Palm Harbor, Florida
Island Golf Course is a rolling, water-lined test that rewards sharp placement and careful club selection. It stands out from Florida’s flatter fare with its elevation changes, doglegs, and tighter corridors—offering both challenge and memorable atmosphere.
Bring your camera for the 7th tee—this double-dogleg par 5 is one of Florida’s most photogenic and daunting holes.
Packard’s design packs a serious challenge, threading narrow fairways through stately pines, oaks, and around innumerable water hazards—a rarity in Florida. Elevation change shapes the routing, forcing decisions from the tee and on approach, with doglegs, forced carries, tricky layups, and penal bunkering demanding both placement and precision. Every shot feels earned in an environment that rarely lets up, creating a course that’s not just scenic but genuinely compelling for shotmakers willing to play smart.
Packard’s philosophy was to create a test demanding both strategy and nerve, standing in contrast to the openness of many Florida resort courses.
A legendary double-dogleg par 5 that wraps left, then right, hugging lakes and threading around trees. It demands three precise shots to a guarded green and tempts disaster with water lurking on both flanks.
Playing for position is crucial—lay up short of trouble, then navigate the angled layup to avoid water, with only the brave or pinpoint-accurate attacking the green in two.
Water is present left and right throughout, deep bunkers protect the green, and an aggressive line courts disaster at every turn.
Generally good but sometimes uneven resort conditioning; teeing areas and greens are monitored but can show wear during busy periods.
Typical of a public-access resort course—can vary based on time, group, and day of week.
Upscale, scenic Florida golf; demanding but welcoming, with a local’s-under-the-radar reputation.
Resort golf attire—collared shirts required, standard golf dress enforced.
Errant tee shots are heavily penalized—practice accuracy, not just power.
You’ll face forced carries on par 3s and approaches; get comfortable with mid-iron shots over water.
Florida breezes and course elevation can make club selection tricky—know your distances and how wind affects them.
Course opens as Innisbrook’s first championship layout
The Island Course was E. Lawrence Packard’s pioneering layout for Innisbrook, setting a tone of strategy and challenge that differs from the flat, wide Florida norm. Its tight corridors and constant risk-reward demand focus from the first hole.
The par-5 7th is renowned for its winding route around water and trees, routinely singled out as one of Florida’s toughest and most memorable holes. Locals and pros alike consider it a must-play scoring challenge.
Though it spent six years ranked among the nation’s top 100, the Island Course quietly shifted into a connoisseur’s pick, hosting NCAA Championships and U.S. Open qualifiers rather than pro tour events. Its competitive legacy lives on in stories from collegiate and elite amateur play.
While Copperhead steals the spotlight with its PGA Tour status, those in the know seek the Island Course for its increased bite—narrower fairways, more water, and the kind of challenge that quietly haunts a scorecard.
The Island Course was the first of four layouts E. Lawrence Packard designed at Innisbrook.
From 1971–1976, the course was ranked in Golf Digest's 100 Greatest Courses.
More water comes into play on Island than on Copperhead, Innisbrook’s more famous sibling.
The course has hosted both NCAA Championships and multiple U.S. Open qualifiers.
The dogleg-laden design demands course management on nearly every tee shot.
PGA Tour-tested layout, famed Snake Pit finish
Championship-caliber layout with top-tier conditions
Distinct local favorite offering a classic Florida course experience
Inland variety and scenic riverside setting
Book your stay in Palm Harbor or directly at Innisbrook Resort for the fastest access to Island and Copperhead.
Courses with the most similar DNA profile — matched by deviation shape across all eight playing characteristics.
Why it matches: Beau Pré Country Club is a natural next stop after Island Golf Course: it a comparable balance of challenge, variety, and character.
Why it matches: If Island Golf Course is your kind of course, The Preserve at Jordan Lake is worth a look because it a comparable balance of challenge, variety, and character.
Why it matches: What links these two? A comparable balance of challenge, variety, and character — a familiar feeling, expressed in Highfields Golf & Country Club's own setting.
Classic Nebraska parkland with challenge and charm
Community Sentiment
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