Fantastic Florida: The three best golf resorts anyone can play in the Sunshine State

Matt Cooper 27 Feb 2025

The famous island green 17th at TPC Sawgrass.

As the PGA Tour prepares begins its annual Florida Swing the players know what to expect.

The weather is mostly predictable: sunny, warm and breezy.

The courses are quite predictable too: resort style, lots of water hazards, Bermuda grass on the greens.

That predictability is not a problem, though. Far from it, in fact. It’s why so many golfers love travelling there to play: they know exactly what they are going to get and they like it. They really like it.

But as the professionals ready for themselves for PGA National, Bay Hill, TPC Sawgrass and the Innisbrook Resort, what about the average golfer?

Where can we play (because many Florida courses are private)?

Let’s take a look at three of the best resorts.

TPC Sawgrass

Let’s start with the best-known Florida layout of them all.

It’s located at PGA Tour HQ in Ponte Vedra Beach. It was designed by the famous Pete Dye. The request was for the first stadium golf course ever with maximum drama. And Dye delivered.

It’s a fiendish test with at least one side of the fairway threatening trouble, either water hazards or long bunkers, and the conclusion is one of the most feared in the sport.

It starts with a par-5 that offers threat from those sand traps and water. The 17th is the world renowned island green par-3. And the 18th has water all the way down the left hand side.

You’ll have a great time but your scorecard might be a bit of a mess.

TPC Sawgrass also has the Valley Course, also designed by Dye and something of a mini-me.

Streamsong Resort

The Streamsong Resort in Bowling Green has three courses and all have their advocates.

The Red is a superb Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore design that features high and huge greens that were inspired by Pinehurst and St Andrews.

The Black was created by Gil Hanse and he did a remarkable job of repurposing an old phosphate strip mine.

Tom Doak was responsible for the Blue and that tells you one thing about the resort: only the great architects have worked there.

Doak’s track has wild visuals including swamps, lagoons, mounds, savannahs, sand spits and mounding.

Hammock Beach Golf Resort & Spa

Hammock Beach is an award-winning resort and it has two courses that are open to the public, designed by two golfers who defined the 1970s and 1980s.

Tom Watson was responsible for the Conservatory Course and, although it is inland of the Ocean Course, it has linksland features such as pot bunkers and wave greens (waterfalls, stone work and marshes are less typical linksland elements of the layout).

The Ocean Course was created by Jack Nicklaus and it has wide fairways typical of his courses, plus greens that are tough to hit.

Half a dozen holes line the Atlantic Ocean and the final four holes are known as ‘The Bear’s Claw’.