Best golf courses near Saint Pete Beach, FL

Pelican Golf Club sits on the site of the old Belleview Biltmore Resort golf course, not to be confused with Belleair Country Club’s two 18-hole courses that sit adjacent to the old Belleview Biltmore Hotel. The resort course, located a block south of the hotel campus, was a 1925 Donald Ross design that had been remodeled several times over the years. It closed in 2017, and the land was purchased by a new owner who turned it into a private club and hired Beau Welling to redesign the property. The land is flat, but the architecture effectively uses fairway bunkers and small, elevated greens to create strategic avenues. Pelican is the host of the annual LPGA’s ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge tournament.

Located on Shell Island in St. Pete and a five-minute drive from the Mediterranean-style Marriott Autograph Collection resort, Vinoy Golf Course was re-designed by Ron Garl in 1992. The course is open to hotel guests as well as members of the club and offers a certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary where each hole is surrounded by vegetation, including pines, live oaks and a variety of palms.