Royal St. Augustine Golf and Country Club, Saint Augustine, FL

October 2022
We played this course twice in March, awaiting our rented condo on April 1st.
Do not waste your money, this course is in a terrible shape. The only royal thing about this course is the name.
I’m. 14 handicapper, I can play this game....but this course is lousy...really.

I like this course. It is challenging enough to make it fun. You must be able to place your shot on a couple of holes. Once you know the course, you realize where not to hit the ball. It is in great shape and well maintained. I will say that the holes that you have to hit over marsh; the marsh foliage is growing to tall to see over. The staff has always been friendly. I have noticed the driving range is not as well maintained as it used to be. Very nice range though.

This place gets a bad rap and one of the reviews here was very uncomplimentary. I've played here a number of times and didn't like it at first but once I learned to leave my driver at home it became a better challenge.
You have to control your ball here. It's not forgiving and a couple of holes (#13 especially) are just unlikeable. #15 isn't easy and requires lots of thought. #17 is a nice hole and I like #8. Once you "get" this course, you enjoy it more.
It's not my favorite or even close but it is an interesting trip around and I look forward to taking it on every now and then. Flat, wide-open courses then look a lot easier.
BTW, I am about an 18 HDCP.

Played this course recently. GREAT conditions, new management has made a big difference. Had a burger after that was one of the best I've ever had....and it's cheap! Most courses cost twice as much. I have to go back.

Was excited when I drove by and saw the layout of the course. I called and spoke with Mark, he was very polite on the phone and very accomedating. Asked about a set of rental clubs he said no problem.

Upon arriving the guy at the counter gave me a worried look when I reminded him about the rental clubs. It took a couple minutes but he returned with a mis-matched set of clubs from the eighties with the original grips. They were so hard I couldn't use half the clubs in the bag. I can't remember the last time I saw a 10 iron. Upon arriving back at the club house the starter came out and scolded me for having my 14 year old son driving the cart (he's on the golf team and has been driving a cart since he was 8). I asked him about maybe re-gripping the set and he said they couldn't afford it. The highlight of the round was the barmaid she was polite competent and easy on the eyes. I won't ever golf there again and wouldn't recommend it to anyone I liked.

I've been playing at Royal for about 6 years and the course has had a bad review by golfers who only come here to play one time and they loose some golf balls therfore they say this is a bad golf course, maybe they are just a bad golfer, the golf course is in the best shape I have ever seen it, the greens are thick but true, the fairways are green and full and they are really trying to please all the golfers all the time and we all know their will be some people that are never satisfied, maybe they ought to give the course a fair shake, they have new carts, a good Lunch menu and they are offering a lot of specials, maybe we in the golfing world should give Royal another chance.

Course in great condition. Staff was very helpful and informative. A must play for anyone visiting the area. Will definetly be back!

You have to be very careful with your ball placement and club selections. Some shots that feel good end up not so much.

One of the nicest courses ive ever played, and extremely fun. Definitely bot for the beginning player. You have to drive the carts through a neighborhood which is fun, and the course is very well kept. Only discouraging thing is there is no map on the scorecard and the water hazards are hidden from view off the tee. I had 3 over 300 yard drives that to my surprise were in the water.... But still very fun. All the other reviews are rediculous, if theyre losing balls then they need to go take lessons or something. This is a very nice course.

I don't know what to say about this "course". It really isn't a true full size course. It's more of a hybrid between a par 3 and a full sized course. There just was not enough room to build a full size course on this site. Given what I had read, we loaded up on top flights at WalMart and off we went. Most of the cheap balls are gone. Thing is I made some excellent shots, Drove a green from 265 and almost made one from 319. I would hit fairway or green and could not find my ball. Everything is on a slope but the grass was so short, good shots rolled into the rough or water. What's up with the moguls? If I want moguls on a 400+ yard hole, I'll go skiing. Hole 13! Tight dogleg left, 90 degrees over water and what do we have on the bridge I hit over, a whole gaggle of guys fishing, blocking the bridge with chairs and cane poles. Next hole is tight next to a divided highway and water! Do you want to take a chance on driving a ball thru someone's windshield? Fairways were 20 to 40 ft wide and very sloped, greens are small and hard; hard like I had balls bounce off but slowwwwwwww. I don't get it. Anyway, try the county course, same price 27 holes, less crowding. No fishermen or ball hawkers. The locals swarmed this course, feeehin, ball hawkin and dawg walkin. Save your $, save your balls, go to a driving range for "target golf". Go to a real course and just play. This was a waste of time and money.