The Best Public and Stay-and-Play Golf Courses in Naples

Florida’s Paradise Coast isn’t just world-renowned for its postcard surroundings and tropical weather — it also offers visitors terrific golf year-round. If you’re the type of traveler who takes golf-first vacations, this article provides valuable information, details, and insights.

From exclusive stay-and-play golf experiences to more than 70 courses open to the public, Florida’s Paradise Coast — specifically Naples — showcases a wide and distinguished variety of golf options. And for your first gimme, we’ve narrowed them down to some of our favorites.

The following courses all feature at least 18 holes, as well as clubhouses and pro shops, not to mention restaurants and bars to satisfy a variety of tastes. Your perfect golf escape beckons at Florida’s Paradise Coast.

Stay & Play Golf Courses

Tiburón Golf Club

• The Gold Course: Par 72; 7,382 yards
• The Black Course: Par 72; 6,949 yards
• Best for: a challenging but playable championship round that you can tell your friends back home about

The luxurious Tiburón Golf Club, part of The Ritz-Carlton Naples, Tiburón, includes two championship courses designed by Greg Norman. The Gold, while the longer of the two, is generally regarded as easier due to wider and more forgiving fairways. The Black winds through acres of tall pines and features huge bunkers flanking the fairways.

Both Tiburón courses are unique in that there is no conventional rough. In its place are coquina-shell waste areas, pinestraw, or wetlands. Tightly mown turf runs right to the edges of the fairways. This aspect rewards precision — even a small miss can lead to a much more demanding next shot.

Tiburón Golf Club is also home to three annual pro tournaments (the LPGA Tour’s CME Group Tour Championship, the LPGA/PGA TOUR’s Grant Thornton Invitational, and the PGA Tour Champions’ Chubb Classic). Players can also take advantage of the 27,000-foot, Mediterranean-style clubhouse, with three dining rooms and an award-winning pro shop.

The adjacent resort has 295 luxurious rooms and suites, plus impeccable service and several excellent restaurants. Amenities include a tennis center affiliated with renowned coach Patrick Mouratoglou; The Reservoir, a water park with waterslides, a lazy river, and a splash pad. Guests can shuttle four miles west to a sister property, The Ritz-Carlton, Naples, where they can enjoy the state-of-the-art spa and walk the beach.

LaPlaya Golf Club

• Par 72; 6,902 yards
• Best for: those who value course management, shot-shaping, and a smooth pace of play. 

Guests of LaPlaya Beach & Golf Resort are welcome to play what GolfNow has described as a “difficult yet friendly” course (no easy feat). Designed by architects Ernie Smith and Bob Cupp, the layout is as testy as it is lovely, and is lauded for its consistently pristine condition. The course features rolling fairways and significant elevation changes by Southwest Florida standards. Holes weave around 14 lakes and water features.

The resort, located four miles west of the course, sits on a private, white-sand beach, providing golf visitors with a best-of-both-worlds experience. Its signature restaurant, BALEEN, offers fine dining with stunning waterfront views. The LaPlaya resort has four swimming pools and the full-service SpaTerre.

JW Marriott Marco Island Beach Resort

• Hammock Bay: Par 72; 6,985 yards
• The Rookery: Par 72; 7,170 yards
• Best for: golfers seeking relaxed, championship-level courses tucked into the Southwest Florida wilderness.

Guests of the JW Marriott Marco Island Beach Resort can play two championship-level golf courses designed by Peter Jacobsen and Jim Hardy.

Hammock Bay Golf & Country Club features multiple tee boxes for golfers of all levels, Platinum TE™ Paspalum turfgrass, visually striking bunkers, and greens that offer a variety of approach shot options. Hammock Bay has noticeable elevation changes, with fairways that rise, fall, and tilt into landing zones.

Nestled within shallow wetlands, The Rookery at Marco features five teeing options, fast greens, and a state-of-the-art GPS yardage system. Almost every hole is framed by natural preserves, and the biggest challenge is choosing the correct side of the fairway, not just avoiding obvious hazards.

You must stay at the JW Marriott to play either course, and you’ll be glad you did. The massive resort, set right on the Marco Island Beach, offers global cuisine at 12 restaurants, a world-class spa, family-friendly activities, an adults-only retreat, and more. 

Naples Beach Club, A Four Seasons Resort

One of the most significant luxury resort developments in Naples in years, the hotel — which opened in late 2025 — sits on roughly a thousand feet of Gulf frontage just two miles north of downtown Naples. It has multiple ocean-view pools, five restaurants, and the Sanctuary spa. Guests can use complimentary e-bikes to cruise through the downtown streets.

A private, 18-hole golf course called The Gardens is scheduled to open in 2027. Located on the inland portion of the 125-acre property, the course has been completely redesigned and rebuilt by Tom Fazio.

Public Golf Courses in Naples

TPC Treviso Bay

• Par 72; 7,367 yards
• Best for: a Tour-caliber golfing experience with immaculate conditions.

The prestigious TPC Treviso Bay, which opened in 2008 and is a member of the Tournament Players Club network, is open to the public for play from May through October. Booking seven days in advance is highly recommended. Beautifully manicured and scenic, the course will test the skills of even the most accomplished players. 

The course is fair but tricky. Subtle slopes can feed balls toward water hazards, which are in play on a large percentage of the holes. Big bunkers frame the landing zones. The par-4 11th is a short but visually intimidating hole with water down one side and bunkers guarding the other.

Hibiscus Golf Club

• Par 71; 6,317 yards
• Best for: groups with mixed skill levels

Hibiscus’s wide, more forgiving fairways make the course a popular choice for less experienced players. Traversing through indigenous Florida foliage, you’ll enjoy 18 totally different challenges featuring bunkered greens, numerous lakes, and tranquil streams. The 200-yard, par-3 17th requires a carry over water to reach the green. Misses can make what was a nice score end up not so nice.

The Links Of Naples

• Par 61; 4,005 yards
• Best for: folks looking for a relatively fast, challenging round on an executive course 

The Links has been described as “a great beginner course with a mix of par threes and fours.” But it’s not just for newbies, as even experienced golfers can find challenges throughout. As a cool extra, The Links of Naples offers lighted night golf from November to April, Wednesdays through Saturdays. The facility also features a fully lit practice area. 

With an array of short par-3s and par-4s, the premium is on accuracy with irons, wedges, and putters, more so than driving distance.

Valencia Golf & Country Club

• Par 72; 7,145 yards
• Best for: players who like a mid-level course with wide fairways

Newly renovated in 2018, the Valencia Golf & Country Club has long been known for its wide fairways and contoured greens. It has been awarded a 4-star rating by Golf Digest. The course features elite Celebration Bermudagrass on the fairways, premium TifEagle greens for consistent putting speeds, and purposeful placement of bunkers. 

An otherwise forgiving course will test you on the par-3 17th. Water is strongly in play off the tee, and the green is well-protected by bunkers and surrounding hazards. The hole shows up late in the round when focus can wane.

Arrowhead Golf Club

• Par 72; 6,832 yards
• Best for: strategic players, more so than big hitters

From 2004 to 2020, the Southwest Florida Choice Awards named Arrowhead Golf Club the Best Public Golf Course for all but two of those years. ArrowHead opened in 1997 and features 16 pristine lakes, undulating greens, and well-placed, powdery bunkers. 

Arrowhead’s fairways are generous, but the lakes that shape almost every hole can turn simple misses into penalty shots. 

Lely Resort

• Flamingo Island: Par 72; 7,095 yards
• The Mustang: Par 72; 7,230 yards
• Best for: 36 holes of very different championship-level golf in one place.

The Lely Resort Golf & Country Club features two picturesque golf courses. Flamingo Island, the tougher of the two, was designed by renowned architect Robert Trent Jones and features a tighter, more strategic layout, with water coming into play on many holes. The Mustang, designed by Lee Trevino, is a bit more friendly to the average golfer, with wide fairways and forgiving landing areas.

If you have 36 holes in you, Lely offers two very different styles of golf in one visit.

Eagle Lakes Golf Club

• Par 72; 7,150 yards
• Best for: affordable public golf in an Everglades-style setting

Eagle Lakes Golf Club course is laid out around 21 lakes. It’s no wonder the club promises a “one-of-a-kind Florida Everglades golf experience.” You’re apt to see wildlife while playing, but don’t let any of the creatures distract you from shooting a great round. 

Eagle Lakes is built on natural Florida terrain, with wide visual corridors that can be deceptive because water is often just out of view. A standout hole is the par-5 18th (up to 570 yards depending on tee placement). With water coming into play on both sides, it requires three well-placed shots to avoid penalty trouble.

Many other worthy courses populate Florida’s Paradise Coast, but the ones highlighted here are a great place to start. Tee it up on any one of them, and you’ll soon learn what makes golf here Paradise in Every Sense.