Emerald Bay Golf Club

Emerald bay is a nice golf course nestled in a subdivision in between Fort Walton and Destin.From the get go, the bag drop attendants are friendly and are very eager to help you as far as directing you where to go, they load your bags and make sure to ask who is driving, which is always nice.

The pro shop is well stocked and the people working are very nice and it was clean and very well taken care of. We checked in and were told range balls are complimentary, which is always a plus.

The carts were in good condition and the GPS seemed right on target and you could tell had been adjusted for the days pin placements.

We started right on time and the course was well manicured. From the tee boxes that we played from it was pretty tight off the tee but the course is very rewarding if you hit the fairways. The fairways are receptive if you can battle the wind, which switches directions at a moments notice. The tee-boxes look like they have taken a good beating and could use some TLC, but not unusual for a course that gets a lot of traffic. The greens however had been recently punched and top dressed, and while I understand that is a necessity, some places it appeared to have been over done, making putting on some holes nearly impossible to get a good roll. Bunkers were well maintained and I would say standard condition for Florida golf.

Pace of play was surprisingly good considering the amount of people on the course which is always a plus and the rangers seemed intent on keeping people on pace.

Overall, a good course if you can get a deal, but definitely wouldn't bust the budget to play here.

Booking through GolfNow.com.made the course affordable and the layout was picturesque

Course was fun, course condition could have been better. Fairways had a lot of sand, greens were my fast at all.

The course was in pretty decent shape. Great Value course. Not quite up to the level of Regatta Bay or Kelly Plantation but overall a nice course. Good layout, fair, a few risk/ reward holes. A few reachable par 4s. The only negative feedback I can really come up with is there are no water stations on the course, which if you’re playing in the middle of Summer, is something you should expect. There is a station situated between the number one tee and nine fair way so you can get it up when you begin your round and while making the turn, but it was empty by the time I made the turn. So for me, zero water other than the water from the beer cart. Not a deal breaker but just usefull information.

I’d go back but probably only if it was the decent tee time I could get as I think any one of the Sandestin courses offer a better value.

I always enjoyed playing here...the staff were always friendly and courteous. The greens has been aerated, but still playable. Highly recommended!

Prices were reduced because greens had just aerated. Staff was very friendly and helpful. Pace of play was on point. Cart lady made several rounds accommodating needs. Carts have gps and can order food/drinks from clubhouse. Overall very nice experience.

We played at Emerald Bay recently and the course was in pretty good shape overall. We were told that the range may or may not be open when we got there early for our tee time. It was a little challenging because we were coming from a little farther away and being told before hand the range might be open or might not be open was a little weird. They were mowing.

We ended up getting to hit balls on the range and it was mats only. The mats were hard as a rock and were in rough shape.

Once we started the starter was super great and we ended up teeing off a little earlier than the tee time. Once we were on the course I would say the course overall was in really good shape. Tee boxes, fairways, and greens were great and the greens rolled true. There was lots of water and the bunkers were also in great shape. Didn’t really feel like the course had many “signature” holes besides the one on the back with the ocean as the back drop. Overall I really enjoyed the course and felt the conditions and pace of play were really great!

One more good thing is they had basically a 1/2 off Junior rate. Other courses in the area that I called didn’t have any Junior rate and that was one of the reasons I ended up coming here.

The biggest negative about the course and the reason I gave it 4 stars was the knats. I think this would likely prevent me from coming back. Probably one of the worst experiences I have ever had with knats. They were all over us the whole entire day besides the few holes by the bay. There wasn’t any breeze and maybe that was the culprit. But it was almost unplayable at multiple times for my son and I because we were getting swarmed by knats all day long.

We enjoyed our round here. We liked the layout and the tree lined fairways. Greens were fast but a little bumpy (punched a few weeks ago). Conditions were really good except for the tees which were beaten up a bit.

Played in under 3.5 hours even teeing off at 2pm.

Best course we’ve played so far this week.