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4.4
1683 Reviews (1683)
5 Stars
1244
4 Stars
304
3 Stars
87
2 Stars
27
1 Stars
21
Conditions
4.2
Value
3.9
Layout
4.7
Friendliness
4.7
Pace
4.4
Amenities
4.5
87.7%
Recommend this course
1574 out of 1683 reviews
Read Reviews
Average Rating
Avg Rating
3.9
68 Reviews (68)
5 Stars
28
4 Stars
23
3 Stars
6
2 Stars
4
1 Stars
7
Conditions
3.4
Value
3.4
Layout
4.6
Pace
4.3
Amenities
4.4
StaffFriendliness
4.6
75.0%
Recommend this course
51 out of 68 reviews
Read Reviews
Average Rating
Avg Rating
4.3
156 Reviews (156)
5 Stars
95
4 Stars
37
3 Stars
10
2 Stars
6
1 Stars
8
Conditions
4.0
Value
3.8
Layout
4.7
Pace
4.5
Amenities
4.6
StaffFriendliness
4.7
86.5%
Recommend this course
135 out of 156 reviews
Read Reviews

About

Holes 18
Type Semi-Private
Par 72
Length 7099 yards
Slope 137
Rating 74.6

Formerly home to a turpentine plantation, the site now offers one of the most environmentally sensitive courses in northwest Florida, Kelly Plantation. The golf course sits along the shores of the Choctawhatchee Bay, sprawling across a waterfront landscape of towering trees and swampy bayous. The course features large, contoured greens and wide, manicured fairways that are in excellent condition but can also be tricky to navigate. The strategically placed hazards also require some careful maneuvering. In addition to being a challenging round, the golf course is also known for its stunning scenic appeal. Throughout the layout, golfers can enjoy panoramic views across the bay to the abundant magnolias and palmettos that are native to Florida's northwest region. For these reasons, Kelly Plantation has received high praise from publications such as Golf Digest and Golf Magazine.

Book a Tee Time at
Kelly Plantation Golf Club
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Course Details

Year Built 1998
Golf Season Year round
Architect Fred Couples (1998) Gene Bates (1998) Bob Cupp (1998) Michael Riley (1998)

Rentals/Services

Carts Yes - included in green fees
Clubs Yes
GPS Yes

Practice/Instruction

Driving Range Yes
Bunker Yes
Golf School Academy Yes - "Strano Golf Academy"
Teaching Pro Yes
Pitching/Chipping Area Yes
Putting Green Yes

Policies

Credit Cards Accepted MasterCard, Visa, American Express, Discover
Metal Spikes Allowed No

Food & Beverage

Snacks, Restaurant

Available Facilities

Banquet Facilities

Accolades

Reviews

4.4
1683 Reviews (1683)

What Golfers Are Saying

The 19th Hole is Great For:
Drinks 34
19th Hole Scenic Views 15
Brunch 15
Course Challenges Include:
Bunkers 75
Water Hazards 68
Undulating Greens 42
This course/club is great for:
Advanced Golfers 55
A Weekend Splurge 51
Wildlife/ Scenic Views 49
This Course's Location is:
Convenient to the City 67
Near Local Attractions 45
Worth the Drive 37

Numbers based on reviews tagged with attribute.

Reviewer Photos

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Overall Rating
Recommended
Handicap
Age
Type of Golfer
Gender
Played On
Reviews 2
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
3.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Ok

Kelly plantation was an OK golf course. was fine. The difficulty factor was not anything major. However, we should’ve been told that the tee boxes were under repair and not playable. That took away from the round quite a bit.

Conditions Fair
Value Average
Layout Average
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 2
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 3
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

Great layout. This is a must play while in Destin.9

Conditions Average
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 7
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Great Course

This is one of our fav courses in Destin area. I would give it 5 star but they currently 8 temporary tee areas due to some on course improvements. Faurways and greens are a 5.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 4
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Conditions Good
Value Average
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Excellent
Amenities Average
Played On
Reviews 4
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
3.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing

March break golf on the pan handle Florida.

I enjoyed the course over all. There could have been a break on the green fees for having 6 or 7 temp greens. One on the front nine had one of the par 3s. at just over 60 yards. Like come on.

Conditions Average
Value Fair
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
First Time Playing

Wonderful round of golf

Came into town for the first time looking for a place to play and boy did I find it. Great course, greens roll great the fairways were in good condition for winter. The Tee boxes were under construction ( they did mention prior to final booking and, we didn’t mind). They look to be pretty nice when they come in. The staff was great and a lot of fun. You’re going to want to play here. Hoping to be back soon!

Conditions Excellent
Value Excellent
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 1
Handicap 10-14
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
2.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Perfect weather
Used cart

Lots of repair going on

For the cost of playing course was in pretty rough shape. Should be discounted for shape it in. Tee boxes hard to find. Theweb
The website did warn of this but we were expecting better. Bag drop attendant was the only friendly person.

Conditions Fair
Value Fair
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Average
Amenities Good
Difficulty Extremely Challenging
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Conditions Average
Value Average
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Excellent
Played On
Reviews 25
Handicap 10-14
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Perfect weather
Used cart

bigs

Jim at the bag drop and Rob as the host provided a great start to our round.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 25
Handicap 20-24
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Perfect weather
Used cart

Bigs

Jim, at the bag drop started a great experience. Rob was our golf host, and he was fantastic. Greens are in great shape. Best overall course of the eight played the past ten dsys.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 25
Handicap 15-19
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Perfect weather
Used cart

biggs

Jim at the bag drop and Rob as the host were fantastic. I play many out of town golf courses every year and this staff is the best. Booking & Pro Shop stated temporary tees for several holes. Greens are second to none. Will play again. The only reason for good as to value is the temporary tees.

Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Good
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 8
Handicap 20-24
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a month
I Recommend This Course
2.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played
Used cart

Needs time to recover

Typically my favorite course in the area. However, recently re-habbed nine holes. Lots of ground-under-repair, limited tee boxes, etc. Think it needs a couple more months, Hope to play Kelly again in late May or so.

Conditions Fair
Value Average
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Amenities Good
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Played On
Reviews 5
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
5.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Conditions Good
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Played On
Reviews 24
Skill Intermediate
Plays A few times a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Rebuild underway

The rebuild was underway but we still enjoyed it. It is one of our favorite purses in this area. They did a good job on informing that it was not normal tee boxes.
Maybe more of a discount would be in order.

Conditions Average
Value Good
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Good
Pace Excellent
Played On
Reviews 18
Skill Intermediate
Plays Once a week
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Good golf test

Pin placements were difficult when you consider 90% of golfers can’t break 100! A discount should have been factored in with all the construction improvements being done.

Conditions Good
Value Average
Layout Good
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Good
Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
1.0
Verified Purchaser

Undisclosed Closed Holes

We went to play only to find out 8 of the PLAYABLE holes had been greatly shortened with temporarily tee boxes and one of the holes was not even playable/open which was not disclosed when booking. Looks like it could be a nice course, but the fact that they don’t disclose how playable / unplayable some of the holes are is deceiving if not dishonest. We would have played elsewhere.

Conditions Poor
Value Fair
Layout Good
Friendliness Good
Pace Good
Default User Avatar
Commented on 04/18/2024

Thank you for visiting Kelly Plantation. This review is completely false in that we have verified that you were indeed notified about our renovations and benefitted from the resulting 40% discount. We encourage you to operate in good faith by giving honest reviews.

Regards,
Kelly Plantation Golf Staff

Played On
Reviews 2
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
1.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Poor experience

Grade F, two groups of 5 players ahead of our foresome, pace of play horrible

Conditions Poor
Value Poor
Layout Average
Friendliness Good
Pace Poor
Amenities Good
Default User Avatar
Commented on 04/18/2024

Thank you for your review. As a semi private facility, we do have members and one of the benefits to membership is the ability to play in fivesomes. Our pace of play is routinely under four hours and after reviewing the pace on that day, there was no one that played over pace. We'd like to ask you to please remove this review as it is inflammatory, misguided and insulting to our members and staff.

Regards

Played On
Reviews 8
I Recommend This Course
4.0
Verified Purchaser
First Time Playing
Perfect weather
Used cart

Under Construction

When we booked on line we had no idea there were six holes under construction. The tee blocks were 40-50 yards ahead of the front tee blocks. One hole totally closed.
We paid a high price for such conditions.
Apart from that the course is very nice and well designed.
Would return but only after the construction.
Don

Conditions Fair
Value Fair
Layout Excellent
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Amenities Excellent
Difficulty Somewhat Challenging
Default User Avatar
Commented on 04/18/2024

Thank you for your review. We have verified with Golfnow and our staff that you were in fact notified of our course renovations and the 40% discount we extended to you and everyone else during renovations. Thank you for being willing to return.

Regards, RW

Played On
Reviews 1
Skill Advanced
Plays A few times a week
1.0
Verified Purchaser
Previously Played

Course NOT worth the green fee

The majority of the course is under renovation with more than 75% of the tee boxes closed. Hole 11 is closed and not playable. The course is still charging full price. For the same green fees, go to Regatta Bay. Beautiful course and well worth the price.

Conditions Poor
Value Poor
Layout Poor
Friendliness Excellent
Pace Excellent
Default User Avatar
Commented on 02/17/2024

Thank you for visiting Kelly Plantation. This review is completely false and has been reported to GolfNow for removal. We are only doing renovation on 8 of the 18 holes. Furthermore, we are currently $40 off of the already discounted winter rates. We encourage you to operate in good faith by giving honest reviews.

Regards,
Kelly Plantation Golf Staff

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