Raven at Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort

We had a BLAST at Raven. From the moment we pulled into the parking lot until the time we left, everything was top notch. We had two juniors playing, and the staff was extremely accommodating and showed they were excited to have us. The course was in great condition. It’s challenging, for sure…but it’s still forgiving (at times). Hole 6 was great! Shoutout to Tiger for all the help. (If there was one negative it would be that the course was packed and pace of play was way too slow. Waiting on every hole and almost a full five hours for the round. That’s too long, but it is what it is.) Overall, Raven was an awesome experience!

Six people on a green and eight people on a tee box...why not. Having your twelve friends wait on the last green while you putt, finish your drinks, and take selfies..all good. Don't play in the afternoon unless you feel like crawling through your round (the $8 pitchers probably aren't helping) and cancelling your dinner reservations. Still a great course, especially at Sandestin, but temper your expectations and be prepared to wait from the moment you arrive until the moment you leave.

Played the Links course last year so decided to try out the Raven this year. Loved the course and layout. Conditions were nice but greens were a little slow. Not that I mind, just takes a few holes to get used to it. Only negative was the slow pace of play. Had a bigger group in front of us and had to wait on basically every hole. Tee time was at 1:50, got started around 2 and finished just before 7. Would definitely play the course again though!

The day before we played there had been a significant rain fall so the driving range was closed when we arrived. While it would have been nice to get a heads up email, fair enough. The morning had been sunny and windy and by our 2:00 tee time the course had dried out. Nevertheless we were told that it was cart path only. There were also a group of 8 ahead of us with what looked like 3 non golfers in each group. They were painfully slow and spent way too much time hunting for golf balls every time they were near water. Front 9 took over 2.5 hours with no ranger in sight. Back nine saw some people behind us quit and we were quickly caught by a group who twice hit balls over our heads and had managed to disconnect the GPS on their carts so were able to drive all over the course. Again with no marshals in sight, we were forced to confront them and were offered apologies and surprise at the cart path only rule. The Raven is a nice course but for the money, should have someone looking out for their guests.

The course model expects a round of golf to be completed in four hours. Our round, played in the afternoon, took 5 hours and 10 minutes. Our big holdup was the foursome in front had two players who, from the looks and sounds, had never played before. That didn't stop them from swinging what appeared to be 10-12 each before giving up on the hole. This was two couples; the guys played from the mid-tees and the girls from the front. It was obviously a very social round for them, but they had absolutely no idea about course etiquette. A course marshal wasn't available during the entire round.

Awful first impression… I walked up with my bag and the bag dropped. Personnel, pointed at the cart, too busy on their phones and idle chatter to care saying that that cart was mine. So weird. Never experienced anything like that before. Inside the clubhouse things didn’t get much better. the woman who checked me in, seemed over stressed and uninterested in making any kind of customer experience. Moving to the driving range. Found the driving range roped off with limited space available. Had to wait in a line 3 deep in order to hit balls before my round. The range itself was cluttered with thousands of golf balls. It looked like the picker hadn’t been run since the prior morning. Moving to the starter this is where things changed for the better. The starter is a 20 year veteran of this course and was fantastic. Once we were on our way, the course itself is a fantastic layout with generous Fairways. Course conditions were excellent and pace. The play was fantastic. Could have been a five star review all the way around if only it were not for those horrible first impressions.

Review Part I:

Underwhelming first impressions. The bag drop folks didn’t offer to take my bag and cart me up. They were too busy playing on their phones and chatting amongst themselves. Instead pointed to a cart and said that one is yours. Unlike anything I’d ever encountered.

Inside the lady checking me in seemed overstressed and uninterested in making a customer experience.

The driving range was roped off to limit available space and had to wait in line to hit balls… plan ahead to arrive super early if you want a shot at warming up. The range itself was also littered with 1000s of balls.

Review Part II:

The starter was awesome. He is a 20 year veteran at this course and the course itself was fantastic. Conditions were great fairways were generous and sight lines all the way round are very nice!.

I aarived at the starter 10 minutes before my t time. The 3 others I was paired with were sent off much earlier. On a busy weekend day I was sent off as a single. There were multiple 4somes ahead and behind. After 5 holes I quit after 1 hour 45 min. I was told sorry but we are busy.. a lot of money for 5 holes

Love the Raven. Course in great shape and greens putted well.

This is our first time playing this course. My wife and I come down before spring break and usually play three rounds of golf. We are paired with two very nice gentlemen, retired military, very enjoyable round course was in good shape. Had a good time. Will definitely be back.

Was not a “cart path only” day but our cart GPS shut us down several times. Had to leave the cart to finish one hole because it was just crawling by itself. Key to on/off didn’t fix it, reverse wouldn’t work either…nothing worked. Plus I couldn’t push it either. GPS brakes I guess. After a few holes it started working like normal. Pace was just a little slow on the back but didn’t bother me as much as the others in our group. I’ve had much better rounds at the Raven.