Emerald Bay Golf Club

Bob Cupp designed Emerald Bay Golf Club in 1992, the same year Golf World named Cupp the first-ever Golf Architect of the Year, recognition for a career that included 15 years as senior designer for Jack Nicklaus before Cupp launched his own firm in 1984. Emerald Bay sits between Destin and the Beaches of South Walton, with Choctawhatchee Bay shoreline framing multiple holes. The routing winds through mature pines and waterside gardens with multiple water features in play. Cupp's signature design vocabulary, generous landing zones, contoured greens with subtle breaks, strategic bunkering, shows through the Emerald Coast setting. Peak green fee runs $65-115 depending on season. Fits a Destin trip as the Cupp architectural card alongside Sandestin's Tom Jackson routings and Regatta Bay's ex-Palmer-team Walker design, each of the three gives you a different 1990s-era South design voice at similar price points.