Teeing Off History: The Enduring Legacy of Florida's Historic Golf Trail and Iconic Courses

Golf has long been a Florida destination, intertwined with its history alongside theme parks, sandy beaches, palm trees and sunshine. Launched in 2014, the Historic Golf Trail highlights this heritage, featuring over 50 courses, including three notable ones in Southwest Florida: Arcadia Municipal Golf Course, the Fort Myers Country Club and the Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club. 

Arcadia Municipal Golf Course 

Not far away in DeSoto County is the Arcadia Municipal Golf Course. It’s a short drive from coastal Southwest Florida counties. 

Babcock National Golf Club is 35 miles away, and Aileron Golf Club, also in Charlotte County, is a mere 22 miles away. Arcadia Municipal opened in 1923, long after the town was founded in 1886. 

“And no one was thinking about golf then, or even when they were rebuilding the downtown structures after the devastating 1905 fire,” Arcadia historian and author Carol Mahler said. She is working on a historical marker for the golf course. 

Mahler’s research indicates that a man named A.C. Polk, Sr. was the driving force behind bringing golf to Arcadia. Polk moved to Arcadia in 1916 and passed away in 1970 at the age of 90. 

There’s a link between the first golf courses in Arcadia, Fort Myers and Boca Grande. This connection is a man named Harry A. Cowie, who died in 1929 at the age of 38. He was a pro who played and taught all three courses. 

A significant figure in the development of the DeSoto County golf course is Albert W. Gilchrist, Charlotte County’s only governor, who leased 50 acres for its establishment. Cowie planned the nine-hole course, which was completed in 1923, though it took a while to expand to 18 holes. 

“Although the original Arcadia Golf Club planned an 18-hole course, the expansion was not completed until 2001 after the city purchased an additional 24 acres in 1999,” Mahler said. 

Fort Myers Country Club 

Legendary golf course architect Donald Ross designed the Fort Myers Golf Country Club. Construction of the course between U.S. 41 and McGregor Boulevard took place from late 1916 and into 1917. 

At the time, Collier County had not yet been formed; it was carved out of what was then a vast Lee County. There was no Tamiami Trail linking Tampa and Miami. World War I was in full swing, and not only was there no TV or the internet but there was also no commercial radio. Fort Myers had a population of around 3,500. Cape Coral and Lehigh Acres had yet to exist, nor did shopping malls, a bridge to Sanibel or the right for women to vote. 

The Fort Myers Country Club has been described as a jewel right in the heart of town. It’s one of many golf courses that have helped lure people to the Sunshine State for more than a century. In 1916, when construction began in Fort Myers, nine-hole courses were already operating on Useppa and Boca Grande. 

Fort Myers aimed to join in the excitement and attract tourists to Florida’s west coast. In a story from the Fort Myers Press dated Dec. 9, 1916, it was announced that the city would be opening a golf course that would be comparable to some of the best clubs in the nation. 

Powerful people were behind the project. Famed inventor and part-time Fort Myers resident Thomas Edison was listed as one of 15 directors of the new course taking shape. 

Fort Myers Country Club has hosted some of golf’s biggest names, enhancing the course’s reputation and the community. Notable players include Arnold Palmer, Gene Sarazen and LPGA founder Patty Berg, who was a local resident until her passing in 2006 at 88. 

Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club 

The Naples Beach & Golf Club opened in 1931, eight years after the establishment of Collier County, named after Barron Collier, and the Arcadia course’s nine-hole facility. 

The facility, which closed in 2021, is undergoing renovation and rebranding and is expected to reopen in late 2025 as the Naples Beach Club, a Four Seasons Resort. 

The original course was designed by T.E. Fredericks, who worked for Donald Ross, the man who designed the Fort Myers Country Club. 

Golf continues to be a vibrant attraction, drawing people from Naples to Fort Myers, Port Charlotte and even inland to Arcadia. This has been true since the 1920s, remains true in the 2020s, and is likely to persist far into the future, possibly even into the 2120s.