Best golf courses near Naples, FL

Calusa’s developer, Gary Chensoff, a Chicago venture capitalist, survived a rare form of cancer despite long odds, and his recovery strongly influenced how Calusa Pines was designed and built. Chensoff decided to gamble, instructing Hurdzan-Fry to design the most unique course in south Florida despite a dead flat site. They responded by piling up fill from ponds to form ridge lines up to 58 feet, then planted them with mature oaks, pines and sabal palms. Calusa Pines sports perhaps the firmest, fastest Bermuda fairways and greens in Florida, rivaled only by the turf at Streamsong. Recent removal of overgrown vegetation between holes has returned beautiful long-range views to the course and made it more playable.

You might consider Naples National a test run for Calusa Pines. Built eight years earlier by the same team of architects, Michael Hurdzan and Dana Fry, on a site nine miles away, Naples National occupies a similar type of vegetated, swampy non-descript land requiring significant enhancement to make it work. Excavated lakes provided material to create topographical interest, sandscapes and alluring landscaping, just on a smaller scale than at Calusa Pines where a similar approach would create a large dune system 60 feet high that holes could run up and down. Though more modest in scale and elevation change, Naples National is just as unique. A thick layer of coral rock beneath the site that had to be pounded out for necessary irrigation was repurposed as colorful edging support for lakes and hazards, and also for an ongoing motif of rock walls that run along fairways, greens and bunkers.

Of the public options sprinkled across Naples, Greg Norman's Tiburón courses at the Ritz-Carlton provide the best balance of quality golf and convenience, situated in the heart of North Naples. That ideal combination comes at a cost, though, as green fees can be upwards of $300. The Gold course—ranked on our Best Courses You Can Play in Florida list—features stacked sod wall bunkers and no conventional rough and is home to the LPGA’s CME Group Tour Championship and the PGA Tour’s QBE Shootout.

The Club At Mediterra South Course in Naples is one of the best golf courses in Florida. Discover our experts reviews and tee time information.

Of the public options sprinkled across Naples, Greg Norman's Tiburón courses at the Ritz-Carlton provide the best balance of quality golf and convenience, situated in the heart of North Naples. That ideal combination comes at a cost, though, as green fees can be upwards of $300. Nestled among the Florida pines, Tiburón Black uses the natural landscape to feature undulating greens and crushed coquina waste areas. Like its sibling Gold course, the Black is featured on our Best Courses You Can Play in Florida list.