Florida’s Pines Course returns to play after October storm as Oaks remains closed

Pines returns to the tee after October storm damage in northwest Florida

Fort Walton Beach Golf Club, a city-owned facility on Florida’s Emerald Coast, announced that its 18-hole Pines Course would reopen for play on Saturday, October 24, 2026. The City of Fort Walton Beach published the notice on October 22 and said tee times would begin at 7:30 a.m. The reopening gives visiting and local golfers a route back onto the course following a disruptive storm-related shutdown.

The scale of the damage

The municipality’s earlier update, dated October 14, reported approximately 90 to 100 fallen trees across the golf club, significant fence damage, minor roof damage and damage to benches, water coolers and other amenities. That figure concerns the facility as a whole, not Pines alone.

Tree clearance required professional contractors rather than volunteers using potentially hazardous equipment. Once trunks and debris were removed, the maintenance team still had to deal with damaged turf and areas affected by cleanup machinery. The city therefore treated the course closures as a player-safety issue, not simply a matter of clearing branches off fairways.

One course reopening, one still waiting

The first recovery schedule cancelled Pines tee times through Friday, October 23. On October 22, the city moved from an estimated recovery window to a firm public announcement: Pines tee times were set to resume Saturday, October 24, starting at 7:30 a.m. It also confirmed that the driving range and Clubhouse Grill were operating.

There was an important qualification: Oaks Course was still closed when the announcement was issued. On October 14 the city had blocked Oaks bookings through November 1, while bringing forward winter overseeding of its greens and teeing areas into the unexpected closure. That date was expressly provisional; it should not be presented as a guaranteed reopening date. Anyone hoping to play Oaks should check a fresh update rather than assuming that both courses reopened together.

Where to play and what to expect

The club is at 1955 Lewis Turner Boulevard, Fort Walton Beach, FL 32548, United States. Its two 18-hole layouts have different characters. Pines is a parkland course shaped by tall Florida pine trees and rolling fairways; Oaks is tighter, more heavily tree-lined and uses water hazards as a strategic feature. Practice facilities include a TrackMan-equipped range.

Despite offering memberships, Fort Walton Beach Golf Club is municipally owned and welcomes public play. Golfers can check availability and book directly at https://fwbgolf.com/. Green fees are set through a dynamic pricing model, so the city’s reopening notice should not be mistaken for a fixed-price offer or a promise that a particular starting time is still available.

Why the reopening matters

For an area where golf is part of both local recreation and visitor travel, restoring a public 18-hole option is a meaningful step after severe weather. It does not mean the entire 36-hole complex has returned to normal: recovery work and access restrictions may still affect the other layout. The reliable distinction is that Pines was officially scheduled to welcome players from October 24, whereas Oaks remained under a separate, tentative recovery timetable.

Official source: City of Fort Walton Beach announcement, October 22, 2026: https://fwb.org/m/NewsFlash/Home/Detail/973. Background: city damage update, October 14: https://fwb.org/m/newsflash/home/detail/962. Image note: the licensed archival photograph shows a different golf course in nearby Destin, not Pines and not the storm damage.