The Miami to West Palm Beach corridor is Florida's most concentrated premium golf destination. The Blue Monster at Doral is the signature experience: Gil Hanse redesigned the 1962 Dick Wilson layout in 2014 with new slopes, ridges, and bunkers, and it now hosts LIV Golf. At $566-$695, it is not cheap, but it earns it. PGA National's Champion Course, home to the Honda Classic and the famous Bear Trap (holes 15-17), is a different kind of test: tighter, windier, and more technical than Doral's wide-open layout. The supporting cast at both resorts adds rounds for groups who want 4-5 days of golf without repeating.
Courses included
The trip experience
Miami to West Palm Beach is the most concentrated premium golf corridor in Florida, built around two distinct experiences that don't overlap. Trump National Doral is a wide-open resort campus in Miami with the Blue Monster as its centerpiece: Gil Hanse's 2014 redesign of Dick Wilson's 1962 layout, with new slopes, ridges, and bunkers that turned a classic Florida course into something genuinely modern. At $566–$695 per round, it is the most expensive golf on the corridor, and it earns it. PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens is something different: tighter, windier, more demanding, and built around the Bear Trap — holes 15, 16, and 17 — that has ended more professional charges on Sunday than any other three-hole stretch in American tournament golf.
The Blue Monster earns its name from the combination of Hanse's routing and the relentless Florida wind off the Everglades. Water appears on 17 of 18 holes, and bunker complexes are positioned to punish anything even slightly offline. LIV Golf has used Doral as a flagship venue since 2022, which has added to the course's conditioning budget and its reputation. The full resort — four additional courses, a spa, multiple restaurants — means a group can spend three days there without repeating a round.
"The Blue Monster has water on 17 of 18 holes; Gil Hanse's 2014 redesign turned a classic Florida layout into something genuinely modern."
PGA National's Champion Course is the other anchor. The Bear Trap at 15–17 — a par-3 over water, a long par-4 with water tightening the right side, and a par-5 demanding a precise lay-up — is the stretch that has ended Sunday charges at the Honda Classic for decades. The course is more technical than the Monster: smaller target zones, wind channeled unpredictably through tree lines on holes 1–14 before it opens at the Bear Trap. PGA National adds four more courses — Palmer, Haig, Squire, and Estates — to fill extra days without driving.
The Park at West Palm is the sleeper of the corridor. A Gil Hanse municipal design that opened in 2021 on the site of the old West Palm Beach Country Club, it ranks in Golf Digest's top 50 public courses in Florida and charges well below Doral's rate. Groups anchoring at PGA National can add The Park as a day trip without resort overhead.
"The Park at West Palm is a Gil Hanse municipal in Golf Digest's top 50 Florida courses — and costs a fraction of the Blue Monster rate."
The access model is simple: Doral and PGA National are both open resort golf with no membership required. The 70-mile drive between them takes 75 minutes on I-95 or Florida's Turnpike. The best four-to-five day structure anchors at one resort and uses the other as a day trip. Groups focused on Doral can do the Blue Monster twice, a second Doral course the third day, and a one-day PGA National excursion. Groups who want the Bear Trap first should anchor at Palm Beach Gardens and drive south to Miami for the Monster.
Miami adds non-golf range to the trip that most golf destinations don't. South Beach, Wynwood's restaurant corridor, Brickell, and the waterfront dining in Palm Beach all function as genuine evening destinations. This corridor works particularly well for groups with non-golfers who need a real city alongside the golf.
Side trips & bonus golf
The Miami to West Palm Beach corridor has more off-course infrastructure than any other Florida golf destination. Miami's South Beach is 30 minutes from Trump Doral via the Dolphin Expressway, and groups who build one non-golf evening into a Doral stay can do dinner on Ocean Drive and be back before midnight without it affecting morning tee times.
West Palm Beach's CityPlace and downtown Clematis Street offer a more local dining and bar scene than the resort bubble. The Cooper in Palm Beach Gardens is a 10-minute drive from PGA National with a farm-to-table menu that the hotel restaurants cannot match. Tiger Woods' The Woods Jupiter, in Harbourside Place on the Intracoastal Waterway, is worth the 20-minute drive for the right group.
For groups who want a cultural interlude, Palm Beach Island is 20 minutes from PGA National and worth a morning walk: Worth Avenue, the Flagler Museum, and Benny's on the Beach Pier for lunch cover a half-day without touching a golf club.
The Park at West Palm Beach, the Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner redesign of the former West Palm Beach Municipal, opened to significant attention and is Golf Digest's top 31 in Florida. At a fraction of Doral Blue Monster pricing, it is a legitimate round for groups that want to add a fifth day of golf without repeating any of the resort layouts.
Is this trip right for your group?
- ✓Book this trip if the Blue Monster at Trump Doral (Gil Hanse redesign, LIV Golf host, Golf Digest top 30 Florida) is a course your group has been targeting
- ✓Book this trip if PGA National's Bear Trap (holes 15-17 on the Champion Course, home of the Honda Classic) is on the list
- ✓Book this trip if you want premium resort golf with urban options: South Beach nightlife is 30 minutes from Doral, downtown West Palm is 10 minutes from PGA National
- ✓Book this trip if January through March travel works; Florida winter golf at 70 degrees is the primary selling point of the destination
- ✓Book this trip if your group wants 4-5 distinct courses across two properties without significant driving between rounds
- ✓Book this trip if a bachelor party format works; this is one of the best destinations in the US for combining serious golf with serious nightlife
- ✗Skip this trip if summer travel is your only window; June through September heat (92-95 degrees) and afternoon thunderstorms are genuinely trip-limiting
- ✗Skip this trip if budget is the primary constraint: the Blue Monster at $566-$695 per round is real money, and even PGA National's supporting courses run $200+
- ✗Skip this trip if you want the peaceful, remote golf experience; this is a destination with traffic, resort-scale logistics, and urban energy
- ✗Skip this trip if you need Golf Digest top-10 nationally ranked courses; the Blue Monster (top 30 Florida) and PGA National Champion are excellent but not on the national bucket-list tier
- ✗Skip this trip if you are expecting to walk; cart is mandatory at Doral and most Florida resort courses in the heat
When to go
- December through March: ideal temperatures (68-78 degrees), full resort amenities, and the Honda Classic at PGA National in late February/early March
- Blue Monster pricing at its highest: $695 per player during January-March peak season; twilight slots after 1pm drop to $595
- PGA National's Champion Course books out for the Honda Classic prep period; confirm access in the weeks surrounding the tournament
- Miami weather in winter is the primary appeal: 70-degree golf days in January attract significant domestic travel from northern states
- April, May, October, and November: temperatures manageable (78-86 degrees), resort crowds thinning, and pricing beginning to soften
- Spring shoulder (April-May) carries some of peak pricing momentum; fall shoulder (October-November) offers the best rate reductions
- Hurricane season technically runs June through November, but impact on South Florida golf is infrequent; October and November carry minimal risk
- Green fees at Doral's secondary courses (Red Tiger, Golden Palm at $295) and PGA National supporting courses provide value windows without touching the premium rounds
- June through September: temperatures reach 92-95 degrees with humidity; afternoon thunderstorms (typically 2-4pm) are consistent and can end rounds abruptly
- Morning rounds only during summer: book before 8am, plan to finish by 1:30pm to beat the storm window
- Hotel rates drop significantly: Doral and PGA National room rates can drop 30-40% in summer; some groups accept the heat trade-off for the savings
- Blue Monster twilight rate ($595) and secondary Doral course pricing ($235-$295 twilight) offer some pricing relief in summer
What a Miami & West Palm Beach trip costs
| Item | Peak | Shoulder | Off-Season |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tee fees (4 rounds) | $1,400–$2,000 | $1,100–$1,600 | $900–$1,300 |
| Lodging (4 nights) | $1,400–$2,000 | $1,000–$1,600 | $800–$1,300 |
| Food & drink | $500–$750 | $400–$600 | $300–$500 |
| Rental car / rideshare (4 days) | $300–$500 | $200–$400 | $150–$300 |
| Total (est.) | $3,600–$5,250 | $2,700–$4,200 | $2,150–$3,400 |
| Item | Peak |
|---|---|
| Tee fees (4 rounds) | $1,400–$2,000 |
| Lodging (4 nights) | $1,400–$2,000 |
| Food & drink | $500–$750 |
| Rental car / rideshare (4 days) | $300–$500 |
| Total (est.) | $3,600–$5,250 |
Per-person estimates for a 4-round, 4-night trip. Excludes flights. One Blue Monster round assumed; supporting rounds at lower rates. All-in: $3,100–$5,100 peak (Dec–Apr), $2,400–$4,000 shoulder.
How tee times and lodging actually work
- 1Book the Blue Monster well ahead for peak season (January-March)dynamic pricing means that waiting costs money as well as availability; the $566 floor can jump to $695 at peak demand.
- 2Factor in the mandatory forecaddie at the Blue Monster$37 per player minimum with a recommended $40 gratuity is a real add-on cost on top of the already-premium green fee. Budget accordingly.
- 3PGA National's Champion Course tee times for the Honda Classic window (late February) are affected by PGA Tour prepcall ahead to confirm availability if planning in February.
- 4Consider the Red Tiger and Golden Palm at Doral as value rounds within the resortat $295 each they add two quality rounds to a four-night Doral stay without the Blue Monster price pressure.
- 5Afternoon thunderstorms June through September are not just uncomfortablethey often shut down courses for safety. Morning rounds only during summer; expect to finish 18 holes before 2pm.
- 6Miami Airport to Doral is 8 miles; Palm Beach Airport to PGA National is 20 minutes. The split-itinerary approach (3 nights Doral, 3 nights PGA National) works well for groups who want both resorts.
Common mistakes
- !Underestimating the Blue Monster costthe $566 floor rate plus mandatory forecaddie ($37 minimum plus tip) plus Florida sales tax puts the all-in cost above $650 per player before any tip to the caddie. Budget for the full number.
- !Booking a Miami trip in summer without understanding the weather patternafternoon thunderstorms (typically 2-4pm) in June through September can end rounds abruptly, and the combination of heat and humidity makes a mid-day round in August genuinely unpleasant.
- !Missing The Park at West Palm Beachthe Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner design (Golf Digest top 31 Florida) opened to significant attention as a reimagined municipal course. It is available at a fraction of resort pricing and adds a strong architectural round to any PGA National itinerary.
- !Driving between Miami and West Palm Beach during rush hourI-95 between Doral and Palm Beach Gardens is a parking lot from 4-7pm. If you split the trip between both resorts, plan the transfer mid-morning.
- !Ignoring the resort's mid-week pricingDoral and PGA National both use dynamic pricing that drops midweek. Tuesday and Wednesday tee times are often 10-15% less than weekend rates for the same slot.
What to pack
Sample itinerary
- Day 1Arrive (MIA/FLL) + Blue MonsterFly into Miami International or Fort Lauderdale. Trump National Doral is 30 minutes from MIA. Book the Blue Monster for your first round while you are freshest.
- Day 2PGA National Champion CourseDrive north on I-95 to Palm Beach Gardens (75 minutes). The Bear Trap on 15–17 is the reason you're here; the three-hole stretch has ended more professional charges than any other in Florida.
- Day 3The Park at West Palm + Trump Doral second courseMorning at The Park (Gil Hanse municipal, top 50 Florida public) before driving south to Doral for an afternoon round on the Golden Palm or Red Tiger. Split day; plan the drive between them.
- Day 4DepartMIA or FLL departure. PGA National to FLL is 35 minutes; to MIA is 75 minutes. Add an early PGA National second-course round if your flight allows.
Where to stay & eat
Know before you book.
Rankings and new trips, straight to you.