Featured Golf Course

The 18-hole, par-72 Tarpon Springs Golf Course features four sets of tees playing from 4,800 to 6,000 yards and has Family Tees for beginners, juniors, and elderly players measuring 3400 yards. Tarpon Springs Golf Course prides itself in offering a fun, yet challenging course to players of all skill levels as well as top notch customer service to everyone who walks through the door. The course is owned and operated by the City of Tarpon Springs for the enjoyment of the public.

Aerial of Tarpon Springs Golf course

7th Hole at Tarpon Springs Golf Course

8th Hole at Tarpon Springs Golf Course

10th Hole at Tarpon Springs Golf Course

13th Hole at Tarpon Springs Golf Course

15th Hole at Tarpon Springs Golf Course

18th Hole at Tarpon Springs Golf Course

Tarpon Springs Golf Course Scorecard

American golf legend Gene Sarazen built a winter home in nearby New Port Richey in the late 1920s and developed what would become the modern sand wedge [See full story in the Florida Historic Golf Trail publication pages 38 and 39].

Sarazen was a regular player on the Tarpon Springs links in the 1930s, including the year he won the Augusta National Invitational Tournament (Masters) in 1935. In that tournament, Sarazen hit "the shot heard round the world" making a double-eagle from 235 yards on the par-five 15th during the final round. Sarazen would go on to win a playoff with Craig Wood. 

According to a Tampa Tribune article, Sarazen used the Tarpon Springs golf course to prepare for the 1936 Masters tournament. The newspaper article stated that Sarazen was working out at Tarpon Springs daily in preparation for the approaching Augusta national tournament. Sarazen would finish the tournament one under par to give him in 3^rd place.

Gene Sarazen Playing at Tarpon Springs

Gene Sarazen Playing a Practice Round at Tarpon Springs Golf Course

Gene Sarazen at the 1935 Augusta National Invitational Tournament (Masters)

Gene Sarazen Practing at Tarpon Springs in Preparation for Augusta National Tournament

Gene Sarazen Regular Player at Tarpon Springs Golf Course

Historic Sponge Docks - The Gulf waters north of Tampa Bay comprise one of the few areas of the world where the species of natural sponges suitable for commercial use are found. Sponge beds were discovered off the mouth of the Anclote River by turtle fishermen from Key West in the late 1800s. Spongers came to the area to work the beds, and some relocated to Tarpon Springs. The natural sponge industry in Tarpon Springs dates from about 1890 when John K. Cheyney launched his first sponge-fishing boat. By 1900 the city was considered the largest sponge port in the United States. Sponges were retrieved by hooking until the technique of diving for sponges was introduced in 1905 by John Cocoris, a recent immigrant from Greece, where the practice of sponge diving was common. Within a few years, many Greeks had arrived in the area to work in the sponging industry.

In the summer of 2014, the Tarpon Springs Greektown Historic District was listed as a Traditional Cultural Property in the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places. The Tarpon Springs designation is Florida’s first recognized Traditional Cultural Property, and the first of its kind as a listed ethnic-based community in the United States.

Tourism has replaced sponging as Tarpon Springs’ major economic activity.  Thousands of visitors each year come to the City to enjoy the outdoors, visit the Sponge Docks, see professional divers in action and experience the Greek culture that still permeates the City. Visitors come to walk Dodecanese Boulevard and visit its unique Greek shops, buy sponges and feast at restaurants serving traditional Greek fare and delectable pastries. Visit Sponge Docks for more details. 

Tarpon Springs Sponge Exchange on Dodecanese Blvd in 1921

Sponge Diver Boarding Boat with Harvest of Sponges - 1936

Tarpon Springs Sponge Diver Monument

View of Dodecanese Boulevard in Tarpon Springs

Diving for the Cross during Tarpon Springs' Epiphany Celebration – 1955 [Top] and 2020 [Bottom]

Local Sponges in Shops in Tarpon Springs

Shops and Dancing in the Streets on Dodecanese Boulevard in Tarpon Springs

1310 South Pinellas Avenue
Tarpon Springs, Florida 34688

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Phone: 727.934.5191