Destin, Florida Golf Suggestions

[Chris_Blakely]

I will be making a trip down to Destin, Florida in a couple of weeks and am looking for some course recommendations.  I have sifted through numerous previous topics on the area, but thought I would see if I could get any other results.  I plan on playing one round at the Eglin AFB course, I believe the Eagle is the W & L course and the Falcon is the newer course (so I will avoid that one).  I wanted to give Camp Creek a look, but according to their phone they have recently gone private.

Thanks in advance for the help.

Chris

[Bill_McBride]

The Falcon is fun.  Not a great course but fun to play. 

[Chris_Blakely]

The Falcon is fun.  Not a great course but fun to play. 

The Eagle is the William Langford course correct?

Thanks,

Chris

[Bill_McBride]

The Falcon is fun.  Not a great course but fun to play. 

The Eagle is the William Langford course correct?

Thanks,

Chris

Yes.  I think the Falcon is a Palmer design. 

[Bill_McBride]

An interesting course in nearby Freeport is Windswept Dunes, although it has a horrible residential routing with long green to tee cart rides.  However there are few homes due to poor timing.  The individual holes are pretty good. 

[Nigel Islam]

Chris I agree with Bill. Eglin Eagle is the best I have played (and is indeed the L&M), and I suspect Windswept would be next. In Destin I think the Raven, Regatta, and Kelly are all pretty close. Its pretty basic Doak 5 Florida golf. The Links has some great views but pretty basic golf. Bluewater Bay has some good views and maybe slightly better golf. I have not played Burnt Pine, Shalimar, or Eglin Falcon.

The Eglin courses supposedly have a Bobcat and Bear that roam the course during warm weather seasons. So if you are into extrme golf then this is your place!

[Chris_Blakely]

Chris I agree with Bill. Eglin Eagle is the best I have played (and is indeed the L&M), and I suspect Windswept would be next. In Destin I think the Raven, Regatta, and Kelly are all pretty close. Its pretty basic Doak 5 Florida golf. The Links has some great views but pretty basic golf. Bluewater Bay has some good views and maybe slightly better golf. I have not played Burnt Pine, Shalimar, or Eglin Falcon.

The Eglin courses supposedly have a Bobcat and Bear that roam the course during warm weather seasons. So if you are into extrme golf then this is your place!

Nigel / Bill:

thanks, I will look into windswept, I had not heard of this one.

Chris

[Nigel Islam]

Windswept is 25-30 minutes NE of Destin in Freeport, North of the Bay. Should be cheaper than some of the courses on the strip.

[Joe_Tucholski]

The Eglin courses supposedly have a Bobcat and Bear that roam the course during warm weather seasons. So if you are into extrme golf then this is your place!

Interestingly enough my last round on the eagle was a twilight round after work.  I caught up with a group on the 16th tee and when I was waiting for them to clear the fairway on 17 I hear this crashing sound in the woods, like trees were falling.  I look over that way and don't see anything, then all of a sudden there is this rhythmic slapping sound every second or so.  Eventually I see a bobcat staring at me with a fish in it's mouth slapping the surface of the stream.  A lot smaller than I was expecting but I'm still had me a bit spooked.

I also agree with Nigel on his order of preference.  I tend to play the Falcon course more than the Eagle course but that's only because it's usually the more open in the afternoon when I play.  If you end up playing one of Eglin courses realize conditioning isn't going to be great (think low cost muni) and neither are easy walks in the heat.

I get as a golf addict you'll want to play golf on vacation but you probably won't be impressed with anything in the area.

[Bill_McBride]

Chris I agree with Bill. Eglin Eagle is the best I have played (and is indeed the L&M), and I suspect Windswept would be next. In Destin I think the Raven, Regatta, and Kelly are all pretty close. Its pretty basic Doak 5 Florida golf. The Links has some great views but pretty basic golf. Bluewater Bay has some good views and maybe slightly better golf. I have not played Burnt Pine, Shalimar, or Eglin Falcon.

The Eglin courses supposedly have a Bobcat and Bear that roam the course during warm weather seasons. So if you are into extrme golf then this is your place!

Doak 5 is pretty high for that entire group!

[Nigel Islam]

Chris I agree with Bill. Eglin Eagle is the best I have played (and is indeed the L&M), and I suspect Windswept would be next. In Destin I think the Raven, Regatta, and Kelly are all pretty close. Its pretty basic Doak 5 Florida golf. The Links has some great views but pretty basic golf. Bluewater Bay has some good views and maybe slightly better golf. I have not played Burnt Pine, Shalimar, or Eglin Falcon.

The Eglin courses supposedly have a Bobcat and Bear that roam the course during warm weather seasons. So if you are into extrme golf then this is your place!

Doak 5 is pretty high for that entire group!

Yeah, you are probably right, but Indiana is closer to Alaska than Florida!

4. A modestly interesting course, with a couple of distinctive holes among the 18, or at least some scenic interest and decent golf. Also reserved for some very good courses that are much too short and narrow to provide sufficient challenge for accomplished golfers.
5. Well above the average golf course, but the middle of my scale. A good course to choose if you’re in the vicinity and looking for a game, but don’t spend another day away from home to see it, unless your home is in Alaska.

[Bill_McBride]

Chris I agree with Bill. Eglin Eagle is the best I have played (and is indeed the L&M), and I suspect Windswept would be next. In Destin I think the Raven, Regatta, and Kelly are all pretty close. Its pretty basic Doak 5 Florida golf. The Links has some great views but pretty basic golf. Bluewater Bay has some good views and maybe slightly better golf. I have not played Burnt Pine, Shalimar, or Eglin Falcon.

The Eglin courses supposedly have a Bobcat and Bear that roam the course during warm weather seasons. So if you are into extrme golf then this is your place!

Doak 5 is pretty high for that entire group!

Yeah, you are probably right, but Indiana is closer to Alaska than Florida!

4. A modestly interesting course, with a couple of distinctive holes among the 18, or at least some scenic interest and decent golf. Also reserved for some very good courses that are much too short and narrow to provide sufficient challenge for accomplished golfers.
5. Well above the average golf course, but the middle of my scale. A good course to choose if you’re in the vicinity and looking for a game, but don’t spend another day away from home to see it, unless your home is in Alaska.

I would quibble about the "well above average" part.  Unless I owned one of those courses. 

[Nigel Islam]

Bill,
     Is Pensacola CC a lot better than those courses?

[Bill_McBride]

Bill,
     Is Pensacola CC a lot better than those courses?

Doak 5-6 IMHO, once our new greens grow in and open after Labor Day.  Come for a round.  Tuesday pm is $50 guest fee. 

[Chris_Blakely]

Bill / Nigel / Joe:

Thanks for the help.  I am not worried about the Doak scale, I have played several courses that I think he ranked as a 3 or 4 (Cardinal Hills) comes to mind and I thought they may have been hastily ranked.  Cardinal Hills at least has 9 holes that were built in the 20's and the land could not have been better used for those holes - the other 9 well that is a different story.

I think we are going with:

The Eagle Course at Eglin (can't pass up a Langford)
Kiva Dunes (I know this is a drive)

and

an afternoon round on another day at Windswept Dunes.

Thanks again,

Chris

[Nigel Islam]

Eglin and Windswept are solid and fast play. It'll be fun.

[John_Conley]

Kiva Dunes is quite good.  Nice choice.

[Bill Crane]

Played Shalimar Pointe probably 7 or 8 times over two trips to the area in about 1993 and 1995.

Good layout and interesting holes and features including a double green. 

Way too many houses.

Looks like the course has been bought by some locals including Edwin Watts who had a house on the water near the course.   They are touting course improvements over the past two years, and the renovations to the clubhouse.

I remember it being a fun and interesting golf course by Panhandle standards.   Not a golden age classic for sure.

Wm Flynnfan