Renowned for its pristine beaches, non-stop nightlife, and year-round sunshine, the coastal metropolis of Miami in South Florida is also home to a smattering of delightful golf courses.
(Photo: Biltmore Hotel)
From abundant courses open to the public to greens set inside lavish resorts and country clubs, Miami and its surroundings boast a wide number of award-winning golf courses, drawing the top competitors in the sport to the city’s fairways. If you’re coming to Miami and would like to play a game of golf during your stay, we’ve picked out 7 of the most charming courses to be found in and around the city.
The Biltmore Golf Club
Situated in lush Coral Gables, a 10-minute drive west of downtown Miami, The Biltmore Golf Course has gained legendary status on Florida’s golfing circuit. Boasting one of the state’s most iconic and timeless links layouts, it has drawn such golfing luminaries as Tiger Woods down the years thanks to its exceptional Donald Ross Par-71 design, complete with USGA specified greens. Set against the backdrop of the luxurious and historic Biltmore Hotel, the course winds and waves through a series of canals that run alongside the wide, verdant fairways while towering banyan trees frame the elevated greens.
1210 Anastasia Avenue, Coral Gables
Miami Lakes Golf Club
(Photo: Miami Lakes Golf Club)
Originally designed by Bill Watts in 1962, The Senator Course at the Miami Lakes Golf Club, situated 20 minutes north of downtown, remains one of Miami’s most classic and tropically lush Championship Golf Courses. With 500 acres of tree-shaded greens, the classically styled Par 72 course offers 18 challenging holes for golfers of all skill levels. Players are welcomed by majestic views of Banyan trees and Royal Palms, and there’s plenty of wildlife spotting opportunities, notably on the back nine, including roseate spoonbills, hawks, bald eagles, and alligators, offering up a visual diversion as you work your way around the course.
7601 Miami Lakes Drive, Hialeah
Crandon Golf at Key Biscayne
Perched on the island paradise of Key Biscayne inside sprawling Crandon Park, a 15-minute drive along William M Powell Bridge from downtown Miami, this par-72 championship course is a huge favourite with Florida golfers. The 18-hole course serves up unique hazards, such as seven saltwater lakes, along with challenging sand traps and mangrove thickets with holes overlooking breath-taking bay. Offering stunning views of the Miami skyline, it also lays claim to being the only course in North America to feature a subtropical lagoon, helping create a real Everglades-like golfing experience.
6700 Crandon Boulevard, Key Biscayne
International Links Melreese Country Club
(Photo: International Links Melreese Country Club)
If you fancy a game of golf in a scenic setting before flying out of Miami, then this 18-hole, par-71 course near Miami International Airport, few miles inland of Biscayne Bay, may well fit the bill. A true championship layout, it features five lakes, nine waste bunkers, 97 sand bunkers, and a beautifully landscaped cypress wetland area designed strategically around the course. The rolling northern style fairways offer beautiful elevation changes that add to the course’s appeal. And for golfing historians, it also holds significance as being the course where Tiger Woods made his first professional appearance in south Florida.
1802 NW 37th Avenue, Miami
Turnberry Isle Country Club
One of Florida’s most celebrated resorts golf destinations, JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort & Spa offers two legendary championship courses: The Soffer Course and The Miller Course. Both layouts were renovated in 2006, with the Soffer being the venue’s tournament venue, playing 600 yards longer than the Miller, and hosting a number of LPGA tournaments in recent years. The Soffer is particularly eye-catching, with contours and mounding that create elevation changes and a visually appealing layout, while the 18th hole boasts an island green back dropped by an enormous waterfall.
19999 West Country Club Drive, Aventura
Trump National Doral
(Photo: Trump National Doral)
Known as a bucket list golf destination, the world-renowned Trump National Doral Miami is a golfer’s haven. First opening its doors in 1962, Doral was fashioned with golf at its core, and is home to four uniquely designed courses. Without doubt the most iconic is the Blue Monster, overlooked by a luxurious Hotel and Country Club and featuring deep bunkers, long fairways, undulating greens, and challenging water hazards. Meanwhile the 18th makes regular appearances on lists of the golfing world’s best holes. In recent times the course has also been augmented with additional palm trees alongside the flowing fairway.
4400 NW 87th Avenue, Miami
Normandy Shores Golf Club
Located on the northern end of Miami Beach on a secluded island in Biscayne Bay, just 10 minutes from downtown Miami, this course enjoys soothing sea breezes and tropical wildlife that provide a stunning backdrop for an enjoyable round of golf. The Arthur Hills-designed course’s signature hole is the par-4 11th hole, where there’s a large water hazard which guards the left side of the fairway and front-left of the green. Planted with Supreme Seashore Paspalum, the course offers a challenge to golfers of all skill levels, inviting players to be ready to use their mind as well as their swing to negotiate the rolling fairways featuring bunkering in landing areas, well-protected greens and water hazards.
2401 Biarritz Drive, Miami Beach