Naples, Florida is known by many as the golf capital of the United States. In addition to great golf courses, Naples boasts warm weather year-round, making it particularly popular among beach-goers. his Florida city is home to more golf courses than any other city in America. Luckily for those who do not belong to a club, Naples has many standout public courses. Here are six to check out:
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Naples' Best Public Golf Courses
1. Eagle Lakes Golf Course
One of the most well known golf courses in Naples is Eagle Lakes that offers a good challenge for skilled golfers and beautiful scenery throughout the course. The course gets its name for the two American Bald Eagles that reside on the course.
While it’s a challenge, there are also five sets of tees for the weekend casual golfer. With the everglade experience there is water on all holes of the golf course making it a collector of many golf balls, so pack a few extra.
The par here is 71 and it plays from 7,150 yards from the back tees. Rates on this course vary from $39-$89 in January offering an affordable rate for an absolutely stunning golf experience.
2. Arrowhead Golf Course
Arrowhead is undoubtedly one of the best public golf courses in Naples and is frequently visited by vacationers. Surrounded by 16 lakes, Arrowhead offers a beautiful experience for golfers and a good challenge as well.
Arrowhead is a par-72 course at 6,832 yards from the back tees. There are plenty of hazards to challenge golfers, but when vacationing, it’s all about the experience that it offers. The course is know for a quicker pace of play as well, pleasing those not wanting to spend their entire day at the course.
Peak rates in the mornings run for around $105 but you can play after 4 p.m. for just $39 right now in the winter, making it a great bargain for a southwest Florida course.
3. The Gold Course, Tiburon Golf Course
Tiburon Golf Course at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort in Naples offers two beautiful courses that vacationers can enjoy in the Black and Gold courses both designed by golf legend Greg Norman.
The Gold Course is more popular between the two because it’s a bit less challenging despite its 7,200 yardage from the back tees. The Black Course plays more strategically at 6,800 yards. Golfers can make up distance on both courses with longer drives due to no rough, just wide fairways that make it a unique, fun experience, at least until you find yourself in one of the giant waste bunkers.
4. The Black Course, Tiburon Golf Course
With the Black Course, tee shots must be played more strategically with water often surrounding both sides of the fairway and tough navigation through trees. Public play is every other day at the Tiburon courses, so make sure you call ahead for tee times. It’s an expensive course to play with a morning rate of $225 with rates that go down in price throughout the day, but it can be well worth it if you want quality and unique golf experience.
5. Flamingo Island Golf Course
Flamingo Island is one of the two public golf courses offered by Lely Resort in Naples. It opened in 1989 and was designed by famous golf course architect Robert Trent Jones Sr.
The sculpted fairways and large greens are a signature of Jones and you’ll get a good experience of the beautiful design when playing Flamingo Island. It’s known as more challenging than The Mustang, a Lee Trevino design and the other great public course at Lely, but it’s a fair course for players. There’s plenty of natural beauty and wildlife to be found at Flamingo Island, making it a great option for travellers who love the game.
It’s a par-72 at 7,171 yards with rates that start at $159 in the morning and go down from there throughout the day.
6. The Mustang Golf Course
The aforementioned Mustang Golf Course is the other public option for golfers travelling to Naples. It’s located at the Lely Resort and was designed by golfer Lee Trevino. It has more generous fairways than Flamingo Island, making it the better choice for golfers not looking to be too challenged while on vacation.
12 lakes accompany the course making it a challenge, but the course gives golfers plenty of opportunity to recover from bad shots throughout their round. With plenty of tee options, The Mustang has been a favorite for many travellers and locals since its opening in 1996.
The course plays at just over 7,217 yards from the back tees, but just over 6,000 yards from the intermediate white tees making it a very diverse and playable golf course. Rates run the same as Flamingo Island starting at $159 in the mornings.
This article was written by Cameron Lafontaine.