The 20 Best Courses In Florida You Can Play
With year-round warm weather and sandy terrain, Florida is a golfer’s paradise. Across the Sunshine State, public courses allow visitors access to the fairways without private club membership.
From the Panhandle to the Keys, we spotlight the 20 best public golf courses in Florida. Offering ocean vistas, lush greenery, elevation changes, and impeccably maintained conditions, these accessible tracks let you experience some of Florida’s finest golf.
TPC Sawgrass – Stadium
PGA Tour commissioner Deane Beman conceived TPC’s stadium concept with designer Pete Dye in 1980 to challenge the world’s best. Dye blends distance demands with Target golf – lumps, bumps and hollows he dubs “grenade attack architecture.” His notorious island green 17th offers no bailout, perhaps unfairly. Over 100 imitation island greens have been built since. To boost tournament excitement, Steve Wenzloff recently reimagined holes like the now-drivable par 4 12th.
Streamsong Resort – Red
The Red Course at Streamsong Resort offers a rare chance to compare three top American design firms: Coore/Crenshaw, Tom Doak, and Gil Hanse/Jim Wagner. Built on reclaimed strip mine sand, the Red has bump-and-run links holes and target water holes. Massive greens mimic Pinehurst and St Andrews. Though sprawling, it’s easily walkable with firm, bouncy turf. The Red edges out the Blue and Black in reviews but all three shine.
Bay Hill Club and Lodge
There’s something about Bay Hill that makes a golfer’s heart beat faster. Open only to Club members and registered guests staying at the Bay Hill Club & Lodge, the breathtaking course sweeps across 270 acres along the shores of the Butler Chain of Lakes. The Champion, Challenger and Charger links feature 27 holes of tour championship golf, a challenging though fair test for both professionals and amateurs alike.
Trump National Doral Miami – Blue Monster
The centerpiece of the former Doral Golf Resort, the fearsome Blue Monster hosted the tour from 1962-2016. Designed by Dick Wilson with plentiful lakes and elevated, drainage-aiding green pads, questionable 1990s renovations lost the original design. Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner then added slopes, ridges and new lakes at 15 and 16 for more excitement, while leaving the famed 18th untouched. Why mess with history? The refinements wrapped shortly before the event moved on.
Streamsong Resort – Blue
Though congenial rivals, Tom Doak and Bill Coore collaborated on routing Streamsong’s 36 holes around stunning mounds, lagoons and savannahs left by strip mining. Coore gave Doak first pick, so Doak’s Blue contains some Coore-routed holes, while Coore’s Red features some Doak-envisioned holes. The Blue starts more dramatically atop a 75-foot dune and has more flushed tees and bolder greens. Gil Hanse’s new Black Course only intensifies the friendly rivalry among the top designers at Streamsong.
Innisbrook Resort – Copperhead
Innisbrook’s Copperhead course annually hosts the PGA Tour’s Valspar Championship with its dramatic “Snake Pit” three-hole finish. But the resort also features the Island, North and South courses, boasting unexpected Carolina Sandhills-esque views. Copperhead is a rigorous ball-striking test with tight, tree-lined fairways that build pressure through the closing stretch.
Streamsong Resort – Black
Gil Hanse’s Black Course at Streamsong Resort, 2018’s Best New Public Course, sits a mile from the Blue and Red with its own clubhouse and personality. Lacking tall mining mounds, Hanse added strategy with a hidden ninth green, dual 13th greens, a creek on four and 18th lagoon. Grassing putting surfaces and surrounds in MiniVerde then mowing all at one height created the biggest, most complex greens in the U.S. Some call them “polarizing;” they’re simply tremendous fun.
PGA National Resort – Champion
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.
Hammock Beach Golf Resort & Spa – Ocean Course
Jack Nicklaus designed this scenic South Florida course featuring six Atlantic Ocean holes and a demanding four-hole “Bear Claw” finish. Host of the 2003 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links, it is one of two at the resort with classic Nicklaus design: generous fairways and well-guarded greens.
The Park at West Palm
The opening of The Park, a municipal-affiliated public course, drew Tiger Woods in March 2023, reflecting growing public/private partnerships redeveloping municipal layouts. Set on the former West Palm Beach Golf Course site, a top 1947 Dick Wilson design that closed in 2018, The Park raised $56 million in donations to reimagine the property as a community hub with amenities anchored by a new public track.
The Gasparilla Inn & Club
Open to resort members and guests, Pete Dye’s picturesque Gasparilla Golf Club lies along Charlotte Harbor with five holes directly on the shore. Though lacking the ambiance of Dye’s other seaside gems like Teeth of the Dog, the windy harbor exposure puts Gasparilla in that revered category. Tripp Davis is currently restoring more vintage Dye features to the worn layout.
Tiburon Golf Club – Gold
Greg Norman’s Tiburón courses at the Ritz-Carlton are the best public options among Naples’ offerings, blending quality and convenience in North Naples despite lofty $300+ fees. The ranked Gold course has stacked sod walls sans rough and hosts LPGA and PGA Tour events. Tiburón delivers pristine conditions and ideal location at a premium cost.
The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club at Grande Lakes Orlando
The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club at Grande Lakes hosts the annual PNC Championship, pairing major champions with family members. Set within Everglades headwaters, the scenic Orlando course is an Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary winding through pines, palmettos and oaks. It blends championship golf with ecological preservation.
TPC Sawgrass – Dye’s Valley
TPC Sawgrass’s Dye’s Valley echoes pieces of its famous Players Stadium sibling: arcing fairways bordered by hazards, bulkheaded water, grassy pot bunkers and mounds around greens. Pete Dye and Bobby Weed incorporated trademark tricks in lighter doses across a residential routing lacking an island green but still whetting appetites at a fraction of the Stadium’s cost and demand.
Ponte Vedra Inn & Club – Ocean
Scheduled to host the canceled 1939 Ryder Cup, Ponte Vedra Inn & Club’s misnamed Ocean Course (it lacks ocean views) is a unique, creative routing with lofty shot options, immaculate conditioning and prevalent wind. Demanding yet with forgiving greens accommodating the weather, this gem accessed through a five-star hotel is a must-play for those gaining admittance.
World Golf Village – Slammer & Squire
Designed by Bobby Weed with Sam Snead and Gene Sarazen, this Jacksonville 18-holer appeals to various handicaps. Players navigate wetlands and nature with an excellent view of the World Golf Hall of Fame.
Mission Resort + Club – El Campeon
Mission Resort + Club’s two courses have hosted many amateur and professional tournaments, including PGA Tour Latinoamerica Q-school. The 1917 El Campeón course features dramatic 85-foot elevation changes across steep hills, with water hazards on most holes. It is among the region’s oldest layouts.
Jax Beach Golf Club
Just blocks from the beach, Jax Beach municipal was renovated in 2018 to offer more par 4s and fewer water hazards, creating the ideal spot for a casual round no matter your skill level.
Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate – International Course
With two Greg Norman championship courses and a lighted par-3 track, ChampionsGate delivers action-packed Orlando golf. The demanding International features enlarged greens from a recent restoration and numerous grassy dunes, evoking a links feel amid the plentiful hazards.
Old Corkscrew Golf Club
Routed through Southwest Florida’s natural landscape free of homes, Jack Nicklaus’s demanding Old Corkscrew course serves as habitat for exotic animals amid cypress, pines and wetlands. The remote yet tranquil, accuracy-testing track lies 30 minutes from Naples but delivers a peaceful, one-of-a-kind oasis escaping development.
