Whether you are a Top-10 player on the PGA Tour or a weekend hacker, one of the attractions of the game of golf is getting to play different golf courses. People living in Florida or visiting the Sunshine State can never be disappointed by the numerous golf course options.
Florida is also a mecca for some of the very best golf courses in the country and the world. Many of these courses are off-limits because of their private membership status or they are in gated communities and not open for public play.
When it comes to playing what are considered elite, high-end courses, Golfweek makes it a little easier by ranking the best public access courses in the US That includes a list for each state. Florida had 30 courses on this year’s list. Golfweek uses a nationwide network of raters to compile the rankings.
According to Golfweek’s website, the hundreds of members of its course-ratings panel continuously evaluate courses and rate them on 10 criteria on a points basis of 1 through 10. They also file a single, overall rating on each course. Those overall ratings are averaged to produce all our Golfweek’s Best course rankings.
What are the best public-access golf courses in Florida?
The courses on this list, according to Golfweek, allow public access in some fashion, be it standard daily green fees, through a resort or by staying at an affiliated hotel. If there’s a will, there’s a tee time – no membership required. (There are a handful of courses on this list that some players might consider to be private, but they do allow non-hosted, non-member guest play in some limited form, normally through a local hotel or similar arrangement.)
Here are the Florida golf course rankings for 2023:
Ponte Vedra Beach
Bowling Green
Bowling Green
Bowling Green
Ohrlando
Miami
Palm Beach Gardens
Tarpon Springs
Watersound
10. Hammock Beach Resort (Ocean)
Palm Coast
Palm Coast
Aventura
Miramar Beach
Naples
Haines City
Dunnellon
Port St. Lucie
Ponte Vedra Beach
Port St. Lucie
Winter Garden
Fernandina Beach
West Palm Beach
T22. Orange County National (Crooked Cat)
Winter Garden
Miami
Key Biscayne
Ponte Vedra Beach
St. Augustine
Destiny
Boca Grande
West Palm Beach
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This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Golfweek ranks Florida’s best 30 public access golf courses in 2023