Duffers and handicappers alike visiting Northwest Florida’s Panama City Beach will find a destination carving out a growing reputation as a golf haven with outstanding championship golf courses and great weather year-round.
Recognized by Golf Digest Magazine as one of America’s top three golf towns, Panama City Beach has affordable greens fees paired with award-winning course design. Tee times are available year-round, with an average annual temperature of 74 degrees and an estimated 320 days of sunshine. For maps and listings, visit: www.visitpanamacitybeach.com/golf.
Course choices include:
Nicklaus Course and Meadows Course, Wyndham Bay Point Resort
Wyndham Bay Point Resort features two 18-hole courses, the Nicklaus Course and the Meadows Course. The Nicklaus Course premiered in fall 2005 as Northwest Florida’s only Nicklaus-design course. Travel + Leisure Golf has since named it one of the most worthy redesigns and notable debuts in the state. The par-72 course measures more than 7,100 yards and offers challenges for both novice and seasoned golfers. Players enjoy the natural terrain of scrub oaks, pines and salt-water marshes as well as panoramic views of St. Andrew Bay.
The Meadows Course is the epitome of resort golf, offering golfers an experience they return for, time and again. Its occasionally tight fairways, combined with numerous bunkers and lakes, provide an ever-changing landscape for golfers of all skill levels.
Readers of Corporate and Incentive Travel Magazine voted these courses a Greens of Distinction winner. In addition to 36 distinctive holes, Wyndham Bay Point has restaurants, a spa and a pro shop. The comprehensive practice area includes a manicured putting green and driving range. For more information or tee times, call 850-236-6000 or visit www.wyndhambaypoint.com.
The Hombre Golf Club
The Hombre Golf Club offers 27 championship holes, cleverly named “The Good, The Bad & The Ugly.” Featuring water on 21 of the 27 holes, the Hombre is meticulously manicured to PGA specifications throughout the year. Both scenic and challenging, the course is nestled amidst wetlands, marshes, lakes and preserves, and is framed by a stunning assortment of palms, pines and azaleas.
Hombre annually hosts the second stage of the PGA Tour Qualifying School, and has earned a reputation for challenging play. It is also home to The Adam Brack Academy, which is consistently noted among Golf Magazine's "Top 25 Golf Schools" and offers two-, three- and five-day golf schools as well as packages for hourly lessons.
Course amenities include GPS technology on every cart, a driving range, chipping and putting greens, golf shop and the Siesta Bar & Grill, which serves breakfast and lunch daily. The Hombre offers accommodations and golf packages, annual memberships, corporate and charity tournaments, and provides discount rates for seniors, juniors and members of the military. For more information or tee times, call 850-234-3673 or visit www.hombregolfclub.com.
Holiday Golf Club
Holiday Beach Club is a semi-private, 18-hole, par-72 championship course located only a mile from the beach. The greens here are smooth, fast, firm and challenging. Known as one of Florida's most enjoyable yet challenging tracks, the course offers broad, lake-lined fairways and elevated greens that are protected by bunkers of silky white sand.
Holiday features Bay County’s only lighted, 9-hole, par-3 course, designed with three sets of tees to accommodate varied skill levels. A lighted driving range and practice facility are also available, as are lessons, rental clubs and golf packages. For more information or tee times, visit www.holidaygolfclub.com or call 850-234-1800.
Signal Hill
Panama City Beach’s first golf course, Signal Hill, was designed among white-sand dunes. The 18-hole, par-71 course features breathtaking scenery, challenging greens and precise fairways. Yardage is 5,617 from the blue tees and 5,259 from the red tees. Golfers can enjoy breakfast and lunch at Signal Hill’s snack bar and rent clubs at the course’s pro shop. For more information or tee times, call 850-234-3218 or visit www.signalhillgolfcourse.com.