Camp Creek Golf Club at Watersound Club - Inlet Beach, FL

A good golf trip does not always need to be much of a trip at all. Sometimes it is simply an excuse to head somewhere for a night, catch up with an old friend, and play a course you have wanted to see.

I headed down to the Florida Panhandle the night before my round at Camp Creek Golf Club to stay with my longtime friend Gavin Capehart. Gavin and I grew up together in Enterprise, Alabama, and have remained friends ever since. Over the years, we have also ended up sharing many of the same interests. We both love being outdoors, have an affinity for Land Rovers, and, most importantly, are both Boykin Spaniel owners. Gavin's Boykin, Ripley, has become a pretty fitting addition to the friendship.

Gavin's house sits along Newman Bayou, and after I arrived we took advantage of a summer evening on the water. We hopped in his boat, headed out of the bayou, crossed North Bay and made our way into St. Andrews Bay for dinner at Uncle Ernie's. It was a great way to spend the night before the round and a reminder that some of the best parts of golf trips tend to happen away from the golf course.

The next morning, Gavin and I were joined by his dad, Scott, and another high school friend, Josh, for our round at Camp Creek.

Camp Creek

Located just off Scenic Highway 30A in Northwest Florida, Camp Creek Golf Club is a Tom Fazio design that opened in 2001. While the surrounding stretch of the Florida Panhandle has changed considerably since then, Camp Creek has developed a reputation as one of the area's premier golf courses.

Today, Camp Creek is part of Watersound Club, a collection of private club amenities developed by the St. Joe Company throughout Northwest Florida. Golf has become a major part of the Watersound experience, with Camp Creek joined by two other distinctly different courses, Shark's Tooth and The Third.

Shark's Tooth opened in 2002 and was designed by Greg Norman on a very different piece of property along the shores of Lake Powell. The course winds through pine forests and wetlands, with several holes reaching the edge of the coastal dune lake and taking advantage of one of the more unique natural features in the area.

The newest addition to the Watersound golf portfolio is The Third, a Davis Love III and Love Golf Design course that opened in 2025. The course was designed with a different approach from its two predecessors, placing an emphasis on walkability, width, strategy and a natural presentation. Together, the three courses give Watersound a collection of golf with three individual identities rather than variations of the same resort golf formula.

The growth of the club has extended well beyond the golf courses. Camp Creek Inn now serves as a central hub for much of the Watersound Club experience, with lodging, dining and an expansive collection of amenities located adjacent to the golf course. Its development has helped turn Camp Creek into more than simply a highly regarded course along 30A, creating a broader club and resort experience around the golf.

That larger Watersound development is worth understanding because once you get onto Camp Creek, surprisingly little of it is visible.

Camp Creek occupies more than 500 acres of sandy, gently rolling terrain filled with longleaf pines, wetlands and native vegetation. With no homes lining the fairways, the course feels remarkably removed from the development that has transformed much of the surrounding 30A area.

One of the more interesting aspects of the property is how its character changes throughout the round. Some holes open into broad, sandy landscapes where native grasses, exposed sand and distant pines provide much of the definition. Others disappear deeper into the property, where mature trees move closer to the fairways and create quieter, more intimate corridors. Wetlands occasionally enter the picture as well, adding another layer to a course that never settles into one particular look for very long.

That variety keeps Camp Creek from feeling like the stereotypical Florida golf course. There are certainly water hazards and wetlands, but the course is not defined by artificial ponds or fairways squeezed between rows of houses. Instead, Fazio worked through the existing pine forest and sandy terrain, allowing the landscape to dictate much of the visual character.

The result is a course that can feel expansive on one hole and surprisingly secluded on the next. The transitions between those environments were one of my favorite parts of Camp Creek. Even with the immaculate conditioning and polished presentation expected of a high-end club, there is still a natural quality to the property that keeps the course from feeling overly manufactured. Since they had so much land to design with, when you are on one hole, you really only see the hole you are currently on.

The conditioning during our visit was one of the most impressive parts of the experience. Camp Creek was exceptionally well presented from tee to green. The fairways were immaculate, the bunkers sharply defined and the greens provided the kind of consistent surfaces that allow the architecture around them to matter.

That presentation complements a golf course with plenty of room in places, but also plenty of decisions.

At more than 7,100 yards from the back tees, Camp Creek can provide all the challenge anyone could want, but length is not the course's only defense. Fazio repeatedly uses angles, bunkering and green complexes to make the ideal position from the tee important. There is often a safer route available, but taking it can leave a more difficult approach. More aggressive lines can provide a better angle into the green while bringing Camp Creek's bunkers, sandy native areas and surrounding vegetation more prominently into play.

That balance is especially noticeable because the course rarely relies on a single type of challenge. On the more expansive holes, the decisions are presented clearly in front of you, with bunkers and angles influencing how much of the fairway you want to take on. Move into the more wooded portions of the property and the challenge can feel different, with the trees and tighter visual corridors creating a greater premium on positioning.

The greens are another important part of the course. Many are large enough that simply hitting the putting surface does not guarantee an easy two-putt. Contours, tiers and surrounding collection areas put an emphasis on controlling approach shots and finding the correct portion of the green.

Visually, Camp Creek is also extremely strong. Fazio has always had a reputation for building golf courses that look good from the tee, and there are plenty of examples here. The contrast between the manicured playing corridors and the sandy native areas gives the course definition, while the wooded stretches provide a completely different atmosphere. There is a polish to Camp Creek, but the changing landscape keeps that polish from becoming sterile.

The on course offerings were top notch as well. There is a comfort station with scented ice towels, and grab and go drinks and snacks. You pass this one twice on the front 9. On the back, there is another comfort station with a bar tender, as well as a pizza truck serving up hot slices and cold drinks. Tough to beat!

Perhaps that combination is the course's greatest strength.

Camp Creek has the conditioning and presentation expected from a high-end club along 30A, but the golf course itself can still feel surprisingly wild and secluded. The absence of residential development along the holes makes a significant difference. Once you get away from the clubhouse, there are stretches where it is easy to forget just how much is happening beyond the boundaries of the property.

That made Camp Creek an especially enjoyable course to spend a morning with Gavin, Scott and Josh. I went into the round excited to finally see the course, and I came away understanding why it has maintained such a strong reputation in Northwest Florida.

The night before provided an opportunity to catch up with one of my oldest friends, take the boat across the bay and spend an evening doing many of the things that have kept us close since growing up together in Enterprise. The next morning gave us a chance to add golf to the list.

Camp Creek turned out to be a pretty great place to do it.