Golf around Stuart

The municipal anchor

Sailfish Sands Golf Course sits at 2000 SE St Lucie Blvd, right along the water’s edge. It carries the town’s adopted 1957 slogan in its name, and the 3.9 rating from 433 reviews reflects a working municipal track—busy, practical, and unpretentious. This is where Stuart actually plays, not where it poses.

Across the street, Sailfish Sands Hitting Bays & Restaurant (1998 SE St Lucie Blvd) splits the difference between practice and lunch. A 4.3 rating from 238 reviews suggests the bays hold up, and the address puts it steps from the course. Bring a club, or don’t. The water view does the work.

The private side, with a door open

Willoughby Golf Club (3001 SE Doubleton Dr) posts a 4.6 from 150 reviews, the highest rating on this list. It is a members’ club, but the numbers say enough: tight, manicured, and serious. Miles Grant Country Club (5101 SE Miles Grant Rd) edges it with a 4.7 from 145 reviews, making it the top-rated course in town by a hair. Both sit south of downtown, off the beaten stretch of SE Federal Highway.

Champions Club at Summerfield (3400 SE Summerfield Way) pulls a 4.4 from 379 reviews—more reviews than Willoughby or Miles Grant, which tells you it sees steadier public traffic. Florida Club (9005 SW Old Royal Dr) matches that 4.3 from 345 reviews, a solid mid-tier option for visitors who want a full 18 without the country-club formality.

The gear and the repair

Ace of Carts (4880 SE Federal Hwy) runs a 4.6 from 278 reviews, the best score of any non-course business here. If you need a rental cart or a fix for the one you brought, this is the stop. Play It Again Sports (3351 SE Federal Hwy) carries used clubs and bags, a 4.3 from 261 reviews. For a town with a median age of 53.1, resale gear moves—snowbirds thin out their garages every spring.

The odd one out

The Shores of North River Golf Club (1827 NW Pine Lake Dr) sits west of downtown, near the St. Lucie River’s north fork. A 4.2 from 200 reviews puts it in the middle of the pack, but its location matters more than its score. It is the only course on this list not clustered near the coast or the Federal Highway corridor, and that makes it the easy choice for anyone staying inland.

What the numbers say

Stuart holds 10,360 housing units, and 1,297 of them are seasonal or recreational. That is one in eight homes sitting empty for part of the year—and those are the people filling tee sheets from November through April. The median home value is $291,300, the median gross rent is $1,540, and the unemployment rate sits at 5.1 percent. This is not a wealthy enclave; it is a working coastal town that happens to have water on three sides and golf on most of the rest.

The town was renamed in 1895 for Homer Hine Stuart Jr., who held 160 acres around the railway station. The Florida East Coast Railway arrived between 1892 and 1896, and the water—the St. Lucie River meeting the Indian River Lagoon—did the rest. Stuart became the seat of the newly created Martin County in 1925. The Lyric Theatre still anchors the historic downtown. Golf came later, but it took.

None of these courses are hidden. None are secrets. They are rated, reviewed, and played by locals and visitors alike. The best move is simple: pick the one closest to where you are staying, book a morning tee time before the heat, and save the afternoon for the water. That is the Stuart way.