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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.
The course at the Grande Pines Golf Club has been named one of "America's Best Resort Courses" by Golfweek. The challenging golf course is nestled amongst lakes and dense forestry including pines, oaks, and palms. There is also native flora and wetlands on the course; it is even a member of the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses.
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.
Grand Cypress' South/East Course blends elements of the more challenging North/South combination and the gentler East/North. The course plays through woods as well as natural water hazards that come into play on a number of holes.
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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.
Located in Carrabelle just minutes from the pristine white beaches of St. George Island and Cape San Blas, St. James Bay Resort boasts the only Audubon Signature Sanctuary golf course in the area. It's not an understatement to say that water is the course's most formidable feature. In addition to the natural hazards that have been seamlessly incorporated, bunkers were carefully added to strategic locations to make the course more challenging, but they still allow the landscape to truly shine.
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.
This Fred Couples-Gene Bates design meanders through high countries, low countries, secluded woods and open fields. The golf course is not revved up on gimmicks or architect steroids. SouthWood's routing flows seamlessly with the existing elements.
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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 Pinebrook/Ironwood Golf Club in Bradenton, FL is a public golf course that opened in 1970. Designed by Dean Refram, Pinebrook/Ironwood Golf Club measures 3706 yards from the longest tees. The greens are champion ultra dwarf bermuda.
The 18-hole Legacy Golf Club in Bradenton, FL is a public golf course that opened in 1997. Designed by Arnold Palmer, Legacy Golf Club measures 7067 yards from the longest tees and has a slope rating of 140 and a 73.
The 18-hole Rolling Green Golf Club in Sarasota, FL is a public golf course that opened in 1963. Designed by Roy Albert Anderson, Rolling Green Golf Club measures 6440 yards from the longest tees. The course features 4 sets of tees for different skill levels.
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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.
The golf course at Seascape Resort is routed through a network of freshwater and coastal dune lakes, offering stunning views of the Gulf of Mexico from nearly every hole. With so much water throughout, it is only natural that it comes into play on 15 holes.
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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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 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 North Course at Highlands Ridge in Avon Park, FL is a public golf course that opened in 2002. North Course at Highlands Ridge measures 7234 yards from the longest tees and has a slope rating of 140 and a 76 USGA rating.
The 18-hole South Course at Highlands Ridge in Avon Park, FL is a public golf course that opened in 1990. Designed by Steve Smyers, South Course at Highlands Ridge measures 6176 yards from the longest tees and has a slope rating of 120 and a 70.
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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.
Pebble Creek Golf Club is one of Tampa's most well known courses. Once just a local favorite, it has since garnered a reputation among visiting golfers as well. The golf course exemplifies the beauty of the Florida landscape. The layout weaves through mature pines and 40-year-old grandfather oaks draped with Spanish moss.
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.
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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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.
LPGA International in Daytona Beach boasts two championship golf courses, one designed by Arthur Hills and the other by Rees Jones. Hills designed the Legends Course, which is the shorter of the two courses, but not by much, it is still quite lengthy at just under 7,000 yards.
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.
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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 Island Links at Aquarina Golf Club in Melbourne Beach, FL is a public golf course that opened in 1996. Designed by Charles Ankrom, Aquarina Country Club measures 4302 yards from the longest tees and has a slope rating of 107 and a 61.
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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.
Although it is only 20 minutes outside of Jacksonville, the Country Club of Orange Park feels tucked away amongst ancient oak hammocks and protected wetlands that sit next to an Audubon Society Wildlife Preserve. Golfers will find that they are sharing the course with an abundance of wildlife including wild turkeys, deer, and osprey.
Cimarrone Golf Club has a landscape that includes both natural wetlands and pine forests, providing an interesting variety of risk-reward opportunities as well as scenic views. The course's 17 lakes come into play on every hole along either the well defined fairways or manicured greens.
Sawgrass is home to the annual PGA event, The PLAYERS Championship. Its best known for the island green at the par-3 17th -- perhaps the most photographed hole in golf. Contrary to popular belief, treachery is not waiting around every corner of Pete Dye's most famous design.
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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.
Jacaranda Golf Club boasts two championship courses that are both four-star rated by Golf Digest. The courses, the East and the West, have a lush, tropical setting amongst towering palm trees and colorful vegetation. The West Course winds through a series of ponds, canals, and lagoons, which come into play throughout the course.
The 9-hole Greynolds Park Golf Course in North Miami Beach, FL is a public golf course that opened in 1964. Designed by Mark Mahannah, Greynolds Park Golf Course measures 3090 yards from the longest tees and has a slope rating of 118 and a 34.
The 18-hole Palmetto Golf Course in Miami, FL is a public golf course that opened in 1962. Designed by Dick Wilson, Palmetto Golf Course measures 6648 yards from the longest tees and has a slope rating of 128 and a 72.2 USGA rating. The course features 3 sets of tees for different skill levels.
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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.
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.
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.
Arrowhead Golf Club in Naples offers a challenging championship course that is easily accessible from Ft. Myers, Bonita Springs, and downtown Naples. The course winds through 16 sparkling lakes. Although water is a prominent presence, the hazards are often only along the perimeter.
Thanks to sand and water, it's no day at the beach at Tampa Bay's toughest par 3s
Great greens make Panther Run Golf Club a bargain just east of Naples
