Best Public Golf Courses in Florida

The standard is high

Florida's private club scene is the most competitive in the country — which means public and resort operators have had to build to an equally demanding standard. The result is a set of daily-fee and resort tracks that would headline any market in the world.

TPC Sawgrass — Players Stadium Course

Ponte Vedra Beach | Pete Dye, 1980 | Par 72, 7,215 yards

The most famous golf course in Florida, possibly in the country. Home of The Players Championship, the event that tours insiders call the "fifth major." The 17th hole — an island green with nowhere to miss — is the most-photographed hole in professional golf.

The Stadium Course is public through the Sawgrass Marriott resort. Tee times open 90 days in advance; book immediately for peak season. Twilight rates offer the best value if you can handle 5-hour rounds. The par-3 17th plays 132 yards from the white tees and routinely humbles people who arrive overconfident.

Best for: Bucket-list golf. This is the one.

Innisbrook Resort — Copperhead Course

Palm Harbor (Tampa Bay) | Larry Packard, 1972 | Par 71, 7,340 yards

Home of the Valspar Championship, Innisbrook's Copperhead Course is the most challenging course in the Tampa Bay corridor. Elevated terrain, tree-lined fairways, and small greens that punish imprecision. The resort has three additional courses (Island, Hawk's Run, North) that offer variety without the intensity.

Staying on-site at Innisbrook grants preferred tee times and packages that beat any outside rate. The Loch Ness Monster pool and full-service spa make this one of the best family golf destinations in the state.

Best for: Serious golfers who want Tour-quality conditions without flying to Ponte Vedra.

Streamsong Resort

Bowling Green | Multiple designers | Par 72

Built on what was once a phosphate mining operation, Streamsong is unlike anything else in Florida. Three courses on 16,000 acres of inland terrain that resembles nothing else in the state: rolling mounds, waste areas, and an absence of the typical suburban Florida development surrounding every other course.

• Red Course — Coore & Crenshaw, 2012. Links-influenced. The most walkable.
• Blue Course — Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw, 2012. Companion to Red, slightly more demanding.
• Black Course — Gil Hanse, 2017. The hardest and most visually dramatic of the three.

Streamsong is remote — 80 miles south of Tampa, 90 miles from Orlando — which is exactly the point. The lodge is excellent. This is a dedicated golf trip, not a drive-in day.

Best for: Golfers who want to experience something genuinely different in Florida.

PGA National Resort — Champion Course

Palm Beach Gardens | Tom Fazio, 2000 (originally Jack Nicklaus, 1981) | Par 72, 7,056 yards

Home of the Cognizant Classic, the Champion Course is best known for "The Bear Trap" — holes 15, 16, and 17, a closing stretch that has broken Tour professionals' hearts on live television. Water everywhere, wind off the Intracoastal, and greens that tilt toward trouble.

PGA National Resort is a full-service facility with five courses, a spa, and tennis complex. The Champion Course is the headliner; the Staple Course and General Course are quality second-round options.

Best for: Anyone who wants to play the famous Bear Trap on a Tour-quality course.

Tiburón Golf Club (Gold Course)

Naples | Greg Norman, 2001 | Par 72, 7,288 yards

Home of the QBE Shootout and CME Group Tour Championship, Tiburón's Gold Course is the benchmark for Naples golf. Norman's design uses wetlands and native Florida landscape to create a course that feels both natural and demanding. The adjacent Black Course offers a similar experience.

The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort Naples is adjacent to Tiburón, and resort guests get preferred access. Naples is a winter-heavy destination — January through March is when this course is at its best and most crowded.

Best for: Naples visitors who want Tour pedigree at a world-class resort.

World Golf Village — King & Bear

St. Augustine | Arnold Palmer & Jack Nicklaus, 2000 | Par 72, 7,279 yards

The only course co-designed by Palmer and Nicklaus. Located in the World Golf Village complex near St. Augustine, adjacent to the World Golf Hall of Fame. A collegiate and thoughtful layout that rewards strategic play over raw distance. Also home to the Slammer & Squire (Sam Snead & Gene Sarazen) course, a complete destination for golf history fans.

Best for: History-minded golfers, Nicklaus/Palmer fans, and anyone exploring North Florida.