If you're going to talk about golf in Northern Florida, the conversation has to begin in Ponte Vedra Beach, tucked between St. Augustine and Jacksonville. Located adjacent to the recently refreshed Sawgrass Marriott Golf Resort & Spa, TPC Sawgrass is the home of THE PLAYERS Championship, one of the most prestigious stops on the PGA Tour. Held there since 1982, the tournament boasts the richest purse on the PGA Tour, attracts many of the world's top golfers, and sports one of the game's most famous (or infamous) holes: the dreaded 17th, known as the Island Green. Which is to say, it's a course on most golfers' bucket lists.
TPC Sawgrass has two championship courses, both designed by Pete Dye: THE PLAYERS Stadium Course, which hosts the tournament, and Dye's Valley Course at TPS Sawgrass. The Stadium Course has been ranked among the top 10 public courses in the U.S. by more than one golf publication. It just finished a major overhaul a year ago, including a resurface of all greens and rebuild of all bunkers, some repositioned holes, and a new lake. Dye's Valley Course has won awards, too, and offers a respite after the Stadium Course, which was designed to test the best golfers around.
Further up the Atlantic Coast, the idyllic Omni Amelia Island Plantation is a destination like no other in Florida. It is also a golf destination thanks to its three championship courses. These start with Pete Dye's well-regarded Oak Marsh, which rambles through the creeks and old-growth oak trees dripping Spanish moss that make the resort so distinctive. Then there is the Tom Fazio--designed Long Point, as well as Bobby Weed's stunning par-70 Ocean Links, which rolls along the coastal dunes with five oceanfront holes. The 1,350-acre Omni has 404 oceanfront rooms, 80,000 square feet of versatile meeting space, and a new membership in the Association of Luxury Hotels International.
Across on the Gulf Coast side of the state, the Panhandle has plenty of golf worth considering.
In the South Walton area, the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort has won many awards and accolades for its four golf courses, notably for the private Rees Jones--designed Burnt Pine Golf Club, accessible only to resort guests. The resort also is home to Tom Jackson's highly rated Baytowne Golf Club, and Robert Trent Jones, Jr.'s well-regarded Raven Golf Club. Amazing views of the emerald-green waters and 65,000 square feet of meeting space round out the offerings.
Another highly rated course in the area is Camp Creek Golf Club, a Tom Fazio--designed course with a hilly, undulating layout unusual in Florida. It is managed by St. Joe Club & Resorts, which has the 63-room Watercolor Inn, with nearly 10,000 square feet of event venues, and the 55-room Pearl Hotel in Rosemary Beach.
In Pensacola, the par-71 Lost Key Golf Club is an Arnold Palmer Signature Design Course which has the distinction of being the first golf course certified as an environmentally friendly Audubon International Silver Signature Sanctuary.
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This article appears in the November 2017 issue of Successful Meetings.