Amelia River Golf Club

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It was formerly known as the Royal Amelia before it changed its name into Amelia River Golf Club but none of its royal splendor had gone with the old name. The golf vacation destination has remained to be amongst the best and most beautiful ones in Florida’s Amelia Island, both in layout and conditioning.

This Tom Jackson creation is an 18-hole, par 72 spectacle that coasts along the Amelia River and the forest of live oaks, sabal palms, wax myrtles and pines encompassing it. In many of its holes, these trees make an appearance – and golfers must not expect it to be anything other than grand. True, they make the holes rather picturesque, but it goes without saying they make them difficult as well. Apart from the trees, the smooth and strategically placed bunkers also add challenge and beauty to the course. Add to that a good helping of Alligator Creeks that meander through the whole layout, golfers get a really unique course. The Amelia River Golf Club ends rather majestically, with the final hole edging the Amelia river and its tidal marsh, making golf vacations hereabouts more interesting.

The impeccable conditioning of the course’s TifEagle greens make the Amelia River Golf Club even more regal than it already is. With its promise of a challenging game through and through, made even more challenging by the constant blowing of the wind, it is a must for golfers to pack along an extra stash of ball control and accuracy skills along with their other golf trip essentials. Other than that, they are well on their way to a golfing experience of royal caliber.

Amelia National Golf and Country Club

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The excellence of a golf course designer is always reflected in the goodness of his creations. But in the case of the Amelia National Golf and Country Club in Ferandina Beach, Fl., the golf vacation destination did not only showcase the genius that is Tom Fazio. More than that, it highlighted the nature’s endowment of the Amelia Island area, where it abounds of tropical vegetation, and a unique natural topography that makes golfing here more interesting.

Tom Fazio and his team of experts from his design firm worked on the natural attributes of this part of Amelia Island, and added a good helping of smooth bunkers, swales and lakes to make the course both challenging and visually stunning. He closely followed the existing terrain, thus creating a course that seems to have come straight out of Mother Nature’s hands themselves exactly for those golf vacations made in heaven. The Amelia National Golf and Country Club opens with a par-4 hole guarded by a large lake, and ends with a dramatic 18th hole that is heavily guarded on both sides of the green, overlooked by the grand clubhouse.

The Amelia National Golf and Country Club was designed to be a Championship course, and it is by its own merit. But the course is forgiving and generous enough to make room for players of all skill levels; another proof of Fazio’s skill in golf architecture. The golf trip haven plays for a par of 72 and measures 7,166 yards from the back tees, and opened in 2006.

Ocean Links Course

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Things aren’t always what they seem to be. Yardage numbers say the Ocean Links Course of the Amelia Island Plantation is short. First look at the golf vacation destination says it’s easy. Actually playing it says otherwise. This prized jewel in Florida’s Amelia Island does not know anything that closely resembles plain and mediocre, be it in beauty, fun or challenge.

Designed by Robert Weed and opened in 1975, The Ocean Links Course is an 18-hole, par-72 spectacle that features sweeping vistas of the surrounding Atlantic Ocean, a good 6 meters of natural sand dunes and seaside terrain, and holes that wind through natural marsh wetlands and lagoons. The golf vacation haven measures just 6,108 yards from the longest tees but the narrow fairways and the small greens make it seem longer and relatively more challenging. On top of it all, 5 of its holes (4th, 5th, 6th, 15th, 16th) play on the oceanfront, thus perfectly combining beauty with challenge. The course ends with a bang – a par-3 18th that is directly on the Red Maple Lake. The seemingly short course ends up leaving golfers short of breath but definitely satisfied.

The Ocean Links Course is laden with oaks, pines, and palmettos, thereby perfectly complementing the natural splendor of Florida’s Amelia Island. This golf trip paradise has earned a good number of loyal patrons, and it wouldn’t be surprising if most of them are women since this has been among Golf for Women Magazine’s list of the “50 Best Courses for Women”. To say that it’s excellent is saying the least. There is definitely more to this course than meets a golfer’s eye, or club.

Oak Marsh Course

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The Oak Marsh Course finds its way among the many beautiful courses of Florida, and it never fails to stand out. Not surprisingly so, the golf vacation destination is an original Pete Dye design. It is among his first few designs that initially raised the eyebrows of many of the conservatives of that era, but is currently ranked among the finest in the world. Since its opening in 1972, the course has never failed to make an impact on its spectators and players.

Small greens, tight fairways, and holes that wind through salt marsh creeks characterize the Oak Marsh Course. Along with two other courses, the Ocean Links and the Long Point courses, they make up the Amelia Island Plantation in Florida’s Amelia Island. What makes this golf vacation favorite excellent is Dye’s unique way of putting together each of its elements to make for a challenging and stunning course. The water hazards on 14 of its holes and the bulkhead greens, not to mention the beautiful bunkering are all made to be lookers, but at the same time, heart breakers. Leave it to the rest of the course and its many wonderful amenities to make up for these heartbreaks.

This course made its way into the hearts of the countless golfers who have spent their most memorable golf trips here. This fact was made known to the rest of the golfing world when Golf Digest ranked The Oak Mash Course as among the “Top 75 Resort Courses in the US”, and Travel and Leisure Golf’s “Florida’s 50 Finest Courses”.

The Palencia Club

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Excellence in a golf vacation destination is measured not only by its supremacy in layout but in the supporting amenities as well. It is one that delivers everything a golfer needs in his vacation, and delivers it on a silver platter. One perfect example for excellence in a golfing facility is the exclusive and elite club that is said to be the best in St. Augustine, Florida: The Palencia Club.

Its most treasured and most popular feature, not that any of its other features are anything less than stellar, is the 18-hole par 72 Arthur Hills-designed championship golf course. Hills designed for the course to mesh perfectly with nature it’s almost as if all he did was place holes around a natural paradise. The course is well adorned with centuries-old maritime oaks among other natural Florida vegetation, and golfers would have to share their golf vacations with the abundant natural wildlife. The Palencia Club golf course winds along the Intracoastal Waterway and the Tolomato River. These facts all combine to give Hills’ design an extra edge in natural hazards and a uniquely challenging topography.

Outstanding as it already is with the course alone, the developers of The Palencia Club did not stop there. The golf trip haven comes complete with a superb teaching facility and a stunning four-story clubhouse that goes all the way out into the greens. It goes without saying that the whole club is pristinely and meticulously maintained. There is nothing at all surprising about why this golf club is named among the best not only in St Augustine but in the entire Florida as well.

Queen’s Harbour Yacht and Country Club

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This is one golf vacation destination fit for royalty. Of the many courses in Jacksonville, Florida, the Queen’s Harbour Yacht and Country Club is considered the best. Not only is it extremely beautiful – with views of yachts at the marina on one side and the surrounding natural splendor of Jacksonville on another, but it offers a quality of play that does not come close to plain and mediocre. This combination of fun, beauty and challenge also expects its guests to play like royalty.

Just as royals are fancied with beautiful things, so are they expected to be skillful and excellent where they should be. And in this golf vacation favorite, they are faced with a layout that requires them the best of their shotmaking skills, and techniques. The 18-hole, par 72 Mark McCumber design is a good combination of a variety of par 3s, long par 4’s and short par 5s spread out on Bermuda carpeted rolling fairways. McCumber’s bunkering and mounding can get quite deceptive on some points, golfers must be on their guard especially for easy looking holes. The Queen’s Harbour Yacht and Country Club stretches to 7,017 yards from the back tees, and has 4 sets of tees to accommodate more royalties.

The grandeur of its beautiful scenery and excellent layout are completed in the impeccable service and amenities offered at the Queen’s Harbour Yacht and Country Club. There are rest stations all throughout the course, the beverage cart is almost never out of sight, and the 19th hole proves to be just as exactly as the rest of the course is: EXCELLENT. The experience here is just too unforgettable guests would still feel regal long after their golf trips.

Golf Club at South Hampton

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Mark McCumber is a celebrated golfer at the PGA Tour. Mark McCumber is a more celebrated golf course designer at the Golf Club at South Hampton in St Augustine, Florida. And he is rightfully so. The golf vacation destination that he designed is one of the best, most unique in this side of the Sunshine State because of McCumber’s distinct take on the usual elements of a Florida golf course.

Perhaps the best feature of McCumber’s design is not in the hole placement, the beautifully done landscaping, the natural Florida woodland scenery, or the even more stunning water hazards, natural and otherwise. Although these factors are, without a doubt, excellent on their own and greatly contribute to the overall beauty of the course. The most noteworthy part of the golf vacation favorite is in the bunkers. The white, soft sugar sand bunkers at the Golf Club at South Hampton were not just strategically placed, but are contoured and are made to fit the shape and style of the holes. And they come in numbers, having a total of 60. By far these are the best bunkering that has come to the Florida golfing scene.

The 18-hole, par-72 layout of the Golf Club at South Hampton wind through 17 stunning and large lakes and natural Florida woodlands. McCumber designed the holes to test every golfer’s shotmaking skills and their better judgment on which club to use at a most appropriate hole. The course measures 6,952 yards from the back tees, and has several sets of tees to make golf trips hereabouts as enjoyable as it possibly can to as many golfers as possible. Mark McCumber has clearly given guests a reason to celebrate the sport at this creation.

Windsor Parke Golf Club

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There is an undeniably royal quality to the Windsor Parke Golf Club. And it’s not just the name! This golf vacation destination has quite a reputation amongst its Jacksonville, Florida counterparts that makes it worthy of its regal namesake. To start off, its designer is pretty much a royalty in the golfing scene, both as a player and a designer. It’s no less than the Arthur Hills himself. And his creation, naturally, reflects his excellence in the sport.

The Windsor Parke Golf Club is one of the most recognized and most well-remembered golf courses in Jacksonville area, both by enthusiastic golfers of golf vacations and pros and amateurs who have had their tournaments here. As is known all over the city, this course has hosted more USGA qualifying tournaments than any other course in Jacksonville, including the US Open. Its numerous beautiful features give tournament organizers every reason to hold their events here. It has rolling fairways, dramatic bunkering, and an even more dramatic elevation changes. All that in true Arthur Hills brand, backdropped by the beautiful Florida scenery.

Its beauty and challenge are well applauded and recognized locally and nationally. Amongst the accolades that the Windsor Parke Golf Club are a 4-star rating from Golf Digest’s “Best Places to Play” and is the only National Golf Course Owner’s Association-certified “Beginner Friendly Club” in Jacksonville area. The service does not come short of regal as well, making golf trips here one for the royals.

The Golf Club at North Hampton

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Nobody should ever expect anything ordinary from a true genius. Whatever comes out of their minds are always with a touch of being extraordinary, and it does not mind being so – whether spectators like it or not. Proof to this fact is The Golf Club at North Hampton in Northeastern Florida. This golf vacation destination attests to the sheer genius of Arnold Palmer – his attention to detail, his reverence to challenge, and his utter love for the sport that made him a legend.

The Golf Club at North Hampton is Palmer’s own brand of poetry, cemented on Jacksonville terrain. It is laden with man-made sand dunes, bridges, coquina and sand bunkers backdropped by beautiful Florida woodlands. The elevation changes tend to be a little dramatic, and the wild grasses are a most perfect distraction. They are put together rather too well under Palmer’s hands that the ten year old golf trip favorite is a wonderful concoction of beauty, challenge, and perhaps, some madness – from the frustrated golfers who can’t score low. This piece of Arnold Palmer’s mind is nothing but ordinary.

Even the brand of service that this course offers does not come close to mediocrity. They give “customers come first” their own take, and it requires a real golf vacation to experience that. The Golf Club at North Hampton is all 18-holes of exciting, challenging, fun golf course that stretches to 7,171 yards playing for a par of 72. The 5 sets of tees allows for more golfers to enjoy its unique offering. It is perhaps safe to say that guests should expect nothing but the unexpected from this Florida golf gem.

St John’s Golf and Country Club

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When designer Clyde Johnston was given the piece of land between St Augustine and Jacksonville, Florida, he was given an empty, clean piece of canvass. It would have worked too easily if he were a painter. The thing is, he’s a golf course architect and a little bump on the terrain every here and there would have been helpful; an outright flat and plain piece of Florida lot seemed more a liability. But his genius was tested, and he has successfully turned the handicap into a full asset. And the result is a premier golf vacation destination, and what most golfers consider as Johnston’s best creation yet: St John’s Golf and Country Club.

Sitting next to tons of other golf courses in the area, the St John’s Golf and Country Club could easily be ignored, considering they share the same South Florida natural wetlands and wildlife. What sets this golf vacation haven apart is what Johnston do and did not do. Instead of putting in too much intervention into the apparently flat land, Johnston made use of what is already there, thus bringing out the best that nature can offer. He complimented it with a good helping of water hazards and sand traps, adding up to the challenge that the natural wetlands provide.

In totality, it is as similar to its neighbors as it is as different. These golf trip favorites share the same Florida goodness, but Clyde Johnston’s balanced mix of beauty and challenge, nature and his own creativity, make the St John’s Golf and Country Club outstanding. The course stretches to a good 7,236 yards from the back tees, and plays at a par of 72. A masterpiece by all means, it is rewarded by consistently being ranked among the nation’s best.