Best of 2016: Top 25 golf courses in Florida

There isn't a more competitive state list than Florida, home to more golf courses than any other.

The Top 25 courses in Florida helps showcase just how diverse the state's best courses can be. Snowbirds will tell you that Naples-area courses compared to Orlando or Jacksonville are all much different. From stadium-style golf to courses molded out of old mines, the best course architects have had plenty of unique sandboxes to play with. There are watery courses, particularly along the coasts, but also a few with rolling hills, too. The list shows off some of the newest courses, but also highlights history, including a course celebrating 100 years. Tournament venues certainly abound, but shorter courses have delighted enough golfers to make this list as well.

One feather in Florida's cap is that it fared quite well in our national lists, scoring the top course in our course conditions, staff friendliness and most-improved categories. Six courses made our overall Top 50.

We compiled the top 25 courses in Florida using your ratings and reviews submitted throughout the past year. We used a similar model to the national Top 50, which takes the combined score of a course's overall rating plus their average subcategory ratings. Active reviewers on our platform have more weight to their reviews than those without a lot of reviews.

You can view the Florida Top 25 below, as well is the number one course for each subcategory in 2016. Don't see your favorite Florida golf course? You can make your voice heard by writing a review here.

Top courses by subcategory in Florida in 2016

Course layout: El Campeon at Mission Inn Resort & Club
Course conditions: Forest Glen Golf & Country Club
Value: Forest Glen Golf & Country Club
Off-course amenities: TPC Sawgrass
Pace of play: Bella Collina
Staff friendliness: TPC Sawgrass
Most improved
: Oaks National (formerly Kissimmee Oaks)

Top 25 courses in Florida in 2016

Brooksville


Orlando


Ocala


Howey in the Hills


Naples


Winter Garden


Carrabelle


Fort Meade


St. Augustine


Fernandina Beach


Daytona Beach


Fort Myers


Naples


Lake Buena Vista


Ponte Vedra Beach


Naples


Naples


Miami


Fort Meade


Ponte Vedra Beach
No. 50 in the U.S. in 2016


Orlando
No. 49 in the U.S. in 2016


Orlando
No. 45 in the U.S. in 2016


Brooksville
No. 27 in the U.S. in 2016


Howey in the Hills
No. 13 in the U.S. in 2016

Destin
No. 10 in the U.S. in 2016


Brandon Tucker is the Sr. Managing Editor for GolfPass and was the founding editor of Golf Advisor in 2014, he was the managing editor for Golf Channel Digital's Courses & Travel. To date, his golf travels have taken him to over two dozen countries and nearly 600 golf courses worldwide. While he's played some of the most prestigious courses in the world, Tucker's favorite way to play the game is on a great muni in under three hours. Follow Brandon on Twitter at @BrandonTucker and on Instagram at @btuck34.
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Best of 2016: Top 25 golf courses in Florida