South Florida Golf Courses Scene

By South Florida standards descriptions of the weather that day ranged from bitter to balmy, after all it was December 1. As the first golfers to play then public Fort Lauderdale Country Club trotted toward the No. 1 tee box on that morning in 1926 toting their best persimmon woods, clad in old-fashioned caps, with socks tucked into their trousers and perhaps sporting formal jackets (a tradition that was phased out in the second quarter of the 20th century), they were met by marshals manning a tent where green fees were collected and golf supplies sold.

With the facility’s Spanish missionstyle clubhouse still under construction as the original 18-hole North Course opened, this pedestrian set-up was required to check golfers in and usher them on their way. The enthusiasm and excitement of that historic day is still present at Fort Lauderdale Country Club, but the golf course grounds and surrounding amenities have undergone a extensive amount of beautification and enhancement.

It’s true that dozens of families and individuals are relinquishing their memberships at private country clubs, even here in sunny South Florida, as the economy tightens budgets and forces everyone to honestly evaluate luxury expenditures.

But, for avid golfers and their families who’ve long considered making one of the area’s premier golf facilities a home away from home, the time to act is now as private clubs offer more versatile membership options at discounted rates while still promising the same service and resplendent settings long-time members have grown accustomed to.

Dana Garmany who serves as chairman and chief executive of Troon Golf, the country’s largest golf management company that manages dozens of private clubs in the U.S., recently told the New York Times that this is as good a time as any to get your foot in the door at a private golf facility. 

Recently reopened in 2007, the “New West Course” at Jacaranda is acclaimed as a genial compliment to the challenges presented by the recently restored East Course. The $10-million spent to upgrade Jacaranda’s New Jacaranda Golf Club - East Course and Jacaranda Golf Club - West Courses set an extraordinary benchmark for golf course design.

The addition of Sea-Dwarf Paspalum grass to the tees and fairways has given an entirely new look to one of South Florida’s foremost golfing experiences. Over the past two summers Jacaranda has created “living works of landscape art” while retaining the playability of championship golf. Luxurious new Tif-Dwarf putting surfaces, tightly manicured collection areas, plush emerald green fairways, and bunkering have been added, designed in such a natural way that risk/reward golf has never looked so enticing. Both the par-71 East and the par-72 West have 5 sets of tees measuring from 4,923 to 7,247 yards. The goal Scratch Golf achieved was to create course design where every level of golfer is faced with appropriate challenges that make this game so intriguing. Many who have played Jacaranda since the renovations have commented “It’s a brand new course but it still feels like home.” 

Emerging from an extensive renovation, Fort Lauderdale Country Club, South Florida’s oldest private golf club, has secured its position as one of the area’s finest and most acclaimed facilities for decades to come.

Located in the heart of Broward County, the 36-hole private equity club has been entertaining members and their guests since 1926. But like all great treasures, Fort Lauderdale needed some polishing, and thanks to a dedicated membership, has received exactly that. The club, which is known for its fair, but challenging golf courses set in a lush park setting of over 300 acres, recently renovated its South Course and rejuvenated its practice facilities.

That work and an active and growing membership, which includes a large Women’s Golf Association and more than 125 single-digit handicappers, ensures this South Florida golf landmark will maintain its lofty status for another 90 years and beyond.

The first Tournament Players Club to open as a private course, TPC Eagle Trace has redefined member-only golf in South Florida for the past two and half decades.

Nine times the home to the PGA Tour’s Honda Classic from 1984 to 1996 and the annual host of the Champions Tour Final Qualifying School, Eagle Trace, a non-equity private club owned and operating by Heritage Golf Group, treats its members and their guests to “tournament conditions” year-round.

Crafted by the legendary Arthur Hills, Eagle Trace, can stretch to more than 7,000 yards, but with four sets of tees, the emphasis on this par 72 is on accuracy and shot-making over length and power. In traditional TPC fashion, Eagle Trace has some of the finest greens in the area, all of which are framed by attractive spectator mounds – another TPC trademark.

There is no hotter name in golf course architecture than Tom Fazio. Nobody else has his name on 14 of Golf Digest’s Top 100 Courses in America.

And nobody else offers a place we can all play with the combination of quiet, quality and value along the Treasure Coast than Fazio’s Champions Club, located between Stuart and Hobe Sound, just off US-1.

There might be no other architect in the world who can make golf magic from the diverse pieces of real estate that Tom Fazio has. With such varied layouts to his credit as Shadow Creek and The Quarry out West, Dallas National and Karsten Creek in the Southwest, Victoria National in Indiana, Caves Valley and Hudson National in the Northeast, Wild Dunes and Wade Hampton in the Caro-linas, Black Diamond Ranch, Pine Barrens and the West Course at the John’s Island Club in Florida, the South Florida native is considered by many as the resident genius in the design game. 

Golf is a game of integrity, almost always governed by expected standards of etiquette, but there are exceptions.

Typically the rules of golf determine which player among a group is first to play; whether it's on the tee, fairway or green, away always hits first. But to save time, the most prepared to hit may proceed with their shots; this is known as ready golf, a solution capable of speeding up slow play and facilitating an enjoyable round of golf. Simply put, hit when ready. 

Some of Miami’s most important golf history has been written on the legendary layouts of the Country Club of Miami and Crandon Golf, Key Biscayne. Names like Palmer, Trevino, Player and Nicklaus have played the same courses you can enjoy just as much today, at surprising values.

The Miami-Dade Parks Golf Courses, which include the Country Club of Miami, Crandon Golf at Key Biscayne, Palmetto, Greynolds and Briar Bay courses, offer a great variety of golf options, continue to be in great condition, have all been recently updated to meet the challenges of today’s players and equipment, and can now even be booked online. Rich in history, these courses are ready to help write the next golf memories for you and your family. 

CORAL GABLES, Fla. - Sometimes it pays to have spent 80-odd years as a muni.

Designed by Donald Ross in 1925, the Biltmore Golf Course served the Miami area for decades as both stellar municipal track and playground to a parade of sporting celebrities, from Babe Ruth to Bobby Jones to Johnny Weismuller to Tiger Woods.

The course fell into disrepair late in the 20th century. In this case, however, it was better to have been neglected than irretrievably altered. Thanks to architect Brian Silva, whose comprehensive restoration of the course was unveiled this winter, the Biltmore GC has again joined the ranks of America’s premier resort tracks. 

“It’s a new course that still feels like home!”

Jacaranda Golf Club’s renaissance is complete. Much has been said during reconstruction of the facility, but the results now articulate themselves. Both courses, sporting $10,000,000 in renovations, provide an exceptional benchmark of course design. Luxurious new Tif-Dwarf putting surfaces, tightly manicured collection areas, plush emerald green fairways, and bunkering designed in such a natural way that risk/reward golf has never looked so appealing. The East and West compliment each other with subtle variations presented to a golfer in a most gratifying way. The Jacaranda Golf Club - East Course , although longer and slightly more open, is a bookend to the Jacaranda Golf Club - West Course and its shotmaker’s challenge of strategically placed hazards. From the open fronted greens on the East to the bunkered elevations of the West, each route contains elements unique to this tropical paradise.