9 Best Golf Courses In Miami, FL in 2023
Prestigious golf resorts line south Florida from Palm Beach to Miami. Several of them have hosted the PGA Tour. Others are historic hotels that remain as luxurious as ever. What do they all have in common? The possibility of delivering great golf under sunny skies while the rest of the nation deals with winter. All but one of our list of the best golf courses in Miami is open to the public, meaning you don’t have to stay to play.
Trump National Doral Miami looks like it’s ready to host the PGA Tour again, should the pros ever come back. More than $250 million in renovations spent on the four resort courses, the main building and the eight multi-room golf villas by owner Donald Trump have revitalized the whole property into one of the best golf courses in Miami The famed Blue Monster bites back a little harder after Gil Hanse’s redesign. Rick Smith has taken over as the lead instructor at the resort’s golf school/academy.
Miami International Links, once voted as one of the top courses in Florida, is a premier championship course in South Florida. The signature hole is the 14th, a par-4 that has earned the nickname “Heartbreak Ridge” due to tricky water hazards that run alongside the fairway.
Miami beach Golf Club is situated between word-class hotels and the world famous South Beach. After extensive renovations in the early 2000s it now stands as a world-class course designed by renowned architect Arthur Hills.
Turnberry Isle Resort in Aventura announced in 2017 plans to build a second tower with 16 stories and 323 rooms. It will eventually be rebranded a JW Marriott. The Mediterranean-themed resort sports the Miller Course and the Soffer Course, both by Robert Trent Jones Sr. and updated by Raymond Floyd. The Soffer is longer, tougher and better landscaped with a massive waterfall framing the 18th green.
Shula’s Hotel & Golf Club in Miami Lakes is heaven for fans of the Miami Dolphins. Legendary coach Don Shula lived on property during his career, and left behind the Original Shula’s Steak House in the clubhouse. You might not have a better cut of Angus beef anywhere. Both the upscale hotel and the classic Senator course have been upgraded recently.
The Biltmore Miami Hotel in Coral Gables has a colorful past and a bright future. The 273-room hotel opened a year after its Donald Ross course in 1926. More than $100 million has been spent by several owners since 1987 to salvage its historic decor – the hand-painted frescos on barrel-vaulted ceilings, travertine floors, marble columns and leaded-glass fixtures. A new Jim McLean Golf School complements the historic Ross course.
The five-course PGA National Golf Resort & Spa in Palm Beach Gardens looms large as one of golf’s biggest resorts. Its headliner is the Champion course, host of the Honda Classic and home to the Bear Trap, a murderous three-hole stretch on the back nine. Four other courses, The Palmer, The Squire, The Fazio and The Estates, and multiple dining and recreation options keep guests busy.
Golfers must stay at The Breakers Palm Beach to play the Ocean Club (the oldest course in Florida) and the Rees Jones course, both considered two of the best golf courses in Miami. The Italian Renaissance-inspired Breakers debuted in 1926 after the first two hotels on the property burned down. Seventy-three artisans from Italy completed the magnificent paintings on the ceilings of the lobby and first-floor public rooms in less than a year. Four pools and the ocean decorate the view out the back door.
Life at the 356-acre Boca Raton Resort & Club in Boca Raton revolves around the former Cloister Inn, a ‘Spanish Castle’ created by legendary architect Addison Mizner in 1926. The Boca Raton Golf Club, acquired by the resort in the 1980s, has a mix of William Flynn, RTJ Sr. and Gene Bates/Fred Couples in its routing. The course’s 90th anniversary in 2016 included an eight-month renovation that added new family tees, reconstructed TifEagle putting surfaces, re-grassed the playing surfaces with Celebration Bermuda and added, removed and reshaped dozens of bunkers.
Golf is a huge part of southeast Florida, the best golf courses in Miami can be highly exclusive but if you look hard enough you’ll find some great (and affordable) options as well.