Palatka Golf Club

Few public golf facilities in Florida carry the historical weight of Palatka Golf Club. The course was designed by Donald Ross and opened in 1925, making it one of the oldest continually operating Ross designs in the South. Ross's fingerprints are unmistakable throughout — crowned greens that shed mishit approaches, subtle fairway contours that reward thoughtful shot placement, and a routing that works with the natural terrain rather than against it. It was restored in the early 2000s to bring the layout closer to Ross's original intentions, and it remains a genuine piece of American golf architecture history.

Palatka sits along the St. Johns River in northeast Florida, about an hour south of Jacksonville. The town itself has a quiet, unhurried character, and the golf club reflects that — this is a place where the game feels rooted in something older than the modern resort era.

The par 70 layout plays shorter than many Florida courses, but Ross designs have never needed length to test a player. Accuracy, course management, and a deft short game matter far more here than raw distance.