Florida looks different everywhere you go. There’s buzzy Miami, the beachy Keys, the swampy Everglades, and the rural Panhandle. One constant is the golf courses that dot the state. Each course reflects the region where it’s located, whether it runs parallel to the ocean or is surrounded by wetlands. What they have in common is their allure — both because of their striking settings and their level of play. These are some of the most beautiful golf courses in Florida for a scenic tee time.
Photo: Photo: Hammock Beach Golf Resort & Spa
The Most Beautiful Golf Courses in Florida for a Scenic Tee Time
Hammock Beach Golf Resort: Ocean
Photo: Hammock Beach Golf Resort & Spa
The Hammock Beach Golf Resort in Palm Coast has two courses, the Jack Nicklaus-designed Ocean Course and the Tom Watson-designed Conservatory Course. While some say extensive bunkering and numerous water hazards make the Conservatory Course the more rigorous of the two, the resort’s signature Ocean Course presents the prettier playground, with Atlantic views and several holes running parallel to the coast. Take an extra beat when you reach the par-three eighth hole and par-four ninth hole to admire the oceanfront scenery.
- Green fees for 18 holes: $228-$345 depending on the day and time
- Course par: 72
- Address: 200 Ocean Crest Dr, Palm Coast, FL 32137
Streamsong Resort: Red
Photo: Evan Schiller
There’s a natural ruggedness to the neatly manicured terrain at Central Florida’s Streamsong Golf Resort that gives its three courses — Red, Blue, and Black — a particular allure. Occupying the site of a former phosphate mine, the resort’s almost jungly courses are dotted with ponds, hills, and dunes created from sand spoils that, at their tallest, rise up almost 100 feet. Streamsong Red’s springy turf is particularly fun for golfers. It’s generally regarded as the resort’s standout course, but if you’re going on looks alone, all three Streamsong courses are some of Florida’s most beautiful.
- Green fees for 18 holes: $189-$419 depending on the season
- Course par: 72
- Address: 1000 Streamsong Dr, Bowling Green, FL 33834
TPC Sawgrass: Players Stadium
Photo: TPC Network
Any golf club that doubles as the headquarters of the PGA Tour is bound to have some pretty impressive courses. TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach has two: the Players Stadium Course, the permanent home of the Players Championship, and the Dye’s Valley Course, which is more accessible and affordable at less than half the price. While neither Pete Dye-designed course can claim ocean views, both are a stone’s throw — or a golfer’s swing, as it were — from the Atlantic. Get excited about the famous Island Green on the par-three 17th hole of the Players Stadium Course, which is surrounded entirely by water.
- Green fees for 18 holes: $450 Jun-Aug, $650 May-Sept
- Course par: 72
- Address: 10 Championship Way, Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 32082
Omni Amelia Island Resort: Oak Marsh
Photo: Omni Amelia Island Resort
One of three golf courses at the Omni Amelia Island Resort, the Oak Marsh Course showcases a different side of Florida’s landscapes than many of the other entries on this list. Pete Dye designed this course around Fernandina Beach’s wetlands, carving 18 holes out of a 6,500-yard expanse amid dense salt marsh creeks surrounded by mossy oaks, with the Atlantic to one side and the Intracoastal Waterway to the other. Not only does this give golfers something to admire while they tee off, but the well-preserved native flora also maintains a viable habitat for local fauna.
- Green fees for 18 holes: $65
- Course par: 72
- Address: 39 Beach Lagoon Rd, Fernandina Beach, FL 32034
Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club: Copperhead
Photo: Innisbrook Resort
Palm Harbor’s Innisbrook Golf Resort has four courses. Copperhead is the most famous and most challenging. Its signature section is the Snake Pit, spanning holes 16 through 18 — the Moccasin, the Rattler, and the Copperhead. You’ll know you’ve reached it when you see a large bronze serpent statue marking the territory. (You might even see some real-life wildlife, such as alligators and waterbirds, lazing around the course’s ponds and lakes.) No such statue stands guard over the resort’s honorable mention, the Island Course, whose beauty is emphasized by surrounding cypress trees and views of Lake Innisbrook.
Note: Golfers must be resort guests, members, or invitees to play at Innisbrook. Guest rates for the resort start at $189 per night depending on the season.
- Green fees for 18 holes: $35-$125 depending on membership and season
- Course par: 71
- Address: 36750 US Hwy 19 N, Palm Harbor, FL 34684
Tiburón Golf Club: Black
Photo: Tiburón Golf Club
Golfers have two options at the Tiburón Golf Club in Naples: the Gold Course and the Black Course, both designed by Greg Norman who’s known for embracing and emphasizing an area’s natural elements in his course design. Tiburón Gold is generally regarded as the more demanding course, but Tiburón Black brings a certain visual appeal along with its accessibility — crushed coquina shells give texture to waste areas outside of well-maintained fairways, acres of pine trees and native Florida flora surround the greens, and Audubon International designated the course a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary to boot.
- Green fees for 18 holes: Dynamic pricing ($373-$390 at the time of publication)
- Course par: 72
- Address: 2620 Tiburon Dr, Naples, FL 34109
