Crandon Golf at Key Biscayne

This past weekend I played a round of golf with some former co-​workers at Crandon Golf Course. Our tee time was just past 11am on Sunday morning.
The attendants are all wonderful and got me and my group ready as soon as we arrived. The team in the pro shop are friendly and inviting and took great care of us. While this was only my 2^nd visit to play here in over a year’s time, everyone on site made me feel right at home as if I were a frequent customer.
The starter is as friendly as anyone. He got us right on our way and we were off to the 1^st tee. The tee boxes are all in great shape. The fairways are all great as well. The greens on this bright shiny day were especially fast.
There’s a good amount of water on this course which makes it tough for players like me… who are magnets for water. The holes veer in and out of windy trails of mangroves and marshes. Remember, you’re in South Florida! Despite all the water, though, it’s a fabulous course.
It’s fairly quick and easy to get to from anywhere in South Florida. If you’re in town and able to get away for a few hours, consider playing a round at Crandon Golf Course before leaving. And if you live here like me,… come out and play at this beautiful public course!

Played in a large outing. Thought the course was very nice for a pub/​muni. Unfortunately it had rained too much in the last week and lots of standing water CPO. Would like to play again sometime when conditions were better.

Played here 3 times and all were excellent. Best public track you’ll find.
This place is much better than The Blue Monster. Better golf value, better in everyway. The holes on the west side with views of Downtown Miami rock it!
Too bad the CCL Tournament is no longer here.

I recently brought a group of VIPs to Miami on an incentive trip. It was my job to source awesome activities in the area. I am SO happy I found Crandon Golf Course. As a planner– they were a dream to work with. Seth made everything so easy for me. Not to mention the golfers LOVED the course– they came back with glowing reviews. Five stars.

I have been there several times. I like the view and my husband is an avid golfer. I would love to give 5 stars since I am a regular here. Only because I gave one star is they need to change the management at the restaurant. It is always messy. The manager Violet is always screaming at the waiters and employees although the employees are the ones who are always doing the best job at the place. I love the ambience. But the rudeness and the always screaming noises from the manager has ruined the whole peaceful and great ambience. Will anyone please do something about it? I was there this week and as always having had to encounter with such unpleasant, rude and unhelpful manager has been the worst memories linger on as usual.
P. S. Clean up the place properly as well. Most of them are messy and a bit dingy in the indoor and rest room areas. As a regular customer here I must say you need to get a new manager before it is getting worse.

Beautiful golf course. The scenery is incredible and the course is in great shape. Came here after a pretty decent rain storm and I could barely tell it had rained. Seems to drain very well. Loved playing here as I got to look around at the nice scenery and enjoy the greens, fairways, bunkers, all parts of the golf course are in great shape. Definitely will go back.
Have to talk about the restaurant too. I had the eggs Benedict and some French toast. The food was great. Delicious taste and plenty to eat. Great people that served us too.

Great public course with fantastic service. Our forecaddie Bobby was a highlight to
Our round. He gave us great details
Of the course and some good
Tips along the way.

It doesn’t get much tougher than this. This course is pretty much as nice as your are going to find for a municipal course. Be prepared to struggle on and around the greens. Enjoy!

Played it in mid June and really liked it a lot. Greens were just punched so they were shitty but that’s normal upkeep. Anyways it was super long and pretty tough. I’d say they need to keep an eye on the pace of play for some ppl cuz it’s public and ppl wanna go just screw around. Nice layouts nice looking shots. No crazy rough. I work at a private place in north dade county so I have a good idea. Def go play… On a weekday. You’re gonna get bogged down with hackers on a weekend. PACE OF PLAY PACE OF PLAY!!! Lol.

I had the pleasure of playing this public course. Fantastic shape from Tee to Green. The course has it’s challenging holes like any other but the unique thing I found about this course, the green… You have a slim margin of error and must be precise with your approach.
The greens are elevated more than others, and the narrow fairways you must keep it on the short grass. Ball flight is extremely important while playing here. If you can keep it on the short grass and your yardage (on carts also — GPS) I think you can do okay. It always sounds better after you’ve had a round versus playing…
After my round a friend, and I had lunch, he ordered the blackened mahi, and I had the open face steak sandwich. The food was great, fresh, and good.
Although the day was filled with heat, and humidity I enjoyed the round as well as the palm trees.

Crandon lived up to the hype of being one of the most beautiful and challenging courses in Miami dade county. Between the wind and water, no hole is an easy task so bring your A game. Because the course is a tourist destination, be prepared to wait and have patience for a long round. My favorite thing about this course is that the holes are secluded so other people aren’t hitting into your fairways, or visa versa. You actually rarely see people on the course besides the golfers teeing off in front of you. The starter and staff are friendly and the course is in great shape. It’s a well run facility and a super deal in the summer if you have the premier card. Id confirm your tee time the day before because I overheard some issues with tee times when I was checking in. Hopefully as the temperature rises the course will be less busy, but I’d play at Crandon again and again regardless.

Matthew, I appreciate the update. Went out and played a round just the other day — broken rakes in green side bunkers on Holes 1 and 2, fire ant colonies on all 18 holes and multiple bunkers in need of sand. I hope over time you are successful with a more professional staff and better course upkeep. Until then, I prefer Miami Beach, Normandy and Melreese.

Great course, very difficult. Have your A game on this one. The scenery is beautiful and the service is great.

I really would give this course one star but there’s worse so Ill be generous and give it two. Muni Courses in Miami really just suck and this course is no exception. Yes its located on the water but thats really a double edged sword as its super swampy Florida water and smells really bad and just attracts all those awful bugs you find in lovely South Florida. Pretty much the entire time I was holding a club in one hand and my nose in the other. Yes the course is long, so it poses some challenges for shorter hitters but you can pretty much spray the ball all over the place and still be in play. Maybe its in better condition other times of the year but when I played it in mid –October it was really in piss poor shape with frumpy, uneven tee boxes made of basically weeds and brown and weedy fairways. I will give them the greens were pretty slick and rolled true and in decent shape. I overheard the starter telling some poor couple about how Crapdon is one of the 3 most difficult courses in the country and I swear he mentioned Pebble beach in the same sentence. LMFAO!!! I have played pebble beach, thats like comparing Sunny Isles to Allipatah. Unreal and delusional he would say that and really what motivated me to write this review. Sorry Crandon but there is probably a 1000 public courses in the US in better shape and less swampy and stinky then this poop hole. I could go on but I think I have made my point. I have lived in Miami for almost three years now and have pretty much stayed away from golf while living here because I know in my gut this is what to expect. Of course play was painfully slow and a five hour round in the melting humidity is just brutal and not worth your time. Back to not playing golf while living here and saving my golf for my visits back to SoCal and the majestic golf that awaits me in the Coachella Valley winters. ahhhhhhh now thats a pleasant thought

I don’t know how to golf. However, I’m going to be a doctor in 2.25 years (oh dear), so I thought I’d better learn. My Dartmouth-​educated friend, who of course was raised golfing, offered to take us out to the driving range. The golfing portion of our double-​date lasted about one hour, during which time I’m proud to say I never accidentally threw his clubs.
We decided we’d made a valiant effort and headed into the gorgeous club house to have dinner. The kitchen was unfortunately not open, and they didn’t have any fast-​fix food available. It might be nice if they stocked salads or something for hungry late-​afternoon golfers. However, the bar WAS open, and I’m happy to say that the our screwdrivers consisted of vodka with a splash of orange juice, instead of orange juice with a splash of vodka.
I’ll be back to try the food and the actual golf course (well… if I ever graduate from the driving range).

Loving the atmosphere and the fact that today’s the last day of the year and it’s warm enough to play golf. Very pretty municipal golf course. It’s gets busy so be sure to book early; up to 5 days, or up to 30 if your hotel calls them.

I was visiting from California to golf with my dad. I accidentally brought a small cooler for water. The snack attendant told the ranger that I had a cooler. The ranger came interrupted our father/​son game and interrogated us. He asked what we had in the cooler and I simply answered, water. Then he gets out of his cart and asks us to open the cooler as if there was a bomb in there. Is that necessary? What happened to America, what happened to trust. Obviously, after inspecting our cooler and seeing that it was only water he gave us the permission to continue our golf game. Then he excuses himself saying that a lot of the golfers on this course get drunk and keep booze in the cooler. It really ruined our trip, our game and I’ve never been treated that way in my life. He almost seemed racist.

This is easily the most lush, singular municipal golf course in Miami, thus it gets five stars from me. Plus, you won’t find too many other layouts in the United States that feature mangrove-​lined fairways, and par 3s over shallow saltwater lagoons with small barracuda crashing needlefish on the surface. Oh, and on occasion, you might drive your golf cart up to a green to find a giant iguana parked near your ball.
Yes, this is a difficult course; it used to host an annual March event on the PGA Seniors tour. Hey, don’t make fun — those old guys probably still hit the ball longer and straighter than you. You’ll need that distance on several holes, most notably #4, a beast of a 600-​yard par 5 that plays right into the teeth of the prevailing easterly breeze. I once scored par on this hole, but it was by way of getting lucky and draining a ridiculous 60-​foot putt from the back of the green — discounting that miracle as a rare gift from the links gods, this hole is usually an 8 – 10 for me.
Perhaps even more important that distance, you’ll need pinpoint accuracy off the tee to score well here. I mentioned that the fairways are often lined with mangroves — slice a drive into one of those mangrove stands, and you’re not getting that ball back. Out of bounds penalty, stroke and distance, baby — get your sorry self back to the tee box, shooting 3. Humbling. There’s also plenty of sandtraps, and many of the greens have a good deal of slope, making for some difficult putts.
Like many South Florida courses, prices are relatively inexpensive in the summer and early fall, and skyrocket in the winter as out-​of-​towners seek 70-​degree golf in February. It’s truly hotter than hell out there in August, but for this course at the low summertime locals’ rates, the searing heat is worth enduring.

For such a highly rated course, my father and brother found it disappointing. It was long, and in good condition. For a course which is near the water, there was no panoramic view. The course looked manufactured, as opposed to having natural beauty. Club house was very nice. The front desk claims it to be the third hardest municipal course in the country next to Torrey Pines and Bethpage Black — and this is hardly the case.

This course is spectacular.
But your experience will probably depend on what season you go.
As for me, I had the pleasure of playing in the mid-​November Off-​Season. Despite the heavenly 80 degree weather, we still only had to pay the off-​season rate, which even for out-​of-​towners was still only $ 65, cart included. For locals its an astonishing $ 35 or close to that
The course is beautiful, but fairly challenging, with breathtaking views of the bay and Miami in the distance. Palm trees overhead, alligators in the water, tropical birds flying through the sea breeze. What more could you ask for?
Oh yeah, you could ask for complimentary GPS loaded computer scorecards and maps in every cart. And you can electronically order food from the clubhouse from the same screen.
This is as nice as a public golf course gets, and when you factor in the off-​season rates, its practically a steal. You’d be losing money by NOT playing at the Crandon Park GC.

One of the most scenic golf courses in South Florida, and it is public. Beautiful views of the Bay and downtown Miami.