Indian Bayou Golf & Country Club — Attraction in Destin

I played at Indian Bayou Golf & Country Club on 9/30/19. I recommend playing there. The course was very good condition-wise. Greens were very good condition-wise & pretty fast. Fairways were good condition-wise. Rough was good and not too long. The course was very green & looked good. I liked the layout. The layout was good with water hazards, bunkers, trees, and doglegs. Many people were on the course, but pace on the course was great. I was a single, and my 18 hole round was probably a little over 2 hours. My cart was good with GPS equipped. Staff was nice & communicative before my round. Indian Bayou had 2 practice greens and a driving range. Range balls were included, which I like. Plenty of balls were at the range. The driving range was good, wide, and long with natural turf, not mats. I could use my driver and hit a long drive on the range, which is good. The practice putting green that I putted on was good & large with different holes. Many people were on the practice green, but people left eventually, and I was able to putt on different holes, which is good. There was no practice bunker that I was able to hit on. Thumb down to that. The cost was very low, and the course was very high quality. The cost was under $30 with a hot deal and a $10 discount on GolfNow. Thumb up to the low cost. The location is good. I like Destin, which is where the course is located. I rate Indian Bayou an 88 on a 100 point scale, which is a 4.4 on a 5 point scale. A B+ for Indian Bayou. If I return and find a practice bunker that I can hit balls on, maybe I will rate Indian Bayou...

I played twice at Indian Bayou, June 29, 2021 and July 2, 2021. Layout is good, fairways and greens (the greens were sanded on the first day of play) were in great shape. My biggest issue was the pace of play, especially late June in Florida. I can almost give a pass on the first day, when we were playing behind members and I am sure playing their typical betting games. However on July 2nd, the group in front of us was just flat out slow. There were 2 open fairways in front of them. Now think about this, Indian Bayou puts groups out every 8mins and that was NO exception on Friday. By the 2nd hole, we knew we were in trouble and in for a very long round. I get it, it is vacation, but here is the true gripe, one of our players set of golf clubs got lost by the airline. We had to rent (I get it) because it would slow down play, REALLY? So going out every 8mins would seem to dictate a marshal going around and observing speed, but no. Did we bring up the slow play, yes we did at the turn and asked for some help (and also pointed out the empty holes in front of the group). Funny, the response we got was to go ahead of them AND come back when you are done and play the missed hole. Really? Come on Indian Bayou you are better than that. If you are going to require everyone to have a set off golf clubs so not to slow down play AND put groups out every 8mins, then get your marshals out there to make sure speed is at...

We had an 8am tee time this morning for our last day in beautiful Destin. We played Emerald Bay, Regatta Bay, and Gator Lakes this week and Indian Bayou was in the best shape with Regatta Bay a close second, Emerald Bay a close third and Gator Lakes trailing in last place --- it is on the Air Force Base and front nine was pretty rough (back nine was better) and we saw three Gators! Indian Bayou's tee boxes, fairways, and greens were all perfect. The staff were all very nice and provided great customer service! In my opinion the carts need upgraded - but that is minor for us. We ate lunch in the lounge afterwards and we really enjoyed it - it had a comfy 1980's Ft Lauderdale vibe right down to the music! My man had the hamburger steak and fries and I had the turkey club sandwich - both really good and least expensive meal we have had this whole week. If you are looking for a really nice spot to enjoy a beautiful course and some good food afterwards, this place was a very good value...