Featured Golf Course

The Vinoy Golf Club includes an 18-hole, par-72 golf course featuring six sets of tees ranging from 3,000 to 6,600 yards making it very playable for all golf skill levels.

The golf course has been a certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary since 2008. Each hole is surrounded by diverse vegetation including over a dozen varieties of palm – over 900 in all - from around the world. Amidst the palms, the pines and the live oaks, players may find themselves lost in the jungle, or beached on one of the 54 bunkers strategically placed along the way. Located 1.7 miles from the Vinoy Hotel, a complimentary shuttle service to and from the Club is provided by the resort for its guests. A 1927 Mediterranean-inspired clubhouse overlooking the golf course houses a restaurant, bar and fully stocked pro shop.

* Please note: To enjoy play at the Vinoy Golf Club, you must be a member or a registered guest at the Vinoy Hotel.

Vinoy Golf Club Historic Clubhouse

Golfer Teeing Off at the Vinoy Golf Club

Vinoy Golf Club Drive Over Water

Vinoy Golf Club 9th Hole

Vinoy Golf Club 16th Hole

Aerial of the Vinoy Golf Club

As the story goes… the idea for the Vinoy Hotel began in the early 1920s with a bet, a watch, and a champion golfer. At his Beach Drive home, wealthy Pennsylvania businessman Aymer Vinoy Laughner made a wager with the famous golfer Walter Hagen.

Laughner bet Hagen that he could not hit golf balls off the top of Laughner’s pocket watch without breaking the crystal. The watch survived without a scratch, and the golf balls landed across Beach Drive on a residential waterfront property. When Laughner and another guest went to retrieve the golf balls from the neighbor’s lawn, the guest commented on what a nice site the waterfront home would be for a hotel. Laughner’s party guests suggested he purchase the property and build a grand resort – one that would carry his name. Laughner purchased the land for $170,000, and the rest is hotel history.

Led by architect Henry L. Taylor and contractor George A. Miller, construction for the Vinoy Park Hotel began on February 5, 1925. The contractor set a construction record, completing the 375-room hotel in just under 10 months, in time for a grand opening on New Year's Eve 1925.

The Hotel is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has been named one of the “500 Greatest Hotels and Resorts in the World” by Travel & Leisure magazine. Readers of Condé Nast Traveler magazine have ranked The Vinoy as one of the “Best Places to Stay in the Whole Wide World.”

Beach Drive Home of Aymer Vinoy Laughner

Walter Hagen in 1923

Proposed Drawing of the Vinoy Hotel

1930's Photograph of the Vinoy Hotel

The Vinoy Hotel

The Vinoy Hotel Interior: Then and Now

St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club –Senior citizens, 21st century youth, and all ages in between gather at the St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club for the entertainment and camaraderie that is part and parcel of a game woven into the historical fabric of St. Petersburg. Games ranging from friendly to tournament level take place at the city’s historical landmark. Every Friday from 7 to 10 p.m., weather permitting, those looking to brush up on their shuffleboard skills or try the game for the first time can join in the fun. This free outdoor diversion includes use of equipment, access to volunteers who can guide newcomers on the basics, and the entertainment provided by members who create play lists on their iPods. 

The game of shuffleboard, originally known as "shovel board," can trace its origins from the fourteenth or fifteenth centuries. The modern day game of shuffleboard became popular as a diversion and deck game onboard cruise ships. The first modern shuffleboard courts constructed on land were built in Daytona, Florida in 1913. The St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club is significant for its association with the development of the tourist and leisure industries in St. Petersburg during the 1920s. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club is a contributing property to the Downtown St. Petersburg Historic District.  Visit St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club for more details.

St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club c1929

Vintage Postcard of the St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club

St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club in the Early 1930s

Courts at the St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club

Courts at the St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club

Evening Shuffle at the of the St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club

600 Snell Isle Boulevard NE
St. Petersburg, Florida 33704

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Phone: 727.896.8000