Aerial view of the 16th hole at Emerald Bay Golf Club.
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4.2
1604 Reviews (1604)
5 Stars
794
4 Stars
624
3 Stars
134
2 Stars
30
1 Stars
22
Conditions
4.0
Value
4.0
Layout
4.4
Friendliness
4.6
Pace
4.3
Amenities
4.2
87.0%
Recommend this course
1470 out of 1604 reviews
Read Reviews
Average Rating
Avg Rating
4.0
140 Reviews (140)
5 Stars
51
4 Stars
50
3 Stars
26
2 Stars
7
1 Stars
6
Conditions
3.6
Value
3.7
Layout
4.3
Pace
4.2
Amenities
4.1
StaffFriendliness
4.4
79.3%
Recommend this course
111 out of 140 reviews
Read Reviews
Average Rating
Avg Rating
4.1
281 Reviews (281)
5 Stars
114
4 Stars
97
3 Stars
50
2 Stars
12
1 Stars
8
Conditions
3.8
Value
3.8
Layout
4.4
Pace
4.3
Amenities
4.2
StaffFriendliness
4.5
81.9%
Recommend this course
230 out of 281 reviews
Read Reviews

About

Holes 18
Type Semi-Private/Resort
Par 72
Length 7050 yards
Slope 143
Rating 73.9

Located right along the water, Emerald Bay Golf Club was designed by Bob Cupp to be Destin's premier full-service, 18-hole championship course. Water is a prominent feature as the course overlooks the shores Choctawhatchee Bay and incorporates water features on 12 of the holes. Oftentimes golfers will face an intimidating shot across a lake or a pond. Emerald Bay Golf Club's sculpted fairways and tight greens are always in excellent condition. There are four sets of tees that make the golf course accessible to most players' abilities and no matter what skill level you are, the views are not to be missed. The views are especially breathtaking on the back nine, which borders the bay. There is also an expansive driving range at Emerald Bay that golfers can use before playing the golf course.

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Emerald Bay Golf Club
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Course Details

Year Built 1991
Fairways Bermuda Grass
Greens TifEagle Bermuda Grass
Golf Season Year round
Architect Bob Cupp (1991) Bob Cupp (2014)

Rentals/Services

Carts Yes - included in green fees
Clubs Yes
GPS Yes

Practice/Instruction

Driving Range Yes
Golf School Academy Yes
Teaching Pro Yes
Pitching/Chipping Area Yes
Putting Green Yes

Policies

Credit Cards Accepted VISA, MasterCard, Amex Welcomed
Metal Spikes Allowed No
Dress code Appropriate golf attire. No denim, collared shirt required.

Food & Beverage

Bar, Restaurant

Available Facilities

Clubhouse, Banquet Facilities

Reviews

4.2
1604 Reviews (1604)

What Golfers Are Saying

The 19th Hole is Great For:
Drinks 21
Watching the Game 11
19th Hole Scenic Views 10
Course Challenges Include:
Water Hazards 48
Bunkers 38
Forced Carries 28
This course/club is great for:
Advanced Golfers 29
A Weekend Splurge 22
Seniors 20
This Course's Location is:
Convenient to the City 34
Near Local Attractions 30
Worth the Drive 15

Numbers based on reviews tagged with attribute.

Reviewer Photos

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Overall Rating
Recommended
Handicap
Age
Type of Golfer
Gender
Played On
Reviews 1
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Default User Avatar
Commented on 09/15/2023

We love hearing about our golfers' experiences, u314164535478. Please tell us more about what you enjoyed during your round. Thanks for choosing Emerald Bay Golf Club!

Played On
Reviews 7
Handicap 15-19
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
3.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Wet weather
Used cart

Beautiful pics, very nice staff.

Course had a good layout. Staff seem somewhat confused as I was sent out on the back nine. Later, got behind people who got sent off on the front. Weather played a part, but the greens were a little sketchy. In fairness, I played another course two days later with sub par greens. I found the holes very challenging and was happy to make par.

Conditions Average
Value Average
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Average
Difficulty Moderate
Played On
Reviews 20
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
2.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

No way this is a 4 star course

Many of the front 9 tee boxes chewed up. Thin grass on the fairways, greens are shaggy and several have bare spots or diseased. No ranger to enforce pace of play. There are many better options in Destin.

Conditions Poor
Value Fair
Layout Good
Friendliness Average
Pace Average
Default User Avatar
Commented on 09/14/2023

We sincerely apologize for the issues you encountered during your visit. We appreciate your feedback and will make sure to address the concerns you raised to improve our course conditions and pace of play. Thank you for bringing this to our attention.

Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Default User Avatar
Commented on 09/14/2023

We love hearing about our golfers' experiences, angel0214. Please tell us more about what you enjoyed during your round. Thanks for choosing Emerald Bay Golf Club!

Played On
Reviews 19
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Perfect weather
Used cart
Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Default User Avatar
Commented on 09/12/2023

Hello and thank you for your 5-star rating! We're delighted you enjoyed your round. Please book another round with us soon, and thanks for choosing Emerald Bay Golf Club!

Played On
Reviews 17
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 17
Handicap 20-24
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Perfect weather
Used cart
Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Default User Avatar
Commented on 09/12/2023

Hello and thank you for your 5-star rating! We're delighted you enjoyed your round. Please book another round with us soon, and thanks for choosing Emerald Bay Golf Club!

Played On
Reviews 3
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Conditions Average
Value Average
Layout Average
Friendliness Good
Pace Excellent
Amenities Average
Default User Avatar
Commented on 09/14/2023

We love hearing about our golfers' experiences, u364067677. Please tell us more about what you enjoyed during your round. Thanks for choosing Emerald Bay Golf Club!

Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Advanced
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Conditions Good
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Default User Avatar
Commented on 09/11/2023

We love hearing about our golfers' experiences, MikeHCovol. Please tell us more about what you enjoyed during your round. Thanks for choosing Emerald Bay Golf Club!

Played On
Reviews 4
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Great Course.. 'Almost' perfect.

Really nice course. Difficult layout/slope rating. The staff was very accommodating and friendly. The greens were aerated which made putting a little difficult. But also a few greens had damges areas(sand patches/no grass)near the edges. But overall , a Great course to play.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Default User Avatar
Commented on 09/11/2023

Thanks so much for the great review, dgut2006. We look forward to welcoming you back to our course soon. Thanks for choosing Emerald Bay Golf Club.

Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
3.0
First Time Playing

Has potential for sure

Played 9 holes this morning, was supposed to play 18 couldn’t possibly finish. I play for fun, but it isn’t fun when you are playing in a swamp. The course was absolutely drenched, and that wasn’t told to me ahead of time. The course was recently aerated, which is fine, and the greens were about what you’d expect. However, the fairways were just swamp land today. My first 5 drives literally plugged in fairways; just seems like something that should be made aware to players that the course doesn’t drain well. Played as cart path only which I wasn’t told until after I paid; obviously wouldn’t have played if told all ahead of time. By hole 2 it was pretty evident I wasn’t going to play the entire 18.

Layout was cool and challenging, I was a fan of the tee box layouts and course layout as a whole! GPS in the carts is useless when playing cart path only lol. Carts and attendants were great! The GPS hadn’t been updated for current pin placements, always fun to play to a back pin, only to find it’s a middle or front placement.

Clubhouse attendant was super nice, clubhouse is fully stacked with anything you could imagine.

There has been rain recently, but at full price, there’s zero justification to play the course right now. Aerated greens and standing water everywhere. Pins hadn’t been changed in a few days as most were caved, which is strange since the greens were punched this week…

Would be interested to play again during a drought or whenever course is completely dry.

I play at a 2-3 handicap, so the course was more annoying than anything, would be fun if it’s a family outing.

Conditions Poor
Value Poor
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Default User Avatar
Commented on 09/04/2023

Thank you for taking the time to leave a review of your experience playing at our course. We apologize for any inconvenience you experienced due to the course conditions. We appreciate your feedback and will take it into consideration to improve our communication with players about course conditions. Thank you for mentioning the positive aspects of your visit and we hope to have the opportunity to provide you with a better experience in the future.

Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
3.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Could be good

Had a fun round, but the course condition was terrible. Staff was friendly, but they definitely need a better system to close out tabs after the round. Had to wait in line for nearly 45 minutes after my round ended to close a tab I had with the beverage cart.

Conditions Poor
Value Fair
Layout Average
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Average
Default User Avatar
Commented on 09/04/2023

We appreciate your feedback regarding your round and the friendliness of our staff, but we apologize for the poor course condition and the inconvenience you experienced in closing out your tab. Thank you for taking the time to leave us a review.

Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Conditions Good
Value Average
Layout Good
Friendliness Average
Pace Excellent
Amenities Average
Default User Avatar
Commented on 09/04/2023

Hello and thank you so much for taking the time to leave an excellent rating! We really appreciate your business. Please let us know what we can do for you in the future to earn that last star and thanks for choosing Emerald Bay Golf Club!

Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
First Time Playing

Will definitely play again

Great course, nice layout, and in great condition. Bunkers were some of the best I’ve been in in a very long time . Challenging but fair course . Staff was very friendly and helpful. Went out 8:30 am and finished in just over four hours. Will recommend and will play again when back in town.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Default User Avatar
Commented on 08/25/2023

Wow! We are so happy you enjoyed your round, nblknirvana! We look forward to seeing you again soon at Emerald Bay Golf Club.

Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

The heat

Great course and fit our ability as hackers ⛳️⛳️⛳️

Conditions Excellent
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Excellent
Default User Avatar
Commented on 08/28/2023

u314159455864, thank you for your kind words! The team has worked very hard to get where we are, and we appreciate golfers like you taking notice. We hope to see you again at the course very soon for another 5-star experience. Thanks for choosing Emerald Bay Golf Club

Played On
Reviews 3
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Conditions Average
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Default User Avatar
Commented on 08/17/2023

We love hearing about our golfers' experiences, tnmussels. Please tell us more about what you enjoyed during your round. Thanks for choosing Emerald Bay Golf Club!

Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Course & Support Staff

Course was in great shape & the staff could not have been “more courteous” in helping with additional ice for the hot weather and flexibility with our tee time.

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Default User Avatar
Commented on 08/15/2023

Thank you so much for the great review. We are glad you had an incredible time, and we hope to see you again soon! Thanks for choosing Emerald Bay Golf Club.

Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Nice Course, excellent pace of play

Pros- fairways and greens were in good shape A few very pretty holes, this course is just challenging enough with the amount of water along the sides of holes as well as some forced carrys over water. Pace of play great, we never waited and were never pushed. Employees were great, from the clubhouse, to the beverage cart to the grill, all very nice, friendly and happy. Very fair track.
Cons- Coming from Texas, the lack of roll on shots, because of the lush and damp bermuda. It took a few holes to get used to, but, it also saved a few shots from rolling into the water (which is why i call it fair). The tee boxes were brutal, really the only true negative.

We played at 11am, it was horribly hot and humid. However, the frequency of the bev cart and alot of shaded areas made it bearable.

Enjoyable course, will play again.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Default User Avatar
Commented on 08/14/2023

Thanks so much for your wonderful review, B5aTAljBBwWC926OZGeS. We are thrilled to hear how much you enjoyed your time with us. Please visit again soon. Thanks for choosing Emerald Bay Golf Club!

Played On
Reviews 4
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Previously Played
Hot weather
Used cart

Playing Tomorrow Again

Just make sure the clowns from the Southern Gentlemen Sports Show are not in my way when I am playing.

Conditions Good
Value Average
Layout Average
Friendliness Average
Pace Good
Amenities Average
Difficulty Moderate
Default User Avatar
Commented on 08/14/2023

Thanks so much for your wonderful review, iSabsr2Qd8GsA4kRvbNd. We are thrilled to hear how much you enjoyed your time with us. Please visit again soon. Thanks for choosing Emerald Bay Golf Club!

Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
1.0
First Time Playing

Don’t Waste Your Time or Money

DO NOT VISIT THIS COURSE!

Where do I begin with this review. We were extremely disappointed with the course and our overall experience. The staff is completely rude and unprofessional. I saw this on several reviews in the past. The past reviewers were spot on. When you book online, the cost is $110. When I called the pro shop 2 weeks prior, they confirmed my tee time and did not state a cost. We assumed the price was $110. When checking in, I was told the price was $150 per golfer. I asked about the $110 price and I was told that was the internet price. Now get this. The gentleman in the pro shop told me whoever answered my call should have told me to book online and save $30. He said “I always tell people to book online. Let me see who took your call.” Then he went on to say “oh, I took your call and just laughed.” Now I’m out $30 per golfer as he just continues to laugh. I asked him if we could get the internet price and I was told “no with more laughter”. Very unprofessional of the pro shop staff. We rented clubs that were junk and over 5 years old. The staff continued to push other sales on us…balls, tees, etc.

Tee boxes were awful. Completely beat up and filled with the green mixture everywhere. Crab grass filled the tee boxes and the greens, making the greens very slow.

There are no water stations on the course. The one by the practice green was empty. We played on a day when it was 98 degrees and only saw the cart girl once.

The pace of play was slow at times and we had several people jump in front of us on the back nine. Did not see one Marshall on the course all day.

The maintenance crew on the course continued with their work as we took fairway shots, tee offs, and putts. Normally staff would wait as you played through. Not here.

This is probably a $65 course at best! The layout was interesting and has potential. But the staff attitude and unprofessionalism made this a terrible experience. If August is truly the “offseason” why are the prices not reflected to be the off-season prices.

I can’t recommend anyone visit this course. Save your money and visit another course in Destin.

Conditions Poor
Value Poor
Layout Good
Friendliness Poor
Pace Fair
Amenities Poor
Default User Avatar
Commented on 08/07/2023

We apologize for the negative experience you had at our course. We appreciate your feedback and will address the issues you mentioned with our staff and management. Thank you for taking the time to leave a review.

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