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Wife and I are going on a five day trip in mid September. Want to play about three rounds on a nice course (or two). I don't want to stay somewhere like Panama City. Thinking more along the lines of Pensacola (lots of restaurants), or Destin (never been but heard is nice). Personal experiences would be good. Thanks in advance.

Here are some links that may help my Daughter use to live in Navarre Beach great place to stay, also when I went to visit I always played the Oaks course or the Pines both are great courses and reasonable in price.

http://www.navarrefl.com/

http://www.golflink.com/golf-courses...sp?course=1813

http://www.golflink.com/golf-courses...sp?course=1814

Sandestin has some of the most beautiful courses in NW FLorida. It is just east of Destin, and that whole area has some of the best beaches in the world, and pretty emerald green waters.

Here's a nice review of Sandestin:
http://travelwithkids.about.com/cs/f...destinrevw.htm

A website about the resort:
http://www.sandestin.com/home.asp

And the most important, the golf courses at the resort:
http://www.sandestin.com/sandestin.asp?cat_id=3

Check out Burnt Pine Golf Club. I understand it's one of the best places you'll ever play. It's been about 8 years and several hurricanes since I lived up there (lived in Ft Walton for 10 years). But I have heard others on here praising the courses and amenities, and I'm considering a vacation up there myself next spring.

If you're anywhere near St. George Island, I'd suggest this one:

http://stjamesbay.com/

It was a pretty challenging course and it's very reasonable if you catch the afternoon rate.

I second the motion on Sandestin Resort. Don't know where you were planning on staying or budget. Sandestin is a Golf Magazine Silver Medal Resort, with amenities too numerous to mention. As Inconsistent says, check out the website. You can stay and play any of their 4 courses, including The Raven, which hosted the Boeing Classic on the Champions Tour in May, and Burnt Pine, which may be a better course than The Raven. If you stay on property to play, the other two courses are the Links and Baytowne. The Links is more open and has better views than Baytowne, but both courses are nice, but a step down from the first two mentioned. The resort and trip with golf and hotel alone will likely run over a grand, but it's worth it. I've been 3 times and always enjoyed it, now moreso with the opening of the Village at Baytowne.
If you decide against that, tops in the Destin area are Regatta Bay, Kelly Plantation, Emerald Bay, and Bluewater Bay. Near Pensacola, you'll find Tiger Point, the Moors and Hidden Creek.
The two most interesting newcomers to the area are Camp Creek and Windswept Dunes, both between Destin and Panama City Beach. They are both highly acclaimed, with Camp Creek gaining a top 15 ranking in most polls of all Florida courses. All courses, including Seminole (a top 10 national course, very private), Doral and World Woods. They are located near the stretch known as 30A, the state highway that takes you from near Destin to near Panama City, through quaint villages like Watercolor and Sunrise, the setting for the movie The Truman Show.
Lots of great golf there. Hope this helps...Let us know what you decide.

I dated a girl from Florabama...always wanted to go there...people from Atlanta always head to Destin and they love the whole area...

Destin is great...check out Mainsail condos, right across the street from Silver Sands Outlet Mall. Emerald Bay is right down the street and a very nice course pretty reasonable. A co-worker played Windswept Dunes and really enjoyed it, I think it is very new. I'll be there the last week of August. If you stay in Destin check out the Doughnut Hole.

Destin is really popular with folks from Atlanta, Birmingham and most of Tennessee. I used to work part-time for a food delivery service and loved working the Destin-Sandestin area during the summer months. We delivered for about 12 different restaurants, and sometimes a bill for 4 people would be $120+. We'd even stop and pick up a bottle of wine or some beer. Always made good tips off the Tennessee folks! Twice I got invited to great parties, and once had a group of middle-aged women try to get me to stay and do a strip show for them (I was MUCH skinnier then!).

But by and large the area is wonderful for families and older adults, and there are great restaurants and boutique shopping.

Twilldog mentioned the area just east of Sandestin, where "The Truman Show" was filmed. I was there while it was being filmed, and almost got to be an extra (long story!). Beautiful little community, though! That is still one of the last great secrets in Florida. I really miss it sometimes!

The Doughnut Hole! Wow, forgot about that place. And the Rib Shack - I hope it's still there!

I agree with Halk's suggestion about Navarre Beach. It all depends what you want. Navarre is not the touristy Panama City-Destin atmosphere. In fact, the western boundary bumps up against protected land...no buildings for miles. And there is decent golf in the area. Pensacola is just west of the area.

Our family has rented a house right on the beach. It was one wonderful week.

I'm from Pensacola and heartily recommend the layouts at Marcus Pointe, Scenic Hills and Perdido Bay.