Regatta Bay Golf & Yacht Club

Robert C. Walker, formerly the lead architect at Arnold Palmer's design company before going out on his own, designed Regatta Bay Golf & Yacht Club in 1996 as the centerpiece amenity of an 800-acre residential development that touches Choctawhatchee Bay in Destin. Walker laid out the 6,840-yard par-72 routing directly through a nature preserve with the bay's south shore as backdrop on the closing holes. Forbes Travel Guide awards the facility a 5-star rating, rare recognition for a semi-private Florida Panhandle course. The routing leans parkland-style with mature Florida pines framing landing zones, rather than the open marsh-and-sand aesthetic of many Emerald Coast resort cards. Peak green fee runs $75-145 depending on season. Fits a Destin trip as the 'Arnold Palmer design-pedigree adjacent' card between the Sandestin three-course trio and the Kelly Plantation stops.