GO FOR GOLF IN THE KEYS
While many people visit the Florida Keys for water-based activities, others seek out new and picturesque places to indulge in their favorite sports, and passionate golfers can find unique courses to play throughout the island chain.
The elegant Ocean Reef Club, although private, welcomes avid golfers to its pristine dual 18-hole courses when invited by a club member.
The courses offer distinctive scenery including a mangrove and tropical hardwood hammock, exotic landscaping, coconut palms and mahogany trees. For more information, visit oceanreef.com.
Other private courses throughout the Keys include Card Sound Golf Club in Key Largo and Sombrero Country Club in Marathon. Each 18-hole course is open to visiting enthusiasts when accompanied by a member or exercising reciprocal privileges.
In the heart of the Keys, the public Key Colony Beach Golf & Tennis Club offers a scenic nine-hole par-three golf course. For information on fees and hours, visit keycolonybeach.net/recreation.html.
The continental United States’ southernmost golfing challenge can be found at the Key West Golf Club, with an 18-hole course designed by golf legend Rees Jones and recently renovated greens. Highlights include the “mangrove hole,” played completely over a field of thickly intertwined tropical mangroves.
A restaurant and clubhouse, pro shop and instructional programs featuring computerized swing analysis round out the offerings. For more information, visit keywestgolf.com.
Ocean Reef's course beckons golfers to experience a game island style.(Photo courtesy of Ocean Reef)
Florida Keys golf courses, like Ocean Reef, offer landscaping and trees native to the island chain that you can see nowhere else. (Photo courtesy of Ocean Reef)
Come and experience the exhilaration of playing a round at a beautiful tropical course in the Keys, the "Gateway to the Caribbean."
Key West is host to the continental United States' southernmost course. (Photos courtesy of Key West Golf Club)