St. James Bay Golf Club

St James is a course where I check any ego I might have at the 1st tee box. Let's just call it tactical. You'll probably use your driver about half the time and your hybrids a lot.

Plan on losing a pretty fair amount of balls-- not the time for the new Pro VIs, but rather the dingy ones in the bottom of the bag. A couple of other tips -- drink a lot of water ( it gets hot); take bug spray (which you might need); and be careful around the water hazards (alligators)

Having said all that, you need to simply embrace the course for what it is. One that is very well maintained, not crowded, and not like most of the courses many of us play. St James Bay and Franklin County is what's left of the "real Florida"

Wife and I are full time RV"ers who play courses along our travel route. This course was fun to play as it is somewhat difficult but was in great shape. Some water, a few hills and lots of wet lands to hit over. This presented a problem for my wife as she could not hit long enough off the tee to clear several of these hazards. Still, we enjoyed our round and would go back when in the area.

The course was in a well manicured state. The course offer a shot selection in almost every hole. Some fairways are tight where'sas others requires ball placement. The greens were fast however protected false fronts and sand traps. Water hazards are in almost every hole. This place is a hidden jewel that needs to be advertised. I will return to play!

The front nine was much tougher in my opinion than the back nine. The course requires several tee shots where you must carry to the next landing zone. To score well, a player must be able to control not only ball flight but also distance off the tee. Greens looked to have been recently sanded. They are typically better when I have played in the past. Overall, course is great and worth a drive.

A real crown jewel for the "forgotten coast".

As beautiful as the course and grounds may be, the real beauty of this course resides in its people. The friendliest, helpful, proactive, most customer service-minded bunch of folks you'll ever come across. From clubhouse to grill, marshalls to groundskeepers, and everyone in between. If you want to know what customer service is all about, spend a few hours with this gang, you won't regret it.

We visit SGI each year and I always make a point to play at St. James Bay. The course is always in excellent shape (bunkers included) and the layout is challenging, but very fair. You need to put your ego aside and play from the appropriate tee boxes based upon your handicap or you'll get eaten alive. Pay attention to the GPS screen in your cart as you'll need this to determine the appropriate distances needed off the tee or else you'll be prone to hit it too far. Plenty of scenerie as we usually see an alligator or two and last year saw a bear. Ms. Dottie is extremely friendly and she is usually the person we deal with each year. Very kid friendly, too, as I bring one, if not all of them, to play and they don't charge if under 12. Great course to help grow the game for sure.

If you're in the area it is definitely worth playing here as the staff is always super friendly, they have great food and a course that is challenging and fair.

BTW- the only reason I gave it four stars and not five is b/c the greens had been aerated a week or so ago, so the putting was bit eradic. Nonetheless, when the greens are good they are quick and roll true.

Will definitely be back each year!

This is a great course. The staff was the best, practice area very good. Course in good shape, greens and tee boxes excellent. Fairways uneven, typical winter conditions. I was swinging very well, only missed 2 fairways by a few yards, should have shot my handicap easily. But I was humbled, small mistakes snowballed to bad scores. I finally realized I needed to step up my concentration and play hard. The last few holes were better. This is a terrific layout, but be warned.

What a surprise to find this course out in the rural Florida area. Lots of pretty holes, very challenging tee shots with marsh carries on almost each hole. The back nine is tougher than the front, but both are great fun to play. Can't wait to tee off there again!

Great course.great layout course. Greens in great shape.

This was the first time going to St James Bay and overall opinion was that it was a very nice course, well maintained. The only thing my wife and I noticed is that a lot of the holes felt very similar. This course would be challenging to a beginner due to the relatively narrow fairways and thick dense marsh and tree underbrush lining both sides. Bring a lot of golf balls!! The day we were there the tee boxes were a little overgrown but everything else was well manicured!!!

Wonderful place to play golf. Challenges you but great fairways and greens. Just be sure you have lots of balls. The staff are friendly and helpful. The Sunday brunch is outstanding. Will be back.

This is a challenging course; even my wife remarked that the Green tees (which are the Red tees on most courses) were not as favorable as many courses...lol. We were fortunate to play very early in the morning (before the forecasted 100 degree temp) and had only a couple of 2-somes well out in front of us; so the pace of play was great and ended up being <4 hours.

There are many, many forced carries you must negotiate and several water hazards. Only a couple of the greens were in below average shape; all were pretty fast once the morning sun burned off the overnight dew. Fairways were better than most I've played on; and the short rough was forgiving.

Staff was outstanding; amenities were very good. It was worth the drive from TLH and the break from visiting family!

Desk staff offered very little help with tee times, specials, or course assistance. Some of the holes have very quirky yardage a and mandatory lay-ups. Greens were below the standards for $60 golf. The overall course scenery was beautiful.

The head Golf pro does not need to qualify this decent coarse. He likes to throw his title around and talk down to us because we are " trade customers" not sure what that means, but we won't go back until Napolean is gone . We were treated like second class idiots. I live near by this facility and have used this app many times.

St. James Bay is always in awesome shape and the employees are so nice and helpful! It's a tough course and worth the money spent. You better hit them straight and pay attention to the yardage to score!

First off, the course is in spectacular shape from tee through the green. I will say that a few of the greens were in need of minor work, but they don't detract from the playing experience. I actually enjoyed the driving range more than the course. It is wide open with real grass that meets or exceeds the grass you would hit off of on the course. Great warmup experience. Many amenities here to make this a place to visit. My wife hit the pool while I played, and they have a great brunch in the restaurant. Lots to help make this more than just a golf destination. The golf course has a ton of wetlands/marsh areas, so bring lots of balls, as you will lose your fair share. Definitely a course to play multiple times on a long weekend just to get the lay of the land. Great golf and experience.