The best courses you can play in Florida

TPC’s stadium concept was the idea of then-PGA Tour commissioner Deane Beman. The 1980 design was pure Pete Dye, who set out to test the world’s best golfers by mixing demands of distance with target golf. Most greens are ringed by random lumps, bumps and hollows, what Dye calls his "grenade attack architecture." His ultimate target hole is the heart-pounding sink-or-swim island green 17th, which offers no bailout, perhaps unfairly in windy Atlantic coast conditions. The 17th has spawned over a hundred imitation island greens in the past 40 years. To make the layout even more exciting during tournament play, Steve Wenzloff of PGA Tour Design Services recently remodeled several holes, most significantly the 12th, which is now a drivable par 4.

Coore and Crenshaw’s Red Course is part of a resort triple-header that gives golfers a rare opportunity to compare and contrast the differences in styles and philosophies of arguably the three of top design firms in America, including Streamsong Blue, a Tom Doak design, and Streamsong Black, from Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner. The Red, like the Blue, was built from sand spoils created by a massive phosphate strip mine, with some piles forming dunes reaching 75 feet into the air. But there was only room for 31 holes, so Coore and Crenshaw had to take a section of less desirable, stripped-down land and create five holes that looked like the rest of the site, Red's holes one through five. The course has a wonderful mix of bump-and-run links holes and target-like water holes. Some greens are perched like those at Pinehurst, others are massive with multi-levels like those at St. Andrews. The turf is firm and bouncy, and while the routing is sprawling, it’s easily walkable. The Red has consistently comes out on top in this survey, but the Blue and Black are within just about a point.

Although congenial rivals, Tom Doak and Bill Coore actually collaborated on Streamsong’s original 36-hole routing, walking the site and mentally weaving holes around stunning mounds, lagoons, sand spits, savannahs and swamp, all elements left after a strip-mining operation. Coore then gave Doak first choice on which 18 he wanted to build, so Doak’s Blue Course includes a few holes routed by Coore. (Coore and Crenshaw’s Red, ranked No. 127, contains some holes originally envisioned by Doak.) The Blue starts a bit more dramatically, with the back tee on hole one atop a 75-foot sand dune. It has more water carries off the tee, and it’s also a bit more compact, since it sits in the center with the Red Course looping around its outside edges. The Blue definitely has the bolder set of greens, some with massive shelves and dips. The new addition of No. 178 Streamsong (Black) by Gil Hanse only adds to the spirited competition among designers. The theme song at Streamsong seems to be: “Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better.”

Gil Hanse’s Black Course at Streamsong, Golf Digest’s Best New Public Course of 2018, sits a mile south of the resort’s Red and Blue Courses, with its own clubhouse and its own personality. Reshaped from a decades-old phosphate strip mine that lacking tall spoil mounds, Hanse provided strategic character by building a hidden punchbowl green at nine, dual putting surfaces at 13, incorporating a meandering creek on the par-5 fourth and a lagoon cove to guard the 18th green. Both the putting surfaces and the chipping areas surrounding them were grassed in MiniVerde, and today both are mowed at a single height, resulting in the biggest, most complex greens found on our national ranking. One Streamsong insider calls the Black greens “polarizing;” we call them tremendous fun.

The linchpin of the famous four-course complex previously known as Doral Golf Resort, the Blue Monster had hosted a PGA Tour event annually from 1962 to 2016. The fearsome layout was designed by Dick Wilson in 1962 and set the template for the modern south Florida course with lakes galore, deep bunkers and greenpads elevated above the fairways for drainage and aerial target golf. Several questionable renovations in the 1990s and early 2000s moved it away from the original Wilson look, and the design was lost for a period of time. Always intended to be a course presenting shot-making demands for good players, the Blue Monster was given added bite by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner through the creation of new slopes and ridges on several holes and the excavation of new lakes on the par-3 15 and drivable par-4 16 to add more excitement to the finish. But they wisely left the legendary 18th nearly untouched. Why mess with history? The changes were completed shortly before the PGA Tour took the course out of its annual location.

Back when Golf Digest's named the Pine Barrens Course at World Woods' America's Best New Resort Course of 1994, most panelists said the layout, carved from a sand-based pine plantation, compared favorably to Pine Valley, with similar belts of sand and vegetation lining each hole. Pine Barrens also has some canyons of sand that jut into fairways and pose risks and rewards. The Pine Barrens Course was ranked among America's 100 Greatest from 1999 until 2003.

From Golf Digest Architecture Editor emeritus Ron Whitten:

I've always been fascinated by the design of Bay Hill, Arnold Palmer's home course for over 45 years (although Tiger Woods owns it, competitively-speaking, as he's won there eight times.) For one thing, it's rather hilly, a rarity in Florida (although not in the Orlando market) and dotted with sinkhole ponds incorporated in the design in dramatic ways.

I always thought the wrap-around-a-lake par-5 sixth was Dick Wilson's version of Robert Trent Jones's decade-older 13th at The Dunes Club at Myrtle Beach. Each of the two rivals had claimed the other was always stealing his ideas. But the hole I like best at Bay Hill is the par-4 eighth, a lovely dogleg-right with a diagonal green perched above a small circular pond. Okay, I admit that it reminds me of the sixth at Hazeltine National, another Trent Jones product, but I don't think Wilson picked Trent's pocket on this one, as both courses were built about the same time, in the early 1960s. 

For our complete review, visit Bay Hill's Places to Play page here.

Hammock Beach is a Golf Digest Editors' Choice award-winning resort in Florida and has two of the best public courses in Florida: The first being the Tom Watson-designed Conservatory course, which is more inland than the Jack Nicklaus-designed Ocean course. The Conservatory course is not your typical Florida resort course—its roccco architecture is infused with British links-style features including steep mounding throughout and boasts elaborate stone work, waterfalls, streams, marshes, deep pot bunkers, waste areas and wave-like greens.

The Copperhead course is most famous for hosting the PGA Tour's Valspar Championship every April, but Innisbrook is home to three more championship courses—Island, North and South—with views more like the sand hills of the Carolinas than you might expect in Florida. The Copperhead course is a tough ball-striking challenge with tight, tree-lined fairways and a demanding three-hole finish—known as the Snake Pit—that often makes for dramatic finishes to the annual PGA Tour stop.

One of five courses at PGA National, the Champion Course hosts the Honda Classic every year. Originally designed by Tom and George Fazio for tournament play, Jack Nicklaus redesigned the course in 2014, creating the infamous three-hole stretch aptly named "The Bear Trap." Routinely one of the toughest courses on Tour, The Champion is a true ball-striking test.

This scenic Jack Nicklaus-designed South Florida track has six holes that play along the Atlantic Ocean, with a challenging four-hole finishing stretch nicknamed “The Bear Claw.” The course, which hosted the 2003 U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links, is one of two at the resort and features a classic Nicklaus design: generous fairways and well-protected greens.

Set within vast salt marsh creeks and lined with moss-draped heritage oak trees, the Oak Marsh Golf Course is a classic Pete Dye design. Built around the same time as Dye’s renowned Harbour Town Golf Links at Hilton Head, Oak Marsh is a challenging but enjoyable wetland course. The layout hosted the 1988 U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur.

Like its sister course Pine Barrens, Rolling Oaks is anticipated to undergo a significant transformation with Cabot acquiring the property. As its name suggests, the Rolling Oaks Course features undulating fairways outlined by large Spanish-moss draped trees. Time will tell whether the Cabot group brings in an architect to redesign the course—but it's likely the course will undergo substantial work in the coming years.

Open to members and guests of the resort, Gasparilla Golf Club rests on the picturesque coast of Charlotte Harbor. Though it perhaps lacks the overall ambiance and archtiecture, the proximity of the design to the water (five holes run directly along the harbor shore) and the exposure to the gusty winds puts Gasparilla in the same category of other Pete Dye seaside courses like Teeth of the Dog and The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island. Tripp Davis is currently renovating the course, hoping to imbue it with more vintage Dye-like features that have been worn away.

There are pieces of TPC Sawgrass Players Stadium Course in the club's second course, Dye's Valley. Behold the pot bunkers and deep grassy basins around greens. See the water hazards lined with bulkheads, and the large mounds bordering many of the holes. The arcing fairways with inside hazards are present too, creating just enough uncertainty on the driving line to make even good players uncomfortable. All of Pete Dye's tricks and trademarks (as interpreted by Bobby Weed) are here with the exception of an island green par 3 (though there's a peninsula green angled over water), just in smaller doses as the routing wends out through a residential section. But it's exactly what's needed for a high end public club's "second" course--just enough of the top course to whet the appetite, but at a fraction of the price and demand.

Old Corkscrew, designed by Jack Nicklaus, is routed through the natural landscape of Southwest Florida (no homes!), serving as a habitat for dozens of exotic animals. The challenging layout plays among cypress trees, tall pines and wetlands, demanding accuracy over distance throughout. Though it's 30 minutes northeast of Naples, Old Corkscrew's absence of homes and tranquil setting make it unique in Southwest Florida—and well worth the drive.

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 Dye Course at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie is a links-style course routed through wetlands. Pine straw, coquina waste bunkers and grass bunkers capture the Florida setting, while the layouts of the holes draw strongly on British Isles roots.

After routing players through the pine forests and wetlands of the Emerald Coast, Rees Jones wows golfers on the back nine with views of the Choctawhatchee Bay. Much like the differing scenery on each nine, players will be required to hit a different type of approach shot into each green. Unlike the other three courses at Sandestin, which are open to the non-resort guests, Burnt Pine is only open to members and resort guests.

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.

Lakewood National is home to two relatively new Arnold Palmer-designed 18-hole courses: the Commander Course and the Piper Course. Bunkering and water hazards are prominent throughout the property, making for a typical Florida golf experience.

Designed by Jack Nicklaus and John Sanford, the team responsible for Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point in NYC and Naples Beach Hotel G.C., the new course at Banyan Cay replaces the old Presidents Country Club. The greens are undulating and often very quick. Surrounding the greens are large run-off areas to allow for either chipping or putting and large bunker complexes and greenside bunkers, including several U.K.-style pot bunkers with sod walls.

Featuring two Greg Norman designed championship courses as well as a lit nine-hole par-3 track, ChampionsGate is the perfect choice for an action-packed Orlando golf experience. The challenging International course features large greens (made even bigger by a recent restoration) and numerous grassy dunes, giving the layout a links feel.

Designed by Bobby Weed in collaboration with Sam Snead (the “Slammer”) and Gene Sarazen (the “Squire”), this Jacksonville 18-hole course is enjoyable for a variety of handicaps. As players navigate the wetlands and natural landscape, they’ll also get an excellent view of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Three stellar golf courses—designed by Nicklaus, Palmer and Watson—can be found at this full-service Orlando-area resort, making it the only destination with three courses designed by these three legends. A manageable drive to the airport makes this an easy trip to plan.  The Nicklaus Course is generally forgiving off the tee, but small, undulating greens place a premium on precise iron play. Elevated railroad-tie tees and greens, along with the occasional pot bunker, give the course character.

Just 10 minutes from downtown Miami, Crandon Golf at Key Biscane hosted the PGA Tour Champions for 18 years. The dashing Robert von Hagge/Bruce Devlin design twirls through the interior jungle of Key Biscayne with holes that bend around various saltwater lagoons. But the real allure of the location has always remained hidden because, for environmental reasons, golf course views across the bay toward Coconut Grove and downtown Miami remain closed off behind shoreline trees.

Jax Beach muny is just a few blocks from the beach. It was redone in 2018 to include more par 4s and fewer water hazards, making it the perfect stop for a casual round, regardless of skill level.

The only Jack Nicklaus design in Northwest Florida, Bay Point Golf Club takes you on a trip along St. Andrews Bay and through a marshland wildlife sanctuary.

Recently renovated by the Palmer Design Group, Shingle Creek uses knobs, swales and slopes combined with closely mown runoff areas around elevated greens to provide a challenging, par-72, 7,213 yards of engaging golf.

Redesigned by Raymond Floyd in 2009, the Palm Beach Par-3 Course is widely regarded as one of the most fun short courses anywhere. Situated between the Atlantic Ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway, it hosted an LPGA Pro-Am for 18 years.