Yesterday I made it from Dallas to the Pensacola area where I stayed the night. I was up early on Saturday for a morning round at the Raven Golf Club (I detoured off the I-10) which is on Florida’s Emerald Coast.

The Raven is one of Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort’s four courses and from what I can find it is typically regarded as the second best course. Burnt Pine Golf Club seems to be the premier course here, but I didn’t see any tee times available when I was booking my round. The Raven is still a highly ranked public course in Florida so I thought it would be a great spot to celebrate my 100th Florida course. And, it was!

I paired up with another single and a twosome and we all enjoyed the round. One person in the group was a good stick and it was fun seeing some awesome shots! We made it around in about four hours which allowed me plenty of time to make it into Central Florida that evening. Thankfully, the clouds broke about halfway through the round and sunlight allowed for great pictures.

The Raven was designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr. and opened in 2000. I played the silver tees which are 70.1/132/6300. That is a little short for me, so I’d like to see combo tees. However, the tips (6,875 yards) would have been too much, especially considering the course is a par-71 – there are five par-3’s and four par-5’s.

I thought there were many solid golf holes at the Raven, but the par-3’s stood out to me. There is a lot of water on the par-3’s (think in play on most holes) and the 4th, 6th and 12th were a lot of fun. The 4th has water to the right and the green complex slopes into the hazard. So, you’ll want to favor the left side.

The 6th is the signature hole as it has an island green. It is 174 yards from the silver tees and I hit what I thought was a decent shot. Unfortunately, I misjudged the wind and came up short in the water. The 12th is a short hole, just 113 yards, and the pin was tucked on top of a small shelf on the right side of the green.

The Raven is a residential course, but I never thought the homes took away from the design. I’m a sucker for courses with pine trees so I loved the look here! The Raven is a scenic course with all the water, green grass, bunkering and landscaping. A couple blooming bushes added more color.

On the other hand, the Raven is a very difficult course. And, that toughness is what bothered me the most about the course. The fairways give you some room and the greens are large, but many surfaces are deeper than they are wide. If your misses into the greens aren’t straight then there is a harsh penalty. I left feeling like I played better than I scored.

The normal rates at the Raven are around $90 this time of year but I lucked into a $65 discounted green fee. The conditions were soggy to begin, however the course dried out as the morning went along. The fairways and greens were full and cut tight. The greens were quick and smooth.

I ended up liking the Raven a lot and would highly recommend a round here. To me, Robert Trent Jones Jr. designs usually don’t have much variety. However, the Raven did and as I mentioned the piece of property is beautiful.

Course Pictures (click any picture to scroll through the gallery):