Florida has more golf courses than any other state. Over 1,000 courses stretch across 500 miles of peninsula plus the Panhandle, covering terrain that ranges from Emerald Coast sand dunes to Everglades-edge wetlands to reclaimed phosphate mining land in the interior. The sheer volume of golf here means every region has standout courses, and the year-round growing season keeps them in playable condition even through the humid summer months. Peak season runs November through April, but summer green fees drop significantly across the state for golfers willing to tee off early.

This guide covers courses in every major Florida golf region. Some are open to the public, others require a resort stay, and a few are strictly private. All of them are worth knowing about.

The Panhandle

Florida’s northwest coast has a different character from the rest of the state. The terrain rolls through pine forests and sand dunes along the Gulf of Mexico, producing layouts that feel closer to the Carolinas than to South Florida.

Watersound Club Camp Creek Golf Course in Panama City Beach is a Tom Fazio design stretching 7,159 yards through the pine and scrub terrain of the 30A corridor. The course incorporates dune features and sandy soil that give it an inland sand-belt feel unusual for Florida. Camp Creek is private, but its reputation as one of the strongest Fazio designs in the Southeast draws attention from course architecture followers.

Further west along the coast in Destin, Burnt Pine Golf Club at Sandestin plays 7,001 yards within the Sandestin resort complex. It is the most exclusive of Sandestin’s four courses and limited to resort residents and private members. Regatta Bay Golf & Yacht Club in Destin offers another strong option at 6,864 yards, combining golf with marina access along Choctawhatchee Bay.

At the western end of the Panhandle, Perdido Bay Golf Club in Pensacola provides one of the longer public tests in the region at 7,072 yards. Its location near the Alabama state line makes it a crossover destination for golfers from both states.

Northeast Florida

The Jacksonville and St. Augustine corridor is home to some of the most famous tournament golf in the country.

TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach needs little introduction. The Stadium Course plays 7,215 yards at par 72 and hosts the Players Championship every March. Pete Dye’s design is defined by waste areas, railroad-tie bunkering, and the par-3 17th island green, one of the most recognized holes anywhere. Resort guests can book tee times on both the Stadium Course and the Dye’s Valley course.

About 30 miles south in St. Augustine, World Golf Village King & Bear plays 7,279 yards on the only course co-designed by Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. The King & Bear and its sister course, the World Golf Village Slammer & Squire, give visiting golfers two distinct championship experiences within the same complex, adjacent to the World Golf Hall of Fame. Both are open to the public.

Further down the coast, Hammock Beach Golf Resort & Spa Ocean Course in Palm Coast plays 7,201 yards along the Atlantic. Jack Nicklaus incorporated coastal dune features and open, links-influenced holes that provide a different experience from the tree-lined inland layouts that dominate the state.

Central Florida

The Orlando region serves the tourism market with resort courses that pair well with the area’s other attractions, but the best courses here stand on their own merits.

Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando stretches 7,381 yards at par 72 and hosts the Arnold Palmer Invitational on the PGA Tour. The closing holes, especially the par-4 18th, are among the toughest finishing stretches in professional golf. Bay Hill is a private club with lodge accommodations that allow visiting golfers to experience the course.

Orange County National Golf Center and Lodge in Winter Garden plays 7,493 yards and has long served as a PGA Tour qualifying site. The public-access course combines serious length with on-site lodging, making it a practical base for multi-day golf trips in the Orlando area.

An hour south of Orlando in Bowling Green, Streamsong Resort Black Course and the Streamsong Resort Red & Blue occupy reclaimed phosphate mining land that produces terrain unlike anything else in the state. Sandy waste areas, dramatic bunkers, and rolling topography left by decades of mining create a playing experience that draws comparisons to Sand Hills in Nebraska. The Black course (Gil Hanse) plays 7,331 yards at par 73, while the Red (Coore & Crenshaw) and Blue (Tom Doak) share the same raw landscape. Streamsong is a destination resort, and most guests play all three courses across multi-day stays.

Tampa Bay and the Gulf Coast

The Tampa Bay area has more variety in terrain than most of Florida, with elevation changes and dense tree cover that create unexpectedly demanding layouts.

Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor is home to the Copperhead Course, a par-71 layout stretching 7,340 yards that hosts the PGA Tour’s Valspar Championship. The course runs through thick tree canopy with elevation shifts that are unusual for the state, making it one of the most challenging tournament venues in Florida. The resort has multiple courses on property, and Copperhead is the signature track.

North of Tampa in Lutz, TPC Tampa Bay plays 6,898 yards through wetlands and live oak hammocks. Bobby Weed and Chi Chi Rodriguez designed the layout to TPC network standards, and the natural setting gives it a distinctive character among Tampa Bay’s courses.

Southwest Florida

The Naples and Fort Myers corridor has one of the highest concentrations of golf courses per capita in the country, with private clubs dominating the market.

TPC Treviso Bay in Naples is one of the longest courses in the TPC network at 7,367 yards. Arthur Hills designed the par-72 layout through an upscale residential community, and the course maintains the conditioning standards expected of TPC-branded facilities. Tiburon Golf Club, also in Naples, is a Greg Norman design at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort. The facility has 36 holes on two courses and has hosted the Grant Thornton Invitational on the PGA Tour.

Southeast Florida

Palm Beach County and the Miami-Fort Lauderdale corridor have been centers of Florida golf for a century, with courses that carry real historical weight.

Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach is a Donald Ross design that opened in 1930 and remains one of the most respected private courses in the country. The 6,787-yard layout along the Atlantic features Ross’s strategic bunkering and ground-game options that reward precision over power. Access is strictly private.

PGA National Resort & Spa in Palm Beach Gardens is home to the Champion Course, a Jack Nicklaus redesign that hosts the PGA Tour’s Cognizant Classic. The Bear Trap, a three-hole stretch on the back nine, is one of the most demanding sequences in tournament golf. The resort has five 18-hole courses total, giving guests significant variety.

In Miami, Trump National Doral and its Blue Monster course play 7,450 yards through the sprawling Doral resort complex. The course has been a fixture in Florida tournament golf since the 1960s, with demanding water hazards and an especially difficult closing stretch.

The Keys

Key West Golf Club is the only regulation-length course in the Florida Keys, a par-70 layout covering 6,512 yards on the island. The tropical vegetation and water features reflect the Keys environment, and the scarcity of golf options on the island chain makes this a one-of-a-kind round.

Planning your Florida golf trip

Florida’s size means you will want to focus on one or two regions per trip rather than trying to cover the whole state. The Panhandle and Northeast coast are best in spring and fall. Central Florida and the Gulf Coast play well from October through May. Southwest Florida and Palm Beach are peak-season destinations from November through April, with summer rates dropping 40 to 50 percent at many clubs. Browse all Florida courses on FairwayDB to find courses near your next destination and start building your itinerary.