The North Course was the first layout built at Innisbrook, opening in 1970 as the property’s original championship test, and it earns the nickname Baby Copperhead for good reason. At 6,085 yards it’s the shortest of the four 18-hole courses at the resort, but water comes into play on 11 of 18 holes and the small, well-guarded greens make it one of the more demanding short-game tests on the property.
The Course
E. Lawrence Packard designed the North Course with the same rolling terrain and tree-lined character that defines the rest of the Innisbrook routing, and the site gave him something to work with that few Florida courses have: the second-highest point of elevation in all of Pinellas County runs through the North Course layout. The elevation changes create uneven lies and blind-ish approaches on several holes that require careful club selection and course management rather than brute strength.
The signature hole is the par-4 3rd, a tight driving hole playing to 470 yards from the back tees. It demands a precise tee shot into a narrow landing area followed by a demanding approach to a small green, and it sets the tone for a course that consistently produces higher scores than its length suggests it should. Eleven holes with water and narrow tree-lined fairways on the other seven mean the North Course has almost nowhere on the property that allows a careless swing to go unpunished.
For golfers building a multi-day Innisbrook itinerary, the North Course works well as a contrast round between the two long championship layouts. It plays faster, it creates different competitive conversations in the group, and the elevation changes and water combinations give it enough distinctive character to stand on its own in the rotation.
Want to add the North Course to your Innisbrook trip? Coastal Golfaway has been packaging stay-and-play golf vacations since 1986. Reach out and we’ll put it together.