The 18-hole Cardinal at Diamondhead Country Club, half of a 36-hole layout on the property, is a semi-private course that opened in 1979.

Designed by Earl Stone, the golf course measures 6,831 yards from the longest tees and has a slope rating of 132 and a 72.7 USGA rating. The course features four sets of tees for different skill levels.

The major challenges for both golf courses are their tree-lined fairways. The Cardinal Course is wooded and was built on gently rolling terrain. It has no parallel fairways and extra-long sand bunkers.

Golf Digest rated the Cardinal Course as the fourth best public course in the state for 1996.