Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort Naples

For a truly luxurious golf experience in southern Florida, head to the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort in Naples. This expansive resort is home to the Greg Norman-designed Tiburon Golf Club, offering two prestigious 18-hole championship courses.

The pristine natural setting perfectly complements the style of golf you can play here, with each course featuring sod wall bunkers and coquina shell waste bunkers.

The Ritz-Carlton in Naples hosts golf tournaments including the PGA Tour’s QBE Shootout, LPGA’s CME Group Tour Championship, and the Champions Tour CHUBB Classic.

If your vacation doesn’t coincide with one of these exciting golf events, you can enjoy the challenges posed by these courses before exploring Naples’ culture or indulging in some world-class shopping. Don’t miss the Naples Pier for fishing or dolphin spotting as part of your Florida golf vacation.

Southwest Florida offers an extensive choice of courses, but the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort, Naples stands apart through its connection with Tiburón Golf Club and two championship layouts designed by Greg Norman.

Tiburón means “shark” in Spanish, a reference to Norman’s famous nickname, and his design philosophy gives both courses a distinctive character. Instead of relying on conventional rough, the Gold and Black courses use native vegetation, pine straw, stacked sod-wall bunkers and expansive coquina-shell waste areas to define the lines of play.

The result is golf that feels closely connected to the natural South Florida landscape while still providing the level of conditioning expected from a leading resort destination.

Tiburón also has significant professional tournament pedigree. The Gold Course hosts the LPGA Tour’s season-ending CME Group Tour Championship and the Grant Thornton Invitational, where PGA Tour and LPGA Tour players compete together. The Black Course has hosted the PGA Tour Champions’ Chubb Classic since 2022. For visiting golfers, that creates the opportunity to play two contrasting courses that regularly test some of the game’s leading professionals.

The Gold Course opened in 1998 and can play as long as 7,382 yards from the championship tees. Although its tournament credentials may make it sound intimidating, several teeing options allow golfers to choose a more suitable distance. Wide-looking landing areas don’t always provide straightforward drives. Coquina waste areas, water and carefully positioned bunkers influence the preferred line from the tee, while the angle of the approach becomes increasingly important around the course’s contoured greens.

The absence of thick conventional rough can help golfers find an offline ball, but that doesn’t necessarily provide an easy recovery. Pine straw, native ground and uneven lies can still complicate the next shot, rewarding players who think about position rather than simply aiming for the widest part of the fairway. The Black Course opened in 2001 and reaches 6,949 yards from the championship tees. Its pine straw-lined fairways, native Florida foliage and crushed coquina areas create a different visual experience from the Gold.

Undulating greens place additional emphasis on approach play and leaving the ball in a manageable position. Six sets of tees help make the layout accessible to different abilities, but golfers still need to choose their targets carefully and avoid allowing the generous scenery to disguise the strategic challenge.

Playing both courses reveals the shared principles behind the Naples Ritz-Carlton golf experience without making the two rounds feel repetitive. The Gold delivers the longer, more overtly tournament-oriented test, while the Black provides its own combination of movement, positioning and natural character. Both courses are also part of a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary, reflecting Tiburón’s efforts to protect the surrounding habitat while maintaining two championship layouts.

A two-round itinerary allows golfers to experience both sides of Tiburón rather than choosing between the Gold and Black courses. It also provides a useful contrast: lessons learned about the resort’s coquina waste areas and unconventional rough on the first round can inform course management on the second.

Premier Golf can combine tee times on both layouts within a Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort, Naples package, coordinating the golf as part of the wider vacation. Access, rates and course availability can vary by season, so planning the rounds together is particularly helpful for groups seeking specific playing times.

Southwest Florida’s cooler and drier winter months are especially popular for golf. Demand can therefore be strong, while professional tournaments and course maintenance may also affect availability at certain times of year. Golfers with flexible dates may find greater availability outside the busiest winter period, although Florida’s summer heat and seasonal rain should be considered when selecting tee times. Earlier rounds can make the conditions more comfortable during warmer months.

Naples can also support a longer Florida golf itinerary, but Tiburón provides enough variety for golfers who prefer to remain in one destination. With two Greg Norman courses, contrasting tournament associations, and a setting unlike a conventional parkland resort, it rewards more than a single round.

With more courses per square mile than anywhere else, Naples, on Florida’s the Gulf of Mexico, is as a major golfing destination. With easy links to world-class shopping and magnificent culture, you can enjoy sipping cocktails in the ocean breeze along the Gulf Coast.

Visit the Naples Botanical Gardens to marvel at the tropical flora from various continents, or the Naples Pier that jets straight out into the baby blue crystal clear water of the Gulf of Mexico.

The Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort is 2.9 miles from Mercato and 3 miles from North Collier Regional Park. If flying in from Naples Municipal Airport then you’ve got just a 17-minute drive to the resort, as well as being accessible from Miami and Fort Lauderdale airports by car or shuttle.

Get in touch today and Premier Golf will begin to tailor a perfect package to this resort for an unforgettable trip.