Nowhere in the United States is new golf being built at the scale seen in Florida.
A constant flood of people and capital means the Sunshine State is ripe for new golf course construction as well as transformational changes to existing layouts. According to the National Golf Foundation, from 2023 through 2025, Florida welcomed 28 brand-new golf courses and as of this writing, there are at least 23 new builds in development.
Beyond the brand-new golf supply hitting the state soon, there have been dozens of transformational renovations of existing golf courses, some of them involving dozens of millions of dollars in capital expenditures. While Florida is home to a lot of filler-type mediocre golf - on too-flat land with too many lakes and houses in play - the average quality of courses in the state has never been higher.
Here are some of the most exciting recent projects, as well as a few yet to be finalized.
10 great new and transformed Florida golf courses built since 2023
High Grove (new golf course)
Venus
2025 opening
Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner's newest course, an exclusive private club, enjoys one of the best pieces of land for golf in the state: a hilly expanse of citrus groves affording miles-long views that are unthinkable along the coast, except from high-rise condos.
Kinsale Golf Club (new golf course)
North Naples
2025 opening
Laid out on less than 120 acres of dead-flat ground close to the Gulf of Mexico, Kinsale could scarcely be more different than High Grove. And yet its architectural quotient is just as strong, as Hanse and Wagner (Wagner again sitting first-chair) fashioned something brand-new that instantly felt like an homage to great old Northeastern clubs like Kittansett in Massachusetts and Maidstone in New York. Sunken, flat-bottomed bunkers and exquisitely tempered greens drive the drama here.
The Third at Watersound Club (new golf course)
Panama City Beach, Fla.
2025 opening
Davis Love III and his Love Golf Design group, which includes his brother Mark and veteran architect Scot Shorman, continue to produce thoughtful and interesting work both in the realm of renovations and restorations like Harbour Town and new builds like this Panhandle club's third course, which is mostly for members but also playable by guests of the nearby Camp Creek Inn.
Cabot Citrus Farms (4 new and substantially redesigned golf courses)
Brooksville
2024-2025 openings
The former World Woods Golf Club sputtered along for 30-plus years so that Cabot Citrus Farms could burst forth from its sizable footprint in Brooksville an hour north of Tampa. Resort-friendly post-COVID conditions and considerable golf course development and design talent all worked together to bring this rolling, largely sandy property towards its apotheosis. The big courses - Karoo and Roost - have worthy companions in the form of the 10-hole Squeeze and 11-hole Wedge loops.
Soleta Golf Club (new golf course)
Myakka City
2024 opening
Three-time major champion Nick Price has occasionally involved himself in golf course design, often collaborating with others. But Soleta is under his sole imprimatur, and has impressed ever since it opened in late 2024, sporting a sand-swaddled layout with bunkers that remind of the Australian Sandbelt.
Apogee Golf Club (3 new golf courses)
Hobe Sound
2023-2025 openings
Co-owned by Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross and Sebonack Golf Club founder Michael Pascucci, this upscale retreat has built three golf courses at breakneck pace: the West, laid out by Gil Hanse & Jim Wagner; the South, by Tommy Fazio and Mike Davis; and the North, by Keith Phillips.
Panther National Golf Club (new golf course)
Palm Beach Gardens
2023 opening
Palm Beach County is one of America's winter golf hometowns, with dozens of private clubs and public courses serving thousands of residents, snowbirds and vacationers. Believe it or not, Panther National was the first new private club to debut in PBC in two decades. It made a splash with audacious bunkering, bold greens and a breathtaking quantity of earthmoving.
The Nest at Sandhill Crane Golf Club (new golf course)
Palm Beach Gardens
2023 opening
Most par-3 courses that have been built in recent years tend to be of the wedge-and-putter variety. Which is nice, but I prefer more substantial short courses. The Nest fits the bill; when I played it, I hit every club in my bag from 5 wood down. A solid addition to the Palm Beach-area public course scene.
The Park West Palm (redesigned and rebuilt golf course)
West Palm Beach
2023 opening
A group of golf and business titans with ties to the area banded together to finally make the most of an excellent, sandy tract in the heart of W.P.B. Summoning more than $50 million and Gil Hanse & Jim Wagner (whose names, you may have noticed, have appeared often around recent Florida golf projects) to reimagine the course, the results have been a smash success, turning a tired property into a SoFla super-muni.
The Back Yard at McArthur Golf Club
Hobe Sound
2023 opening
This very private club drew attracted renewed attention when it opened a second course by Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw to complement the original, by Tom Fazio and Nick Price. Well-placed sources who have played the course have raved about it as one of the best in C&C's extremely competitive portfolio.
5 forthcoming new Florida golf courses of interest
Streamsong (new course)
Bowling Green
David McLay Kidd's new design at Streamsong - Florida's new-age golf resort of record - will join courses by Tom Doak (Blue), Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw (Red, The Chain) and Gil Hanse & Jim Wagner (Black) when it opens, likely in late 2026.
Hollywood Beach Golf Club
Hollywood Beach
Architect Richard Mandell did a wonderful job reviving the Donald Ross-designed Bobby Jones Golf Club in Sarasota a few years ago. His latest project, on the other side of the state, seeks to bring a classic look and sensibility back to a site of barely 100 acres wedged between Fort Lauderdale and Miami.
The Gate Golf Course
Naples
Southwest Florida is great for private club members, less so for public players. That's why this new 9-hole public facility, short loop and putting course by Peter Jacobsen and Jim Hardy holds promise and intrigue.
Miakka Golf Club
Myakka City
This ambitious, Sandbelt-inspired design by Dana Fry and Jason Straka, with Paul Azinger advising, has already raised eyebrows from golf media types who have previewed its first nine holes built.
Old Shores
Vernon
Tom Doak's first course at this new resort property owned by Michael Keiser, Jr. in the Panhandle is already under construction, with Brian Schneider signed on to build the second one in short order.
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