The Florida Guide: Miami, the Keys & the Panhandle

Drive from the Clubhouse: 4+ hours (trip territory).

This is trip territory, not day-trip territory: from Wesley Chapel, Miami and Fort Lauderdale run about four hours down I-75, the Emerald Coast (Destin, Panama City Beach, Pensacola) is five and a half to seven hours up through the Big Bend, and Key West is a full seven-plus with the Overseas Highway as its own reward. The payoff at each end is golf the Tampa Bay area simply doesn't have — Tour-hardened resort monsters and bayfront municipals in Miami, and the Panhandle's pine-and-dunes coastal courses that play more like the Carolinas than Florida. Go south in spring or early winter when Miami rates soften but before summer thunderstorms own the afternoons; go north to the Panhandle in April–May or October, when the Gulf wind is pleasant and the snowbird surcharge is gone. Play them in the sim first — the Blue Monster in particular is a different animal once you've rehearsed the 18th — then build a long weekend around the real thing.

Trump National Doral (Blue Monster) — Doral (Miami)

resort · $400–700+ (resort)

The Blue Monster is the most tournament-hardened course in South Florida — a PGA Tour venue for over five decades, redesigned by Gil Hanse into 7,450 yards of water, wind, and coquina bunkers. The 18th, a par 4 played down a lake the entire left side, remains one of the most feared finishing holes in American golf. The Tour returned in 2026, so you are playing the exact test the pros face, forecaddie and all.

For newer players: A genuine beating even from the forward tees — save it for when you can break 90, or budget a dozen balls and enjoy the spectacle.

In the encyclopedia: Trump National Doral (Blue Monster) — read the full write-up, and play it in the sim if it's in the catalog.

Crandon Golf at Key Biscayne — Key Biscayne

public · $70–185 (seasonal)

The only public course on Biscayne Bay, and a former Senior PGA Tour stop, Crandon plays through mangroves, saltwater lagoons, and open bay frontage ten minutes from downtown Miami. Iguanas and crocodiles are part of the furniture; so are bay winds that turn its 7,100 yards into a real examination. The par-5 18th along the water is a legitimate top-tier municipal finisher.

For newer players: Tough in the wind with forced carries over mangroves, but five tee sets let a bogey golfer survive if the ego stays holstered.

Miami Beach Golf Club — Miami Beach

public · $75–200 (seasonal)

A 1923-vintage municipal rebuilt by Arthur Hills in a $11 million 2002 renovation, sitting in the middle of South Beach with the skyline as a backdrop. Conditioning runs well above municipal grade — this is where Beach locals and vacationing single-digits actually play. It pairs naturally with a Miami weekend when the Blue Monster budget doesn't survive contact with reality.

For newer players: Flat, walkable, and honestly friendly from the middle tees — one of the most comfortable big-city rounds in Florida for a newer player.

Pompano Beach Golf Club (Pines Course) — Pompano Beach

public · $50–95

Greg Norman's first Signature municipal design anywhere — a $4 million rebuild of the old Pines with Norman's bunkering style, paspalum turf, and rebuilt greens, all at city-course prices. It is the standing answer to "where do I get architecture in Fort Lauderdale without a member sponsor." Recent re-grassing and bunker work mean it presents better than most munis twice its price.

For newer players: Player-friendly muni bones underneath the Norman styling; genuinely playable for beginners from the forward tees.

Key West Golf Club — Key West

public · $50–115 (seasonal)

The southernmost golf course in the continental United States and the only 18 in the Keys — a Rees Jones design threaded through mangroves at mile marker 4. The signature par-3 8th, the "Mangrove Hole," plays entirely over a wall of mangrove canopy. Nobody drives seven hours just for the golf, but as the golf leg of a Key West trip it is unrepeatable anywhere else in America.

For newer players: Short at 6,500 yards and forgiving off the tee as long as you respect the mangroves — a friendly vacation round.

In the encyclopedia: Key West Golf Club — read the full write-up, and play it in the sim if it's in the catalog.

Kelly Plantation Golf Club — Destin

public · $99–189 (seasonal)

Fred Couples and Gene Bates laid this one along Choctawhatchee Bay, and the bay holes — especially the stretch on the back nine — are the best water golf in Destin proper. Conditioning is the calling card; it sits at or near the top of every Emerald Coast public ranking year after year. This is the marquee tee time of a Destin beach week.

For newer players: Resort-honest: wide enough landing areas and multiple tees, though bay wind and wetlands carries will punish wild swings.

Camp Creek Golf Course (Watersound Club) — Inlet Beach (30A)

resort · $295 (stay at Camp Creek Inn required)

A Tom Fazio design through raw pine-scrub dunes a mile off 30A, widely rated among the top handful of courses in the Panhandle, with a Davis Love III short-course and practice campus bolted on in recent years. It is not open to walk-up public play — access runs through a stay at Camp Creek Inn or Watersound Inn — which keeps the tee sheet empty and the turf immaculate. As a one-night splurge on a 30A trip, it is the best golf experience in Northwest Florida you can actually buy.

For newer players: Fazio's width makes it fairer than the price implies, but at $295 a round a beginner is paying for scenery they can't yet use.

Bay Point Golf Club (Nicklaus Course) — Panama City Beach

resort · $80–130

The only Nicklaus Design course in the world fully open to public play, per the club's long-running claim, and the championship anchor of the Bay Point resort on St. Andrews Bay. It is a stern card — 7,152 yards, slope 143 — with lagoon carries and Nicklaus's trademark angled greens. Public play is welcome seven days a week, no room key required.

For newer players: The slope tells the truth — big carries and a 143 rating make this a grind for new players even from forward tees; the "Nick Six" twilight loop is a gentler taste.

Windswept Dunes Golf Course — Freeport

semi-private · $50–115

The value sleeper of the Emerald Coast: a 7,752-yard Doug O'Rourke design rolling over genuine sand-hill terrain fifteen minutes inland from the 30A beaches, at half the price of the coastal names. Locals treat it as the area's best golf-per-dollar, and the elevation change is real by Florida standards. When the beach courses are packed in June, this tee sheet breathes.

For newer players: Enormous from the tips but wide and uncrowded, with tees scaling all the way down — a relaxed place to learn on a trip.

Perdido Bay Golf Club — Pensacola

public · $60–90

This is where the PGA Tour's Pensacola Open lived from 1978 to 1987 — Trevino, Watson, and Payne Stewart all played it — and today anyone with $80 can chase those ghosts down its pine-lined corridors. A 2001 Amick/Bergin redesign stretched it past 7,000 yards while keeping the old-Florida parkland character. On-site lodging makes it an easy overnight anchor for a Pensacola golf run.

For newer players: Classic tree-lined parkland with five tee sets from 5,176 yards — firm but fair, and one of the friendliest Tour-pedigree rounds anywhere.

Lost Key Golf Club — Perdido Key

public · $60–100

An Arnold Palmer Design course cut through barrier-island wetlands and scrub on Perdido Key, and the first course in Florida certified as an Audubon Silver Signature Sanctuary — the setting feels wilder than anything else on this coast. Wall-to-wall paspalum turf gives it a distinct, tight playing surface. Pair it with Perdido Bay for a two-course Pensacola weekend.

For newer players: Target golf with wetland carries and little room to miss — bring plenty of balls or plenty of patience.