Osprey/Heron at Okeeheelee Golf Course

About
With a name meaning 'quiet waters' in the Seminole language, Okeeheelee Golf Course is situated amidst lush, rolling hills that overlook the sparkling waters of Clear Lake. There are 27 championship holes that are divided into three nines and can be played in three different 18-hole combinations. The Osprey, Heron, and Eagle nines are named after the various wildlife that can be seen throughout. Each golf course offers a different set of challenges and scenery. Okeeheelee's Osprey/Heron Course features a variety of elevation changes. There are scenic views from the elevated greens but don't become too distracted since there are many elements to contend with including towering trees, strategically placed bunkers, and deep rough lining the fairways. There are also plenty of water hazards coming into play.
Tee | Par | Length | Rating | Slope |
---|---|---|---|---|
Black | 72 | 6811 yards | 73.8 | 138 |
Gold (W) | 72 | 6320 yards | 77.3 | 140 |
Gold | 72 | 6320 yards | 71.6 | 132 |
Blue (W) | 72 | 5827 yards | 74.5 | 135 |
Blue | 72 | 5827 yards | 69.1 | 123 |
White | 72 | 5376 yards | 67.1 | 118 |
White (W) | 72 | 5376 yards | 72.0 | 130 |
Green | 72 | 4724 yards | 64.4 | 113 |
Green (W) | 72 | 4724 yards | 68.6 | 119 |
Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Black M: 73.8/138 | 518 | 166 | 359 | 406 | 527 | 207 | 397 | 182 | 539 | 3301 | 525 | 212 | 419 | 445 | 407 | 549 | 395 | 355 | 203 | 3510 | 6811 |
Gold M: 71.6/132 W: 77.3/140 | 486 | 140 | 316 | 359 | 479 | 190 | 385 | 153 | 492 | 3000 | 504 | 155 | 400 | 418 | 392 | 532 | 386 | 345 | 188 | 3320 | 6320 |
Blue M: 69.1/123 W: 74.5/135 | 476 | 135 | 275 | 311 | 471 | 177 | 302 | 143 | 482 | 2772 | 491 | 149 | 391 | 398 | 315 | 484 | 374 | 299 | 154 | 3055 | 5827 |
White M: 67.1/118 W: 72.0/130 | 433 | 113 | 266 | 299 | 462 | 157 | 292 | 133 | 447 | 2602 | 448 | 134 | 327 | 368 | 295 | 430 | 351 | 275 | 146 | 2774 | 5376 |
Green M: 64.4/113 W: 68.6/119 | 352 | 95 | 245 | 269 | 402 | 105 | 275 | 100 | 401 | 2244 | 413 | 96 | 295 | 311 | 265 | 391 | 331 | 250 | 128 | 2480 | 4724 |
Handicap | 5 | 17 | 11 | 7 | 3 | 13 | 9 | 15 | 1 | 4 | 18 | 8 | 6 | 10 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 16 | |||
Par | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 36 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 36 | 72 |
Handicap (W) | 5 | 17 | 11 | 9 | 1 | 13 | 7 | 15 | 3 | 2 | 18 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 14 | 16 |
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A Course Revisited
I used to go to Okeeheelee every Wednesday late afternoon to take my daughter to Junior Golf run by Donna White and Bobby Brown starting when she was 5 years old. The boys and girls first learned the Rules of Golf, then hit balls on the practice range and, when they were ready, go play in 4-hole tournament hitting from red cones because the red tees were too long for them. They eventually grew and starting playing further back, My friend Peter took his son. He ended up playing on a golf scholarship at Chico State and my daughter played for the University of Florida. Many other played college golf. It was a memorable experience to play there rather than walking on the sidelines.
Great scenery and fun layout.
Really nice setup. Lots of fun holes and unique approach shots. Greens were a little slow, but that’s my only small complaint. Play at twilight the sunset was incredible!
Course has New Greens 60 days old
Great course well maintained. New greens put in 60 days ago they are fantasitic.
Excellent course
Perfect condition fairways and greens couldn’t ask for anything better. We will play this course many more times.
Course is great!
Course is in great condition! The fairways are nice and the greens are decent!
Really Nice Experience
Played early in the morning and had a great round. There are 3 nine hole courses and we played the Eagle and Osprey courses. They were in great condition and we were told they were recently redone. The Heron course will be done next. The course is a public course that seems to be run by mainly men who seem to love their job. The guys could not have been nicer and were actually very funny and cordial. Not sure what happened to the guy that complained about the service. Everybody we met was great! The pro shop was extensive. Even found my Skecher golf shoes that have been discontinued in the pro shop. The pro said he purchased a lot from a place that was closing so I was super happy. Grill was closed due to Covid but they did have a food truck. Great course, a few long par 4 holes that were tough. Sweet par 3s that were fun and challenging too. Was a nice way to start the new year! We will certainly play again when we are back this way. Actually played New Years Day but it would not take that year yet.
Watch out for those slow golfers
The players ahead of us were taking way too long ( a lot of chatting vs golfing) so our group and the other pair behind us had to wait our turns in the first 9 holes (Heron). Thank goodness I was able to switch to the Osprey instead of the Eagle where the slow group went so I don't have to stay behind them. The couple behind me also switched so we were able to play at a faster pace. But then we didn't finish the course as we were told the golf course was closing. That was about 5:25PM.
Disappointed
I have played the 3 nine-hole courses a number of times since November 2019. The course has had problems in the fairways but it was the greens that needed work. I was excited to play again especially with the newly reproved Eagle course. Supposedly they had redone the greens but I was very disappointed. I actually think the greens were worse than they were before the project to refurbish! Heron was not so bad and when I turned the corner and headed to Eagle I was expecting an outstanding 2nd 9. I hit the 1st green in regulation and SHOCKED to see how terrible it looked. There was no way to know what the ball was going to do as it wobbled along. As it turned out, all the greens showed no improvement and in fact, looked worse than before the project. I will be looking to play other courses that know how to maintain a golf course and can also be friendly.

Dear Golfer:
We apologize that the condition of our newly renovated putting surfaces did not meet your expectations on your day of play. The Eagle course had just opened a few days prior to your visit and yes the surfaces were not perfect. A joint decision was made between Palm Beach County Parks and our turf contractor BrightView to return an eighteen hole golf course back to the residents of the County as soon as possible and complete the renovation of the putting surfaces on the Osprey course.. The surfaces have since filled in and we have received excellent reviews for their speed and roll. At your convenience please contact the manager of Okeeheelee, Mac Hood, to further discuss this issue. He can be reached at 561-964-4653 or at mhood@pbcgov.org. Thanks,
ASTON
IT WAS NOT NOTED ON GOLF NOW THAT THE COURSE WAS UNDERGOING MAJOR RECONSTRUCTION. HAD TO PLAY ONE OF THE THREE NINE HOLE COURSES TWICE. FAIRWAYS WERE PERFECT BUT THE GREENS WERE VERY SLOW. APPEARS WORK HAS BEEN SUSPENDED ON THIS COURSE FOR PLANNED COURSE CLOSURE. MAJOR OVERHAUL TO COURSE UPCOMING. REOPENING SCHEDULED FOR LATE SEPTEMBER.

We are sorry to hear that it wasn't noted on GolfNow that the golf course was undergoing a renovation project. We absolutely did share this info with GolfNow and are very sorry that you weren't informed by them. In the future, you can book directly at PBCGolf.com and we can ensure you that all course info will be up-to-date on that site.
Course under repair
Only the Heron course is opened as they are working on the greens on the others. NOWHERE IS THIS COMMUNICATED until you get to the course. Heron happens to be my fav of the 3 but we were charged full price to play the same 9 twice. Not cool.
Horrible customer service
WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS COURSE TO ANYONE.
I have played this course 9th times. Every time we play here the customer service is below par.
Today was the last time myself and 7 of my friend played at this course.
The starter followed us the entire first 9, rudely telling us to speed up play with no people behind us.
We finally finished the round in 4 hours and 15 minutes. This time includes grabbing something to eat after the 9th hole.
DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND STAY AWAY UNLESS YOU LIKE TO PAY FOR SOMEONE TO UPSET YOU!!!

Mr. Van Staden:
We are sorry you had such an unpleasant encounter with our on-course player assistants on Saturday December 7, 2019. Our goal is to provide the best customer service possible and in this case, we clearly fell short.
We have met with the staff on duty to thoroughly discuss the situation, and to go over ways that we as a staff could have handled the situation better. Ultimately, the staff was trying to enforce our pace of play policy which we take very seriously, especially on weekend mornings, but we didn’t go about it in the right manner and for that we apologize. We’ve used this as a training moment for our staff to make sure we are offering the best customer experience possible for our golfers. We fully understand that you came to Okeeheelee Golf Course to enjoy yourself and because of this interaction, you were not able to do that. We very much hope that you will take advantage of our previous offer to have you and your group back out so that we can have the chance to “wow” you with our customer service.
Once again, Renaldo, we apologize and we can’t thank you enough for your feedback – it is valuable to us.
Good job
The greens team works so hard to maintain conditions and does a great job. Greens renovation has been talked about for five years and nothing has been done so I sympathize with the course superintendent and greens. Hard to impossible to manage different grass types to provide the quality putting surfaces that golfers deserve.
Would wait before going back
Unfortunately the greens have a disease at the moment and the course is in a bad shape.
When I first discovered this course about 6-7 years ago, the conditions were amazing. Unfortunately, it the course has never been as nice since.
I would recommend calling the course and ask for the green conditions before booking a tee time. Hopefully they’ll be able to fix this problem quicly

Hello,
We appreciate your feedback. We are actively working on the conditions of the greens and have extended a lower rate until 12/1 as we address these issues. We look forward to seeing you again soon.
We are so thrilled to hear that you enjoyed your day with us here at Okeeheelee Golf Course and can't thank you enough for this wonderful review. We hope to see you again soon!