History
The late 1990s brought a wave of golf development to Collier County, and ArrowHead Golf Club opened for play in 1997 as part of that Naples building boom, when the region’s reputation as a golf destination was still very much taking shape. The club entered the market as a semi-private facility, a designation that allowed it to build a member base while remaining open enough to welcome the visitors and seasonal residents who were reshaping Southwest Florida’s economy at the time.
Gordon G. Lewis handled the design work, putting his signature on a par-72 layout that stretched to 6,832 yards from the championship tees. Lewis had built a career designing courses across Florida’s flat coastal terrain, and ArrowHead gave him another canvas to apply that experience, working within the region’s characteristic soil and drainage conditions to route a golf course rated at 73.1 with a slope of 130 — numbers that placed it among the more demanding tests in the Naples area at the time of its opening.
The course has continued to operate under Bermuda grass on both its fairways and greens, the standard turf choice for South Florida’s climate, maintaining consistency since its 1997 debut rather than undergoing dramatic architectural overhaul.
Playing notes
At 6,832 yards with a slope of 130, ArrowHead plays tougher than the number suggests, and Bermuda fairways and greens mean firm, fast conditions once the Florida sun gets to work on them—expect the ball to run out further than expected off the tee and putts to break more than they look. Bring a cart-friendly mindset, as Naples-area layouts like this one typically require riding rather than walking given the distances between holes, and pack extra sleeves of balls if water comes into play, which is standard for courses in this region's flat, reclaimed terrain. Accuracy off the tee matters more than raw distance here, since Bermuda rough grabs mishit shots and makes recovery shots harder to control, so club selection and staying in the fairway will save more strokes than trying to overpower the course. Check green speeds with the pro shop before you go out, since Bermuda greens can run quick in dry stretches, and adjust your putting stroke accordingly rather than trusting your usual home-course speed.
Tee boxes
| Tees | Yardage | Par | Slope | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Championship | 6,832 | 72 | 130 | 73.1 |