Sanibel Island in February

My family will be staying in Sanibel for a week in February this year. Over the last several years my son has been too young to play golf on our vacations to warmer climes during the winter. But this year he is ready (11 yrs) and I’m trying to figure out where to play. We will have to rent clubs. I see there are two course on the island open to the public, Sanibel Island course and The Dunes golf course. If there is a gem of a course within 30 minutes or so that my son and I can play I would appreciate some info. Also, any thoughts on the island’s two courses appreciated as well. I’m not looking to play Streamsong on this trip, just for a friendly course in great condition with nice views. Thanks in advance!

Bump?

Dunes is short, lots and LOTS of water .. they used to have a 14 foot croc there

beachwood / Sanibel a 5 of 10 ... they were trying to get conditions improved when I was last there 3 years or so back

shell island across the bridge is a 6.5 / 10

Old Corkscrew is 40 mins away and will emasculate you

Well, I certainly wouldn’t want to be emasculated! I would love to play Old C, but unlikely on this trip. Guess I’ll try the two courses on the island based on available tee times and rental clubs. As a side note I am single digit hc and have been playing since I was nine years old. But I want to bring my son so a premier course will have to wait a few more years. Maybe by that time he will be able to play it and I won’t, lol. Thanks for the response. I’ll look into Shell Island.

@DCFAS,

My family vacationed in Sanibel when I was about your son’s age. I wouldn’t overthink this one. He’s 11 and will likely come to cherish the memory of playing golf with his dad more than playing a specific track. Find a course that doesn’t take you out of your way and is family friendly and have at it! Happy New Year!

I have played the Dunes a handful of times, like other poster said its shorter, but was always in great shape when I played it. Lots of water... they have had nice new rental sets in the past.

We went to Sanibel about 6 years ago and I was fortunate enough to play. I don't remember much about the courses, though. I came away thinking they were just ok...not spectacular.

On a different note, unless something has changed, buy all your groceries and that kind of stuff before you go to the island. There is a significant price change once you cross the bridge.

Thanks for the comments and advice. I’ll post back if we get to play. Looking forward to playing with my son as we haven’t teed it up since October. It’s not going to be pretty. ;)

If you want to go back to Ft Myers there are lots of courses that might be easier for your son... Like Ft Myers CC for example It is a 40 minute drive from the center of Sanibel Island.

I’ll look it up, thanks!

Will be there tomorrow. Weather is supposed to be great. Hope we don’t go through too many balls as we haven’t been on a course since beginning of October!

There are many beautiful courses in the Fort Myers,Naples area but have to say the courses at Sanibel Island in my opinion are average at best and that is being nice.Drive a little bit and there are nice courses in the area.Riverwood or Heritage Trails golf and country club are beautiful in Punta Gorda Port Charlotte area. Forest Glen in Naples is also beautiful. I live here year round and would not be excited about going to Sanibel Island to play.

Booked The Dunes. Will play tomorrow. A bit costly but that’s the deal here when vacationing. Course looks like fun. We brought three sleeves and will get two more with the rentals, but I still wonder if we will run out because of all the water. Lol. Will post a review. As a side note the weather here is AMAZING. I’m sitting on a balcony looking out over the Gulf as I type this. When we left it was 8* at the airport. Unbelievable.

Love to hear how it went. Best of luck today.

Course was fun. Lots of water but played very, very short, which was fine for us. The kids played from the jr tees and the adults played from tee 3. For a fuller experience I would play from the tips. Greens were very nice and held like magnets. One thing to be advised: it was costly. But we had nice rental clubs and the personnel there were very nice- all good. Part of the island experience!

Edit: Not sure why photo is inverted. Cannot seem to correct it.