Great Courses for Low-Handicap Golfers in St. Pete-Clearwater

Par 71, 7,209 yards, 75.6 rating/144 slope

In order to play the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Golf Resort in Palm Harbor, you must be a guest at the resort, have a golf membership or be invited by a member. After a round on the Lawrence Packard-designed layout (one of four at the resort), you’ll find Innisbrook’s first-class amenities a perfect setting for reliving your on-course experience.

Host of the PGA Tour’s Valspar Championship every March, the long, twisting Copperhead fairways are tightly tree-lined and riddled with lakes, ponds and wetlands, providing a natural home to wildlife – especially waterfowl. Elevation changes are not the norm for Florida, but there are plenty of them to be found on this layout. The signature hole is 14, a par-5, 590-yard double dogleg that calls for savvy shot-making. Off the tee is a left turn guarded by trees, followed by a heavily bunkered right turn. The approach shot is to a slightly elevated green with bunkers on the left and water on the right front.

As the course name implies, Copperhead takes a venomous turn on the final three holes, aptly called the Snake Pit. Hole 16, the Moccasin, is a long dogleg around a lake; hole 17, the Rattler, is an uphill 206-yard par 3; and hole 18, the Copperhead, is strategically bunkered with an undulating, tricky green.

Par 71, 6,477 yards, 71.1 rating/136 slope

There’s been a golf course on Snell Isle since the 1920s, when the iconic pink Vinoy hotel opened for guests. In 1992 a complete restoration returned the Vinoy Hotel & Resort in St. Petersburg to its former grandeur, with a redesigned golf course by Florida architect Ron Garl (in 2024, the hotel completed additional major renovations, with refreshed rooms, lobby areas, new restaurants and more). The semi-private golf venue is open only to club members and guests of the hotel.

An Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary since 2008, the course is home to more than 900 palm trees as well as native pines and live oaks. Nearby houses are obscured by vegetation and Tampa Bay and its inlets border fairways in several places, nourishing mangroves and other plants that shelter a variety of wildlife and waterfowl. Ponds and other water hazards are plentiful but not penal. Nor are the well-placed soft sand bunkers. That said, this is not a layout to be taken lightly, as the rating/slope indicates.

The signature hole, 16, is a 567-yard par 5. Off the tee, water threatens on both sides. The “semi-island” green (reminiscent of hole 17 at TPC Sawgrass) is reachable in two, but most golfers will take three strokes to stick on the slightly crowned surface and cross the land bridge to putt out.

Par 72, 7,124 yards, 74.3 rating/144 slope

To play Belleair Country Club’s West course, you must be a member or guest of the country club or a guest of the historic Belleair Inn, which opened in 1897 alongside six golf holes that would grow into two 18-hole layouts – the East and West. The Belleair Country Club is the oldest golf club in Florida, though the original holes share their 1897 birthday with The Breakers’ Ocean Course.

“The West Course was redesigned by Donald Ross in 1915 and tweaked in 1924,” says Belleair Director of Golf Jim Slattery. “Jason Straka and Dana Fry restored it using final drawings from Ross for the course’s 125th birthday in 2022.”

“From 17 of the 18 holes golfers have a view of Clearwater Bay and the Gulf of Mexico,” he adds. “On a cool, blustery day, proximity to the dunes along the bay and breezes off the water can make you feel as if you’re playing in Scotland or Ireland.”

Hole seven, a 182-yard par 3 with a green jutting into Clearwater Bay, is the signature hole. Equally scenic is the fourth hole, a 178-yard par 3 with a rolling green ringed by a collar of sand. Old photos show that the hole looks just as it did in 1897. “Most difficult” honors go to hole 12, a par 5 stretching 636 yards from the back tees.

Par 72, 6,745 yards, 72.1 rating/131 slope

Located in Dunedin, the Donald Ross-designed Dunedin Golf Club opened in 1927 and has been a public course owned by the city since 1938 with a massive refreshing of the course and facilities occurring in 2024.

“Our goal was to honor Donald Ross and restore the course to his vision, not renovate or redesign it,” says General Manager of Golf Operations Blair Kline. “The greens have returned to their original shape and size, about 30% larger overall. Architect Kris Spence had field notes and original pictures to guide the restoration, along with laser images to pinpoint the original design. Playing corridors and par for each hole stays the same, but with a lot more strategy involved.”

The course signature is the par-3 hole six, “The Shark’s Mouth,” which Kline describes as “very authentic to the original design. The large bunker in front of the green now has a grass face and the green surface is visible from the tee box.”

Par 72, 7,015 yards, 74.2 rating/131 slope

Founded in 1971, for 13 years the William Diddle-designed public course in Seminole hosted the PGA/LPGA JCPenney Classic. It was redesigned by Gary Koch in 2001, who incorporated larger, more sculpted greens. The par-3 holes are memorable and contribute to scoring well, including hole 5, a 174-yard shot to an elevated green backed by water. The greatest challenge here is length, so bring your strongest drives.