You have to really love golf to willingly leave Miami and sit in South Florida traffic for a tee time.
Anyone who lives here understands exactly what I mean. Every highway feels crowded. Every trip seems to take longer than it should. For years, I convinced myself that once golf season ended and the snowbirds returned north, traffic would ease up. Somehow, it never does.
That’s why when I do make the drive, I’m hoping to find something worth talking about.
A few months ago, In Flight Magazine, a Bahamian publication, asked me to recommend a public golf course near Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. It was a good question.
Many Bahamians fly into Fort Lauderdale regularly for shopping, business, and long weekends. Whenever we’re traveling, we’re always looking for things to do, places to eat, and ways to make the most of our time. If you’re traveling with your clubs, adding a round of golf to the mix is usually a pretty good idea.
Located roughly 10 to 15 minutes from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, Hollywood Beach Golf Club is one of the more convenient public golf options in the area. Whether you’re squeezing in a round before heading home or looking for somewhere to play shortly after landing, location alone makes it worth knowing about.
But convenience only gets a course on the list.
The real question is whether it’s worth playing.
A Course I Once Overlooked
Years ago, I remember driving past Hollywood Beach Golf Club and wondering why such a well-located property felt forgotten.
It seemed like the type of place that should have been a centerpiece for the local golf community, yet never quite stood out to me. At the time, golf wasn’t experiencing the surge in popularity it enjoys today, and public golf throughout South Florida looked very different than it does now.
Fast forward to today and the course feels like it has found its footing again.
Originally designed by Donald Ross and opened in 1924, Hollywood Beach Golf Club carries a quiet piece of South Florida golf history. Ross, known for his strategic layouts and subtle green complexes, left his imprint here in ways that still show up throughout the round.
The property has undergone significant restoration work over the years, bringing renewed life to one of South Florida’s historic golf courses and reminding golfers why it mattered in the first place.
Public Golf Matters
While I’m fortunate to spend time around private clubs such as Coral Ridge, Lago Mar, and Shell Bay, I’ve always believed public golf is where the game truly grows.
Public courses are where beginners fall in love with golf.
They’re where friendships are formed.
They’re where junior golfers learn.
They’re where communities are built.
The best public golf courses don’t just provide a place to play. They provide a place to belong.
After my visit, I could understand why local golfers continue to support it.
First Impressions
The first thing I noticed was character.
Hollywood Beach Golf Club sits right in the middle of a neighborhood, yet somehow the routing works surprisingly well.
The property feels almost like a large square, with portions of the front nine working around the perimeter while sections of the back nine move through the interior of the property. Despite the surrounding homes, the course flows naturally from hole to hole and never feels cramped.
Mature trees frame many of the holes and help give the course character, creating a classic South Florida atmosphere that is becoming increasingly difficult to find.
The layout rewards good decision making.
There are opportunities to be aggressive, but there are consequences for missing your target. On several holes, a miss left can quickly bring out of bounds into play. On others, water waits on the right side. A few holes punish misses in either direction.
It’s not an overly difficult golf course, but it asks you to pay attention. The further the round progresses, the more you begin to appreciate positioning and course management over simply trying to overpower it.
When people ask me about public golf near Fort Lauderdale, my mind usually goes to Jacaranda West and Emerald Hills.
Jacaranda has benefited from recent improvements and remains one of my favorite public golf experiences in South Florida. Emerald Hills has also improved over the years. The last time I played, the greens were finally moving in a much better direction than previous visits.
Hollywood Beach Golf Club belongs in that conversation.
Not because it’s trying to compete with either course directly, but because it offers a different experience. It has history, character, and a layout that keeps you engaged without beating you up.
Through My Lens
Before golf, I’m a photographer.
And the funny thing is that the longer I spend around golf courses, the more similarities I find between photography and course maintenance.
A well-retouched beauty portrait and a well-maintained golf course have more in common than people realize.
The details matter.
Removing imperfections from a photograph isn’t much different than repairing ball marks on a green. Clone stamping distractions from an image is not unlike filling divots in a fairway. The things most people never notice are often the things that separate good from exceptional.
While playing Hollywood Beach Golf Club, I found myself paying attention to many of the same things I notice when creating photographs.
Light.
Texture.
Composition.
Atmosphere.
The way shadows moved across fairways.
The way mature trees framed certain holes.
The way golfers interacted with the landscape around them.
Golf courses, much like photographs, are made up of thousands of small decisions. The best ones rarely need to tell you they’re special.
You simply feel it.
I didn’t take nearly as many photographs as I would have liked during my round, but I did bring along my Nikon Zfc and made a few images worth sharing.
Those photographs accompany this article and help tell the story better than words ever could.
Course Conditions
The course presented itself well during my visit.
Greens rolled consistently and the property showed evidence of care and attention. Nothing felt overly manufactured or forced. The experience felt authentic, which is a compliment I don’t give lightly.
Public golf facilities have a difficult job. They must balance maintenance budgets, pace of play, accessibility, and golfer expectations while still creating an enjoyable experience for players of all skill levels.
Hollywood Beach Golf Club does a good job of walking that line.
Final Thoughts
So, is Hollywood Beach Golf Club worth the drive from Miami?
I think so.
Not because it’s the most exclusive course in South Florida.
Not because it’s the longest.
Not because it’s the hardest.
But because it offers something that’s becoming harder to find: character.
If you’re flying into Fort Lauderdale and looking for a convenient public golf course near the airport, Hollywood Beach Golf Club is worth considering.
And if you’re a South Florida golfer looking to explore beyond your usual rotation, it may surprise you the same way it surprised me.
Stay tuned,
Tucker
