Diamondhead is located about 35 miles from Biloxi and 50 miles from New Orleans and is easily accessible from either city. While Diamondhead makes for a nice day trip from either of these cities, it’s also an area that attracts “snowbirds.” Diamondhead is serious about their golf, as proven by their recently completed 5-year course renovation program. In fact, the entire area would like to become better known to golfers up north as a great Southern alternative for their winter golf getaways.
Diamondhead has some interesting topography, with elevations that rise up to over 100 feet. This makes it the perfect location for a world class golf facility. The Diamondhead Country Club and the Golf Academy of Diamondhead are located in the center of town. The club boasts two 18-hole championship golf courses as well as 10 lighted, state of the art hydra clay tennis courts located down the road at Diamondhead Tennis World. There’s also a marina, 5,400 square feet of meeting and banquet space, a full-service restaurant and the only indoor/outdoor Golf Academy along the MS Gulf Coast run by the state’s top golf instructor.
Within the clubhouse there are two dining venues: the 19th Hole Bar & Grill and the main dining room. The 19th Hole has become the prime gathering place within the community, while the dining room features an excellent a la carte menu. Friday night is Steak Night and you'll find Chef outside preparing Certified Angus Beef filet, ribeyes and seafood on a charcoal grill, cooked to your exact specifications.
When it comes to practice facilities, Diamondhead offers some of the area’s best, and practice is something serious golfers need if they want to get the most out of their game.
The Pine Course was the first course built and opened for play in 1971. The course was designed by Earl Stone and measures 6,769 yards from the longest tees Four sets of tees make the Pines course playable for golfers of all skill levels. Pine will test your shot shaping ability, requiring you to move the ball both right to left and left to right. Depending on where your tee shot lands, the heavily wooded area may require you to keep the ball under a tree limb or two. The par 4 4th hole provides the course’s sternest test. This demanding hole requires a tee shot that narrowly avoids the oak trees on the right side. The creek that crosses the fairway about 125 yards from the green shouldn’t come into play for the majority of players. The approach shot plays uphill to a fairly deep green guarded by a large bunker on the right side. A back right pin placement can be especially tricky.
The Cardinal Course opened for play in 1979 and plays 6,729 yards from the longest (Blue) tees. Five sets of tees provide a comfortable length for golfers of all skill levels. The Cardinal’s major challenge is the tree-lined fairways, however the course also features gently rolling terrain, extra-long sand bunkers and no parallel fairways. For me, the most memorable hole on either course is the par 4, 12th on the Cardinal Course. It’s a fairly short (330 yards from the White tees) par 4 with a slight dogleg right. From the tees, the creek that crosses the fairway looks innocent enough and easy to carry, however if I were naming holes, this one would be called “It Ain’t a Creek!” It’s actually a lake that requires a carry of about 300 yards.
Diamondhead Country Club has partnered with the nearby Silver Slipper Casino in Bay St. Louis, MS to offer some pretty impressive golf packages, which can be found on the Silver Slipper website. These packages include a one-night stay at Silver Slipper Casino Hotel, one free buffet at the Jubilee Buffet which has the widest variety of foods I have seen outside of a supermarket.
Memberships to Diamondhead Country Club are available to both residents and non-residents. There are several membership classifications including Individual Golf, Family Golf, Associate Individual Golf and Corporate Golf memberships. Residents can choose to use their own, private cart or pay a cart fee each round.