The drive into Grand Bear Golf Club sets the stage. After making our last turn to the golf club on Grand Way Blvd, there was nothing around, I mean nothing! It was a meandering road through a forest. Two miles in, I turned to Rob and said, why are there no houses? How much longer could we go without seeing anything… it was four more miles. This may have been the most isolated in nature golf course I have played. When you live and play most of your golf in Florida, homes are on most courses, and a highway is never too far away. Not here…it’s pure peace among nature.
Grand Bear is a Jack Nicklaus signature course that offers lightning-fast greens and well-placed bunkers. It is nestled within the De Soto National Forest, offering that harmonious blend of challenging golf within untouched wilderness. The clubhouse looks like a masterpiece out of the HGTV show “Log Cabin Living”. Just picture it: massive log beams and wild animal heads mounted on the walls.
We played in the middle of December, yet the fairways were still good, and the greens ultra-fast and true. I loved the uniquely carved bunkers that would come into play with wayward shots. It’s a fair course, but punishing if you hit it in the wrong place….my advice is to miss it appropriately.
Some of my favorite and most memorable holes were the following:
Hole 3 par-3. It slopes down and back up with out-of-bounds on the right, followed by a large bunker on the right of the green. The miss here is left because if you miss it right, you are OB or in the nasty bunker. I was smart and missed right, but the green was incredibly fast and downhill…I thought I tapped it, but it was a three-putt.
Hole 9 par-4: Drive over the OB fescue that carves the fairway on an angle. Drive it left and there is a lot more to carry. If your drive is safe and to the right, your approach is a fun one. You must carry the three pot bunkers that are in front of the green. Make sure you have enough club, and it’s a very doable hole.
Hole 11 par-5: This is a fun hole with birdie written all over it. Drive it to the left to ensure you have an angle that lets you attack the green, as the entire hole curves to the right, like a dogleg. The green is small and narrow, but a strong drive leaves you with about 200 yards in. There is a bunker placed on the left and OB on the right, but the distance is enticing.
Hole 18 par-4: I loved this finishing hole as it’s uphill most of the way and the incredible clubhouse behind the green. Take more club as the uphill approach calls for it. It’s a two-tiered green, so make sure you are dialed in with your distance.
The Final Score
This course was a welcome addition to our golf trip to Biloxi. I loved that feeling of playing golf with nobody around except for wild animals. I didn’t see any Bears, but they were there. I did see a couple of birdies of my own, which is always nice 😊. Book your tee time here!