Best golf courses near Gulf Shores, AL

Though designed by Alabaman and 1976 U.S. Open winner Jerry Pate, Kiva Dunes looks like it came from the mind of an Australian Open champion. It occupies a tight, attractive property on a peninsula near Gulf Shores that's boxed in by the Gulf of Mexico to the south and Bon Secour Bay to the north. The east-west orientation of the holes means that the constant ocean winds gust across the fairways, often making it necessary to aim shots toward interior lagoons, canals and the low coastal border vegetation to trust they'll be guided back to safety. Pate's bunkering is Australian-inspired with sweeping edges and attractive capes, and when the turf is dry, shots can be chased onto and around the low putting surfaces. This longtime Q school host lost many trees in a storm a few years back, which has only enhanced its links qualities.

Craft Farms offers two playable Arnold Palmer designs about five miles inland in Gulf Shores. Much like the Cotton Creek course, Cypress Bend presents wide landing areas and large greens that make it immensely playable. Water comes into play on nearly every hole, but it serves an aesthetic purpose just as much as it does a strategic one. The generous fairways leave plenty of room to avoid the hazards.

There are 27 holes at Peninsula Golf and Racquet Club, spread over 800 acres on the Fort Morgan Peninsula. Sitting adjacent to the Bon Secour Wildlife Preserve, the layout has a secluded feel, playing among live oaks, cypress trees and marshlands. Though the course can stretch to over 7,000 yards from the tips (depending on which nines you play), it’s a playable layout that generally offers wide landing areas. The course recently completed a multi-million-dollar renovation that included tree removal, bunker renovations and cart path maintenance.

Craft Farms offers two playable Arnold Palmer designs about five miles inland in Gulf Shores. Though water comes into play on 14 of the 18 holes on the Cotton Creek course, there is plenty of room on the generous landing areas to bail out. As is true of many resort courses, Cotton Creek is a scenic layout that is playable for all handicaps.