Golf-course lots: why the turf rule isn't the same from one community to the next

Two golf communities, two different starting points

A lot that touches a fairway doesn’t get one standard turf rule just because it’s on a golf course. Some communities decide artificial grass case by case, through an architectural board. Others prohibit it outright, on every lot, no matter how well the turf is screened. Those are opposite starting points for a layout, and you won’t know which one applies to you without reading your own community’s current architectural guidelines in full.

St. Johns Golf & Country Club is a documented example of the second kind, and it’s worth seeing exactly what a flat rule looks like before you plan anything.

When a community bans artificial grass outright

St. Johns Golf & Country Club’s Architectural Guidelines set a turf requirement that leaves no room for a case-by-case decision. Front and rear yards must hold a minimum ratio of lawn to planting bed, St. Augustine sod “must be used” “to insure a consistent turf color and texture within the community,” and the guidelines add flatly: “no artificial grass, trees, plants or vegetation are permitted on the exterior of a lot or structure.”

That’s not a review process you can apply for and win with the right layout. It’s a prohibition written into the community’s own architectural document, and it applies to the whole lot — not just the portion facing the course.

The same guidelines carry a separate rule for anything built near the fairway. Its fencing section sets a style just for “lakefront, corner and golf course lots”: open-style aluminum or wrought iron, 48 to 54 inches, black only, without spears on top, one or two horizontal top rails and one bottom rail, roughly 4-inch picket spacing, and a requirement to tie into an adjoining property’s existing fence rather than run a second fence beside it. That’s a narrower rule than the community’s general fencing section, written specifically for lots that border the course or a lake.

Why Florida’s turf statute doesn’t reach a rule like this

Fla. Stat. 720.3045 keeps a homeowners association from restricting a parcel owner from installing artificial turf, by name, that is “not visible from the parcel’s frontage or an adjacent parcel, an adjacent common area, or a community golf course.” That’s real protection in a community that reviews turf case by case, where the fight is over where on the lot it can go.

It does nothing for a community that bans artificial grass outright. The statute limits how a covenant restricts visible turf; it doesn’t require an association to permit artificial turf anywhere its own recorded architectural documents prohibit it, visible or not. Read against a flat rule like St. Johns Golf & Country Club’s, the sightline test in 720.3045 never comes into play — there’s no square footage the statute opens up, because the community’s own document closes all of it.

That distinction is the first thing to settle on a golf-course lot: is your community’s rule a sightline test you can plan around, or a blanket prohibition the statute doesn’t touch?

The other kind: reviewed case by case

Not every golf community closes the door the same way. Some pair a golf-course easement — a recorded right for golfers to retrieve balls and the course to perform normal maintenance along the boundary — with an architectural-review requirement instead of a flat ban, deciding artificial grass application by application. Marsh Creek, also in St. Johns County, is a documented example of that approach; we cover its specific easement and review-board language, and how it interacts with the sightline test, on our Anastasia Island page.

The point that carries across both examples: don’t assume your community’s rule matches the one next door, or matches a summary you found online. Read the current architectural guidelines for your specific address, because the difference between “case by case” and “not permitted” changes everything about what a layout can include.

That matters most if you’re actually on a fairway lot. Check the current guidelines for your own address at World Golf Village, Glen Kernan Golf & Country Club, Queen’s Harbour Yacht & Country Club, Sawgrass or the golf-course side of Anastasia Island directly with the association — each records its own documents, and they don’t share one policy just because they’re all golf communities.

What a professional install handles near the line

On the free visit, we measure the lot and check the ground, including how close any planned turf area sits to the golf-course boundary and to a fence line a review rule may cover. We draw a custom layout built around what your community’s current documents actually allow, for you to approve before anything starts. Site prep, the base built for your soil, and the turf laid, seamed and edged all follow that approved layout, so the finished project matches what the association signed off on rather than a generic plan.

What we don’t do is read your architectural guidelines for you or file the board application. Those documents are recorded against your specific lot, and the application goes through your community’s own board. Bringing us the current turf rule and any golf-course fencing requirement lets us design to them from the start — including telling you plainly if your community’s rule doesn’t leave room for artificial turf at all.

Questions to settle before the layout is final

• Does my community decide artificial turf case by case, or prohibit it outright? That’s the first fork, and it changes everything downstream.
• If it’s reviewed case by case, does a golf-course easement or sightline rule apply to my lot? Find the current document rather than assuming.
• If it’s a flat rule, does it name artificial grass specifically, or a broader landscaping standard? Read the exact wording, not a summary.
• What fence style, height and color does a golf-course lot require, if the community sets one apart from its general fencing rule?
• Who do I submit an application to, and how long does review take, if my community reviews rather than bans?
• Has the rule changed since I last checked? Architectural guidelines get revised; confirm the current version with your association.

Bring the answers to the free visit, and we’ll draw a layout to match what your community actually allows. Call us at 303-349-2368.