Naples offers Florida golf with respect for tradition

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Play where the pros play - the Greg Norman designed Tiburon Golf Club is home to the Merrill Lynch Shootout. (Courtesy Ritz-Carlton)

Miami may have the Blue Monster, but in the South Florida golf hierarchy Naples can stake a strong claim to supremacy.

Leading the world in courses per capita, this Gulf Coast town is one of U.S. golf's top year-round destinations. And this isn't Myrtle Beach, where quantity sometimes trumps quality.

Naples has one of Florida's oldest courses in the Naples Beach Golf Club as well as newer designs like the two Greg Norman tracks at Tiburon Golf Club. Here's a closer look at some of the best the city has to offer.

Naples has one of Florida's oldest courses in the Naples Beach Golf Club as well as newer designs like the two Greg Norman tracks at Tiburon Golf Club. Here's a closer look at some of the best the city has to offer.

Naples Grande Golf Club: This 7,078-yard Rees Jones design lives up to its name: It is indeed grand, with small greens and well-conditioned fairways lined with palm trees rather than condos. Naples Grande was awarded 4½ stars by Golf Digest and made Golf Magazine's roster of Florida's top 50 courses.

The awards "are well-earned," McDonald wrote in a recent GolfFlorida.com review. "A number of holes stay with you long after you've walked off the 18th."

Tiburon Golf Club: Tiburon's two Norman layouts arguably offer the best in Naples golf. They feature stacked sod-wall bunkers and no roughs, making them accessible to players at all skill levels.

The club is home to the Rick Smith Golf Academy, so you can get your game tuned up by one of the country's best-known instructors. It also hosts the annual Merrill Lynch Shootout; Annika Sorenstam joins the field for the first time at next month's edition.

Naples Beach Golf Club: The oldest course in the region and one of the most senior in the state, Naples Beach Golf Club is steeped in both history and mystery. The golf course opened in the 1920s, but exactly when is not known, nor is the identity of the designer.

The 6,488-yard, par-72 course is a traditional layout, free of modern gimmicks and course-design tricks (despite a handful of renovations over its 80-odd years) and known for its rich, diverse flora, from eucalyptus trees to mature oaks.

The Mustang course at Lely Resort: Considered the better of Lely's two courses, this 7,217-yard track was designed by Lee Trevino. With its 141 slope rating, the Mustang is challenging, but forgiving - Trevino provides large driving areas and greens so golfers can recover from a bad shot.

If you go

Tee times: 866-521-2331
Click here for Florida golf packages.

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October 15, 2006