North Miami Beach has exactly one golf course inside its city limits: Greynolds Golf Course, a nine-hole county municipal layout on West Dixie Highway. Every other course on an honest list of the best golf courses in North Miami Beach, FL sits 10 to 45 minutes away, in Aventura, Miami Shores, Miami Beach, Key Biscayne and Coral Gables. This guide sorts them by how far you’ll drive, says which ones a visitor can book and which need a member, and ends with the tee time and weather details that decide how the round goes.
How Golf Around North Miami Beach Is Laid Out
North Miami Beach is a compact inland city of 5.37 square miles, and it no longer contains any beach, let alone room for several courses. Biscayne Boulevard runs south toward Miami Shores, the Broad Causeway and the 79th Street Causeway cross east to Bal Harbour and Miami Beach, and I-95 picks up at the Golden Glades Interchange.
That geography gives you three rings. Inside 10 minutes are Greynolds and the resort courses at Turnberry in Aventura. Between 20 and 30 minutes are the three full-length courses local golfers rotate through, one down Biscayne and two over the causeways. Crandon on Key Biscayne and the Biltmore in Coral Gables are past that, and both are half-day trips. Access varies as much as distance does, so each entry below says plainly whether a visitor can get on.
Golf Inside North Miami Beach and Aventura
Greynolds Golf Course: The Only Course With a North Miami Beach Address
Greynolds Golf Course is a nine-hole, par-36, 3,100-yard Miami-Dade County course designed by Mark Mahannah in 1964, inside Greynolds Park at 17530 W Dixie Highway. It’s the most walk-on-friendly course in this guide and the easiest place nearby for a quick nine after work, with electric carts and club rentals in the shop. The course runs 7 a.m. to sunset, and single-rider carts for golfers with disabilities need 24 hours’ notice. It’s short and forgiving, so it’s a good first course and a thin round for a low handicapper.
Soffer and Miller Courses at Turnberry: The Nearest Resort Golf
The Soffer and Miller courses sit at the JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort and Spa in Aventura, roughly 10 minutes north. Both are Robert Trent Jones Sr. originals reworked by Raymond Floyd, and the Soffer is the one with the island green. Access runs through the resort rather than a public tee sheet, so you play it as a guest or by arrangement. Our guide to hotels in and around North Miami Beach covers the property in more detail.
Full-Length Courses 20 to 30 Minutes Away
Miami Shores Country Club: The Closest Eighteen You Can Just Book
Miami Shores Country Club, about 20 minutes south at 10000 Biscayne Boulevard, is the most accessible full-length course near North Miami Beach, because public play runs alongside its memberships. The 18-hole Red Lawrence layout opened December 16, 1939 and offers what South Florida rarely does: old oaks, gently rolling ground and renovated greens, with Biscayne Canal views. Multiple tee options mean a mid-handicapper and a scratch player enjoy the same round. Weekend mornings book out first.
Normandy Shores Golf Club: Island Golf off the 79th Street Causeway
Normandy Shores Golf Club is an 18-hole, par-71, 6,805-yard city course at 2401 Biarritz Drive in Miami Beach, about 25 minutes away over the causeway. It was dedicated in December 1941 and redesigned by Arthur Hills in 2008, and the narrow holes, water and wildlife make it more of a thinking round than the yardage suggests. Visitors book through the club’s online tee sheet. Miami Beach residents get preferential rates, and junior golfers who are Miami Beach residents play free after 2 p.m. on Sundays with a paid adult, so weekend afternoons are busier than they look.
Miami Beach Golf Club: The Best-Conditioned Public Round on the Beach
Miami Beach Golf Club is an 18-hole, par-72, 6,813-yard course at 2301 Alton Road that opened in 1923 as Bayshore Golf Course and reopened in 2002 after an Arthur Hills rebuild. It’s the best-kept public course within reach of North Miami Beach and the one to pick when the round is meant to impress a visitor. The Jim McLean Golf School operates on site, and parking is free, which is close to a miracle on Miami Beach. Leave early, because the causeways back up on weekday mornings.
La Gorce Country Club: Private, and Worth Knowing That Up Front
La Gorce Country Club is a private club at 5685 Alton Road in Miami Beach’s La Gorce neighborhood, with a par-71 course that opened for play in 1927. It comes up constantly on Miami best-of lists, which is why it’s here: a visitor can’t play it without a member, so don’t build a trip around it. If someone offers to host you, take the round.
Rounds Worth a 40- to 45-Minute Drive
Crandon Golf at Key Biscayne: The Scenic One
Crandon Golf at Key Biscayne is the only public golf course on Biscayne Bay, an 18-hole, par-72, 7,182-yard von Hagge and Devlin layout from 1972, laid out through mangroves and saltwater lakes about 40 minutes away via I-95 and the Rickenbacker Causeway. It plays hard: water is in view on a lot of holes and the wind off the bay is a real factor, so bring more balls than you think you need. Add the causeway toll to the trip.
The Biltmore Golf Course: The Historic Half-Day
The Biltmore Golf Course in Coral Gables is a restored 1925 Donald Ross design beside the Biltmore Hotel, which opened in 1926. It’s open to public play and about 45 minutes away. It’s a course to test a swing rather than a relaxed round, and the hotel is worth an hour on its own. Our day trips from North Miami Beach guide covers the rest of that side of the county.
Tee Times, Traffic and Parking Around the Causeways
Book online and play early. The Miami Beach courses and Miami Shores run their own tee sheets, Greynolds takes reservations through its golf shop and site, and Turnberry runs through the resort. Weekday mornings are the easiest windows, and the coolest.
Traffic is what visitors underestimate. The drive to Normandy Shores can run far longer than 25 minutes at 8 a.m. on a weekday, because the causeways carry commuters in both directions. At Greynolds, the county park charges for parking Friday through Sunday and nothing Monday through Thursday, so a weekday nine costs less overall than a weekend one.
Playing Through Snowbird Season and Summer Heat
December through April is the good window and the busy one. Weather is dry and mild, tee sheets fill with seasonal residents, and January through March is the priciest stretch, with March the hardest month to book. September is the cheapest month. From June through September, mornings are clear and a thunderstorm rolls through mid- to late afternoon, so a tee time before 10 a.m. isn’t a preference, it’s the plan. Hurricane season runs June 1 to November 30, peaking around September 10, and our guide to the best time to visit North Miami Beach breaks the year down month by month.
Humidity is hard on equipment. Grips go slick, leather bags mildew, and a trunk parked in the sun all summer is the worst place in Florida to keep a set of irons, which is why a climate-controlled storage unit in North Miami Beach is where plenty of local golfers park gear between rounds. A bag, shoes and a push cart fit in a 5×5 storage locker, while households that also own paddleboards and bikes for Oleta River State Park need a 5×10 unit. Seasonal residents who play here from January to April and head north for the summer tend to want a 10×10 storage unit, which holds a one-bedroom apartment’s worth of furniture.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best public golf courses in Miami?
Crandon Golf at Key Biscayne, Miami Beach Golf Club and the Biltmore Golf Course in Coral Gables are the public courses Miami golfers name first, and all three take visitor bookings. Closer to home, Miami Shores Country Club offers public play alongside memberships, and Greynolds Golf Course is the municipal option for a quick nine.
What are the best public golf courses in Miami Beach?
Miami Beach has two city-owned 18-hole public courses, and both are worth a round. Miami Beach Golf Club on Alton Road is the better-conditioned and better-known of the pair, a par-72 with a golf school and free parking. Normandy Shores Golf Club is the quieter, narrower alternative, and usually the easier tee time to get.
What are the best private golf courses in Miami?
La Gorce Country Club on Alton Road in Miami Beach is the private club that comes up most often near North Miami Beach, and you’ll need a member to play it. The resort courses at Turnberry in Aventura sit in a middle category: not private exactly, but access runs through the JW Marriott Miami Turnberry rather than a public tee sheet.
How far ahead should you book a Miami Beach golf tee time?
Book as early as the course’s system allows for December through April, when seasonal residents fill the sheets and weekend mornings go first. In summer you can often get a same-week time, though you’ll want the earliest slot to beat the afternoon storms. Sunday afternoons at Normandy Shores are busier than they appear because of the resident junior program.
What’s the best month to play golf near North Miami Beach?
January is the coolest and driest month, which makes for comfortable golf at the highest prices, and March is the hardest month to get a tee time. April eases off while it’s still warm rather than hot. September is the cheapest month, as long as you tee off early and keep an eye on the tropics.
Where to Keep the Clubs and Everything Else
Golf gear is rarely the only thing that needs a home. Our North Miami Beach storage facility rents month-to-month with no long-term contract, which suits a season here and a season somewhere else. Beyond the sizes already mentioned, a 5×15 space holds a studio apartment, a 10×15 unit takes a two-bedroom apartment, and 10×20 and 10×30 units handle a three-bedroom or four-bedroom home. The storage size guide sorts it out by room if you’re unsure.
Play the nine at Greynolds on a Tuesday morning, then work outward. For everything else worth doing between rounds, start with our guide to things to do in North Miami Beach.
