Featured Golf Course

In this section learn more about the history of the course and its hometown, see a selection of historic and current images of the course, learn about what the course is like today, and discover nearby historic sites.

Eglin Golf Course

History

The Eglin Golf Course's Eagle Course is located in the City of Niceville in Okaloosa County. Although the golf course is located within the city limits of Niceville it was originally associated with the town of Valparaiso. In 1922, Chicago businessman James E. Plew (founder of the Chicago Towel Company), came to Valparaiso and became one of Northwest Florida's pioneer developers. He founded the Bank of Valparaiso and constructed the Valparaiso Inn.  At the same time, he organized the Chicago Country Club of Valparaiso, which constructed the golf course. Memberships were marketed to Chicago businessmen, doctors and lawyers who came to the area.

The golf course operated as a 9-hole course until 1927 when the firm of William Langford and Theodore Moreau was hired to design an 18-hole course. In November of that same year, 200 golfers left Chicago aboard a special deluxe train to attend the formal opening of the golf course. Noted golf writer John Healy wrote, “Facing a landlocked bay down in the Gulf Coast country, on the Vale of Paradise, where the sun shines and shines, where the breezes are balmy and gentile, lies as ‘sporty’ an 18 hole course as may be found south of the Mason-Dixon line.” Like the fate of many private golf clubs of the late 1920s, the country club went bankrupt in 1929, and the name was changed to the Valparaiso Country Club. 

The Valparaiso Inn and the Valparaiso Country Club operated as a resort throughout the 1930s, advertising in the 1939 Okaloosa News Journal as having “Beautiful Grass, Greens and Tees, 6,350 yards, 5 water Holes, with fees of $1.00 per day.”  Shortly after, the course was reduced back to nine holes and left to nature’s devices for nearly a decade.

In 1934, Plew offered the U.S. government a donation of 1,460 contiguous acres for a bombing and gunnery range that became known as the Valparaiso Bombing and Gunnery Range. In 1937, the base was re-designated Eglin Field in honor of Lieutenant Colonel Frederick I. Eglin, U.S. Air Corps, killed on January 1, 1937, in an aircraft accident.  

In 1949, the Plew family sold the course to the government and the course was renovated and re-established as an 18-hole course. The Eagle Golf Course (named after the F-15 Eagle fighter aircraft) is one of two 18-hole courses at the Eglin Golf Course Complex.

Plans for Laying Out an 18 Hole Golf Course at Valparaiso

Teeing Off at the Chicago Country Club Valparaiso Florida c1920s

Golfers at the Chicago Country Club Valparaiso Florida c1920s

Sixth Hole at the Chicago Country Club Valparaiso Florida c1920s

Langford & Moreau Ad for the Chicago Country Club

Construction at the Chicago Country Club

Construction of 18 Hole Golf Course at the Chicago Country Club Valparaiso

Close-up of the Construction at the Chicago Country Club Valpariso

Circa 1932 Aerial of the Chicago Country Club Golf Course

Circa 1932 Close-up Aerial of the Chicago Country Club Golf Course

1939 Aerial of the Chicago Country Club Golf Course

Golfers at Eglin Golf Course c1950s

Today

The 18-hole, par-72 Eagle Course at Eglin Golf Course features four sets of tees playing from 5,100 to 6,500 yards. 

Eglin Golf Course Complex offers a second 18 hole course, the Falcon. The 36-holes of championship golf sit on 450 acres with 250 acres of fairways and greens covering two golf courses. Open year-round, Eglin is one of the top ranked courses in the military. Eglin Golf Course offers a lighted driving range and a practice complex with a chipping area, a sand bunker and a large lighted putting green.

First Hole at Eglin Eagle Golf Course

Sixth Hole at Eglin Eagle Golf Course

Seventh Hole at Eglin Eagle Golf Course

Ninth Hole at Eglin Eagle Golf Course

Tenth Hole at Eglin Eagle Golf Course

Eleventh Fairway Looking Back to 10th Hole

Layout of Eglin Eagle Golf Course

Yardages for Eglin Eagle Golf Course

Local Knowledge

The Eagle Course has two unique holes, the 6th and 7th, which require a blind tee shot over a hill. After playing the second shot, golfers must ring a bell, located on both sides of the fairways, to alert the players behind them that it’s safe to tee off. On the 6th, players ring the bell once and on the 7th they ring it twice.

The 7th hole used to have another very unique feature for a Florida golf course - a rope tow! To help golfers “climb up” the steep approach to the 7th green, a powered rope tow (similar to ones seen on a snow ski course) was installed on the right side of the fairway. It also helped golfers who carried their clubs or used a pull cart. It was removed several years ago but the crumbling asphalt path is still evident.

Bell at 6th Hole - Left Side of Fairway

Bell at 6th Hole - Right Side of Fairway

Close-up of Bell at 6th Hole - Left Side of Fairway

Sign at 7th Tee for Bell Ringing

Seventh Hole - Bell on Left and Remnent of Rope Tow on Rightrway

Bell at 7th Hole - Left Side of Fairway

Inside the Leather

Stand-Up-Paddleboarding-The sport of stand-up-paddle boarding (SUP) has exploded since the mid-2000s. Popularity has spread beyond beach towns to inland, where SUPs can now be seen at the beach, bay, lake or riverAn SUP features the stability of a kayak and the fun factor of a surfboard, for a variety of activities including racing, exploring and fishing.

Some form of stand up paddling has been around for thousands of years. Florida ’s own Seminole Indians poled and paddled their dugout canoes from a standing position in the Everglades. 

Two of the SUP industry leaders, YOLO and Bōte, are located a short drive from the Eglin Eagle Golf Course and steps away from the beautiful white sands and emerald green waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Visit YOLO Board and Bōte Board for more details.

Seminole Indian Poling Canoe

Legendary Surfer Tom Blake Paddleboarding in the Florida Everglades c1930s

Paddleboarding in Dune Lake

Paddleboarding in the Gulf of Mexico

Paddleboarding on Western Lake, Walton County

SUP Fishing Setups

Paddle boarding at Florida Spring with Manatees

Visit - Contact

Eglin Golf Course

1527 Fairway Drive
Niceville, Florida 32588

1527 Fairway Drive
Niceville, Florida 32588

View the Website

Phone: 850.882.2949