Key West Golf Club Review

When we retired in 2019, we started a bucket-list goal of golfing in all 50 states. We are getting there, slowly but surely. (We figure what’s the rush? We are retired after all!!)

We currently have 21 states crossed off our list.

When researching where we want to play, we often come across some fun information.

For instance….

did you know Florida has a Historic Golf Trail?

From Pensacola to Key West, the Florida Historic Golf Trail includes public, semi-private, military and resort golf courses. Most of these historic golf courses were built during the “Golden Age” of golf course architecture. During this period – from the early teens through the late 1930s – golf course construction in Florida exploded as new developments were being built across the state.

We have had the pleasure of playing four of the 52 courses that are on the Historic Golf Trail list!

And today we added another to our list –

Key West Golf Club!

Another fun fact we recently learned is Key West Golf Club has the distinction of being the southernmost track, located at the very tip of the Florida Keys….AND…..this course was frequented by President Dwight Eisenhower in the 1950s while staying in Key West. 

On our Alaska Road Trip we were able to golf the northernmost military golf course in the U.S – Chena Bend Golf Course (you can read our review here) .

OK – Back to Key West Golf Club. Our drive from Marathon Key to the course was a straight shot down US Highway 1 for about an hour (+/-). We thought we had given ourselves plenty of flexibility to arrive on time for our scheduled tee time – but there was a major traffic delay that made our arrival time tight. Once we made it through the private housing community, we found a spot to park and loaded up our golf cart.

We checked in at the Pro shop and found the staff was a bit grumpy and seemed none too pleased that we were cutting it close.

We were rushed to the first tee, only to find ourselves waiting for the foursome in front of us to tee off….and sadly….we were waiting all day.

Our pace of play was just over 5 hours.

(For those of you who don’t golf – this is SLOW – very SLOW!!)

While you would think the slow play would have impacted my score – you would be mistaken! The luck of the Irish was still with me and I shot another round in the 80’s – just barely – but 80’s none-the-less!

Key West Golf Club winds through a housing area, keeping the fairways narrow and a bit unforgiving. I found the fairways to be in good condition, and the greens fast and well maintained. There is quite a bit of sand and water.

Throughout the course we had an active gallery that consisted of ducks, turtles and chickens, along with a few lizards here and there. Anytime we were waiting to tee off, the ducks would immediately stop what they were doing to get up and come see what food we might share with them.

We quickly learned to not leave any snacks out for easy access.

We had a fun chat with the cart attendant, Petra. She is from the Czech Republic and we bonded over shared knowledge of her home country.

The Key West Golf Club’s signature hole is the infamous “Mangrove Hole” which is a 143 yard par 3 that is played completely over a field of thickly intertwined tropical mangroves.

I recognize with so many other outdoor options, you may not want to play a round of golf in the Florida Keys. But it’s worth a stop if you need a few swings during your vacation!

Based on our score card rating – I would rate this a Par Course.

Fairways and Greens – We are 18 Holes and Counting

Written By Kathy Festa

COURSE REVIEW SCORE CARD

Course: Key West Golf Club

Type: Public Golf Course 

Date Played: 21 March 2023