South Florida Golf Courses Scene

Some of Miami’s most important golf history has been written on the legendary layouts of the Country Club of Miami and Crandon Golf, Key Biscayne. Names like Palmer, Trevino, Player and Nicklaus have played the same courses you can enjoy just as much today, at surprising values.

The Miami-Dade Parks Golf Courses, which include the Country Club of Miami, Crandon Golf at Key Biscayne, Palmetto, Greynolds and Briar Bay courses, offer a great variety of golf options, continue to be in great condition, have all been recently updated to meet the challenges of today’s players and equipment, and can now even be booked online. Rich in history, these courses are ready to help write the next golf memories for you and your family. 

CORAL GABLES, Fla. - Sometimes it pays to have spent 80-odd years as a muni.

Designed by Donald Ross in 1925, the Biltmore Golf Course served the Miami area for decades as both stellar municipal track and playground to a parade of sporting celebrities, from Babe Ruth to Bobby Jones to Johnny Weismuller to Tiger Woods.

The course fell into disrepair late in the 20th century. In this case, however, it was better to have been neglected than irretrievably altered. Thanks to architect Brian Silva, whose comprehensive restoration of the course was unveiled this winter, the Biltmore GC has again joined the ranks of America’s premier resort tracks. 

Recently reopened in 2007, the “New West Course” at Jacaranda is acclaimed as a genial compliment to the challenges presented by the recently restored East Course. The $10-million spent to upgrade Jacaranda’s New Jacaranda Golf Club - East Course and Jacaranda Golf Club - West Courses set an extraordinary benchmark for golf course design.

The addition of Sea-Dwarf Paspalum grass to the tees and fairways has given an entirely new look to one of South Florida’s foremost golfing experiences. Over the past two summers Jacaranda has created “living works of landscape art” while retaining the playability of championship golf. Luxurious new Tif-Dwarf putting surfaces, tightly manicured collection areas, plush emerald green fairways, and bunkering have been added, designed in such a natural way that risk/reward golf has never looked so enticing. Both the par-71 East and the par-72 West have 5 sets of tees measuring from 4,923 to 7,247 yards. The goal Scratch Golf achieved was to create course design where every level of golfer is faced with appropriate challenges that make this game so intriguing. Many who have played Jacaranda since the renovations have commented “It’s a brand new course but it still feels like home.” 

“It’s a new course that still feels like home!”

Jacaranda Golf Club’s renaissance is complete. Much has been said during reconstruction of the facility, but the results now articulate themselves. Both courses, sporting $10,000,000 in renovations, provide an exceptional benchmark of course design. Luxurious new Tif-Dwarf putting surfaces, tightly manicured collection areas, plush emerald green fairways, and bunkering designed in such a natural way that risk/reward golf has never looked so appealing. The East and West compliment each other with subtle variations presented to a golfer in a most gratifying way. The Jacaranda Golf Club - East Course , although longer and slightly more open, is a bookend to the Jacaranda Golf Club - West Course and its shotmaker’s challenge of strategically placed hazards. From the open fronted greens on the East to the bunkered elevations of the West, each route contains elements unique to this tropical paradise. 

Reserva Conchal is a five-star luxury resort nestled on Costa Rica’s most beautiful north Pacific beach cove and that is all that separates this luxurious resort from the Pacific Ocean.

Reserva Conchal Golf Course is surrounded by 2000 acres of trpical dry forest whose inhabitants include red macaws, toucans & howler monkeys.

Costa Rica is required to set aside one quarter of its land mass for nature preserves and National Parks. Robert Trent Jones Jr., known for his ability to craft memorable courses within the context of strict environmental laws, was hired to build a 650-acre seaside resort and golf course along the Pacific Coast in the province of Guanacaste.

The Central Park of South Florida Golf

Like a unique Wall Street turnaround firm, South Florida’s golf renewal artists are at it again. Adam Horvit and the group that has revitalized the Champions Club at Summerfield between Stuart and Hobe Sound have already spent over a half-million dollars already to breathe new life into the semi-private Palm Cove Golf & Yacht Club, turning it (to extend the metaphor) into the Central Park of South Florida golf, a welcome walk in the park now open to all who appreciate the game being played in one of South Florida’s last natural treasures.

What they’ve done in just a few short months is to grow new TifEagle greens that are rolling true, and very fast. They’ve also reshaped the bunkers and groomed the Chi Chi Rodriguez-designed course into a condition that indeed makes it feel like a daytime ride (in new carts, too) through a botanical garden.

With over 200 courses in Palm Beach County, architect John Sanford knew going in he would have to create something special to get people’s attention. At The Links at Madison Green he did just that, creating a unique course that combines many of the bst features found in other local courses, with more than a few unique surprises of its own.

The course plays a demanding 7,051 yards from the championship tees but offers four additional sets of tees at 6,723, 6,302, 5,494 and 4,863 yards respectively, giving players the chance to bite off as much course as their game will enjoy!

Some of Miami's most important golf history has been written on the legendary layouts of the Country Club of Miami and Crandon Golf, Key Biscayne. Names like Palmer, Trevino, Player and Nicklaus have played the same courses you can enjoy just as much today, at surprising values. The Miami-Dade Parks Golf Courses, which include the Country Club of Miami, Crandon Golf, Key Biscayne, Palmetto, Greynolds and Briar Bay courses, offer a great variety of golf options, continue to be in great condition, have all been recently updated to meet the challenges of today's players and equipment, and can now even be booked online. Rich in history, these courses are ready to help write the next golf memories for you and your family.

Country Club of Miami

The first of many names to drop at this northern Dade County classic is Robert Trent Jones. The design legend laid out the picturesque 36 holes in 1959 and like a fine wine, the lush fairways, challenging bunkers and swiftly-rolling greens have aged gracefully.

Great Getaways That Aren’t Far Away Great Getaways That Aren’t Far Away

There is the Florida we’ve all heard about and visited many times before; destinations that roll off our tongue and memories that come quickly to mind. There is, howeve, another Florida that for many remains a mystery. We're talking about places where the same beauty and adventure await, but without the sense of “been there, done that.” Perhaps then, now is the time to meet those parts of the Sunshine State.

It could be as short as an overnight excursion, or a mid-week surprise. How about a weekend near the water, or a week-long opportunity you’ve put off way too long? Whatever the trip, Florida’s backyard is waiting, with great golf values and Stay-and-Play packages that can make your summertime getaway a whole lot more about relaxation and a lot less about relocation!

But this new attitude and willingness to upgrade the facility is not just “under new management” cosmetics. The local owners know the golf course is still the draw, and recognizing its fantastic conditioning, retained longtime superintendent Jeff Hippensteel to continue to oversee the 210-acre layout that was transformed by McCumber into a gently rolling challenge with a multitude of trees and a network of lakes and wetlands that became one of the first courses in Florida certified as an Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary course dedicated to serving, protecting and enhancing the native wildlife and natural resources.

The course itself does an amazing job of walking the fine line between challenging the pros and being fun for the rest of us. Though bunkers are the course’s primary defense (and there are about 100 of them at Heron Bay), none of the sand is hidden. McCumber also designed a little extra width in the landing areas to allow players to avoid some of the bunkers, and also to adjust to the capricious winds that kick up regularly. Though over 1,000 trees that were planted when the course was designed are now maturing, the winds make Heron Bay play differently every time you try it.