The Island Links at Aquarina is the small, characterful golf course set inside the Aquarina community on the barrier island south of Melbourne Beach, Florida. It is the course that gave this domain its name, and for anyone searching "island links golf" it is almost certainly what you are looking for. This page is an independent profile — a golfer's-eye description of what the course is and how to play it today.
The Basics
The course was designed by Florida architect Charles Ankrom and opened for play in 1996. It is an eighteen-hole, par-62 executive layout that stretches to roughly 4,300 yards from the back (blue) tees, with multiple tee boxes so it plays fairly for everyone from juniors to low-markers. Ankrom is well known along Florida's east coast for routing courses that sit lightly on sensitive coastal land, and Aquarina is a textbook example: compact, walkable, and threaded between wetlands and residential edges.
Do not let "executive" or "par 62" fool you into thinking it is a pushover. As the original course notes put it, "water features extensively on this beach course, presenting more than enough of a challenge for most golfers." The scorecard is short; the trouble is real.
How It Plays
This is coastal, wind-exposed golf on firm, sandy ground. The par-3s are the identity of the round — several ask you to carry water to shallow, well-guarded greens, where club selection and a calm tempo beat brute force every time. The handful of short par-4s reward position over power: a smart iron or hybrid off the tee usually leaves a better angle than a driver that flirts with the hazards. Because it is an executive course, you will hit a lot of mid and short irons, which makes it an outstanding place to sharpen the scoring part of your game.
It has always been billed as "golf the whole family can enjoy," and that remains its charm. Rounds move quickly, the walk is gentle, and a nine-hole loop is a genuinely good use of a Space Coast morning before the sea breeze stiffens. If you want to understand the local conditions before you play, our coastal Florida golf tips cover wind, grain and water strategy in detail.
Where It Sits
The course occupies about forty acres inside a gated barrier-island community in Melbourne Beach, with the Atlantic on one side and the Indian River Lagoon on the other. That setting is a big part of the experience — you are playing in one of the most biologically rich estuary corridors in North America. We cover that landscape, and why it matters, on our page about the Aquarina community and the lagoon.
Playing It Today
The course still welcomes public play and now operates under the Aquarina Country Club name. Because tee times and rates change with the season, the reliable way to play is to book through the course's own official website or a neutral tee-time service such as those listed in the Melbourne Beach course directory. It has long been a favorite for casual rounds — the kind of nine-hole-friendly course that Golf Digest has championed as the future of accessible golf.
Want to see how it stacks up against the rest of the area? Compare it with the other public courses near Melbourne Beach.
This is an independent profile for informational purposes and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or the official website of the course, club or community described.