Play Golf in Fort Myers Sanibel

Golf Mecca

In Lee County, stunning new courses have combined with such venerable courses as Eastwood and Fort Myers country clubs to create one of the hottest golf Meccas in the country. At the center of new subdivisions sporting custom homes and nestled in the area's natural beauty sits the booming golf industry. According to the National Golf Foundation, the area ranks high nationally in the number of golf holes per capita.

From a player's standpoint, few places can match the plethora of choices and quality of layouts. In the past several years, Raptor Bay, Grandezza, Palmira, Crown Colony, Pelican Preserve and Miromar Lakes have all opened, and their courses already carry worthy reputations.

Golf Your Way Down the Coast

Turn off I-75 practically anywhere along The Beaches of Fort Myers & Sanibel, and a tee time can be reserved a mile in either direction. Just east of Exit 123 sits Grandezza. Its golf course's 151-slope rating is one of the highest (read: most difficult) in Florida. Located a few miles west is highly touted Raptor Bay, built next to the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort & Spa, easily one of that hotel chain's most stylish properties. And a few minutes down the road, a four-story tower and fountain stand sentinel in front of Palmira, a 27-hole club.

"It's amazing down here – the competition is just incredible," said Brad Doren, the head professional at Palmira. "They build one course down here, and the next guy coming along tries to build one even better."

A History of Great Design

That standard was set high more than 90 years ago by Scotland-born Donald Ross, America's most famous architect. His layout at Fort Myers Country Club has received numerous accolades over the years and remains the cradle of golf for locals. Nearby Eastwood Golf Course was critically acclaimed almost from the day it opened in 1977.

Those pioneers launched a Lee County legacy that today includes designs by Arnold Palmer at Wildcat Run, Tom Fazio at Gateway Golf and Country Club, Arthur Hills at Miromar Lakes, Raymond Floyd at Raptor Bay and Ron Garl at Crown Colony.

Floyd, one of the most competitive players in PGA Tour history, created a unique and subtly dangerous test at Raptor Bay. It's a resort-friendly course with wide fairways that won't cost you a dozen lost golf balls. Raptor Bay's only true defenses are steep-sided, multitiered greens that force you to pay attention.

Jack Nicklaus continues his standard of excellence at Old Corkscrew Golf Club, the only course in the county to boat Nicklaus’ Signature design. Laid out to complement its environment, the par 72 boasts holes that put all levels of golfers on an even playing field.

Up-and-Coming Architects

Along with the surge in course construction has come a next generation of architects entrusted with preserving land while building stunning designs. Led by Darwin Sharp III at Grandezza and Gordon Lewis at Palmira, the new breed has responded to the call. Although water hazards tug at you on nearly every hole on Lewis’s Palmira, the game truly becomes demanding around the course’s undulating greens made of high-tech Tifeagle grass.

The style and panache of golfing Lee County comes together on the back nine at Grandezza. Darwin Sharp III reached deep into the bag of design techniques and wove a fascinating interplay of holes, particularly his mix of short and long par 4s.