The Club at Mediterra in Naples, Fla.; BallenIsles Country Club in Jupiter, Fla.; Newport Beach (Calif.) Country Club; Shadow Wood Country Club in Estero, Fla.; and Estero Country Club in Fort Myers, Fla.; lead the way in C+RB‘s Top Ranked Clubhouses for 2022.

1. The Club at Mediterra

The Club at Mediterra’s Naples, Fla. clubhouse was originally built in 2000 and has been renovated in 2010, 2013, 2017 and 2019. As a non-refundable club, the club continues to invest and re-invest capital into amenities and facilities. A major focus of the clubhouse has always been providing comfortable al fresco dining, which is a huge part of today’s society and always has been in Florida.

The Club at Mediterra has been awarded “Community of the Year 12 times in 16 years, “Best Clubhouse Exterior,” “Design Excellence for Outdoor Living,” and “Award of Excellence for Open Spaces.” While receiving these and many other awards and accolades is nice, what it really means is that the club and staff work hard to create an environment where members feel safe, comfortable and surrounded by beauty, nature and fresh air. It’s the feeling members get when they are at Mediterra that makes the difference. Mediterra is also one of the very few private clubs to also offer a Beach Clubhouse with dining and cabana service.

2. BallenIsles Country Club

While BallenIsles Country Club in Jupiter, Fla. can trace its history to the early 1960s, its current brand has been in existence since 1989. A 72,000-sq.-ft. Grand Clubhouse opened in February 1997. The summer of 2011 saw a $3.6 million clubhouse refurbishment and, more recently, 115,000 square feet of space was revealed in November 2018 after undergoing a $35 million renovation, which includes four dining venues, sports bar, golf shop, meeting space, expansive card rooms and more.

From the spectacular Grand Lobby with vaulted ceilings and clerestory windows to the iconic Harry’s Lounge (in tribute to its long-tenured, well-storied PGA Professional Harry Pezzullo), the sweeping architectural changes maximize both indoor and outdoor usage and views.

Dining and social experiences include an expanded Circle 100 Main Dining Room, a modern upscale restaurant called Evolution, and the spectacular BallenIsles Grille overlooking the 18th green of the East Course. Fondly dubbed The B.I.G., it features a blend of gastropub cuisine and 17 TVs for never missing the game.

Other additions included two new kitchens and the expansion of the stylish Men’s and Ladies’ Card Rooms, Locker Rooms and Meeting Rooms. In all, BallenIsles has six dining venues available to its members including Harry’s Lounge, Bistro 105, Circle 100, Evolution, The BallenIsles Grille (B.I.G.) & Rendezvous Room, and the Skinny Palms/Cabana.

The vision was to create different experiences for the dynamic membership in the primary areas of the BallenIsles Country Club clubhouse, including new dining locations, the golf shop, expanded card rooms, meeting rooms, men’s and ladies’ lounges and common areas. These would be the places of choice for socializing with friends and family while serving more than 275,000 meals per year to a diverse membership that loves to dine.

Understanding the scale of the massive 115,000 sq. ft. expanded clubhouse, 9,000 sq. ft. of outdoor patio seating, and the adjacent 65,000 sq. ft. sports complex, was critical throughout the envisioning process and took nearly a year of planning.

“The $35 Million Clubhouse renovation expanded the club with world-class amenities that redefine scale and style. We have a diverse membership and this building and its amenities offer something for all. It is stylish, yet comfortable, providing opportunities for socialization and, importantly, multiple dining venues that are highly valued by our members. Our board and designers listened to what our members wanted, and delivered on it,” said BallenIsles General Manager and CEO, Ryan Walls. “This renovation continues our path of reinforcing BallenIsles as a leading country club community, focused on quality and enjoyment for our membership.”

The entire project was built around the very simple idea of providing something special for everyone. The redesign and expansion perfectly complement the state-of-the-art Sports Complex offering a full-service spa and salon, fitness center, health-conscious dining venue, resort-style swimming pool, and on-site physical therapy. BallenIsles also boasts a world-class 30-court racquet complex with 21 tennis courts, including an exhibition stadium court, and nine pickleball courts.

3. Newport Beach Country Club

The original clubhouse at Newport Beach (Calif.) Country Club was built in 1954. That building was torn down in 2014 and the new clubhouse opened in July of 2016.

Newport Beach Country Club’s 56,000 sq. ft. California Coastal Craftsman style clubhouse exudes casual sophistication. Perched above the famed Pacific Coast Highway, the state-of-the-art facility boasts panoramic views of emerald fairways and sapphire seas through floor-to-ceiling windows. Verandas and patios flow from dining and banquet rooms creating an indoor-outdoor feel that takes advantage of Newport Beach’s incredible year-round climate.

The feedback from members and guests creates a sense of awe that matches the club’s vision of being the standard for the next generation of club. The Clubhouse includes:
– Five dining outlets with three different kitchens
– A pizza oven
– Two wine cellars
– 2,900 sq. ft. of second-level patio space with ocean views
– 7,300 sq. ft. of second-level patio space with golf course views
– 5,200 sq. ft. of primary-level patio space with golf course views
– 3,700 sq. ft. of ballroom space with both ocean and golf course views
– 9,300 sq. ft. of Men’s and Ladies locker rooms complete with showers, saunas, steam rooms, hot tubs and spa treatment rooms
– Olympic size swimming pool
– 2,100 sq. ft. of fitness center
– 812 sq. ft. of multi-purpose fitness class space
– Two bocce ball courts
– 30,000 sq. ft. of flexible outdoor grass event space
– Separate member and event entrances
– 2,000 sq. ft. of golf shop

4. Shadow Wood Country Club

Over the past few years, Shadow Wood Country Club in Estero, Fla. has been evolving through a transformation process to completely renovate the club facilities. From style to functionality, no stone was left unturned.

The addition of the wildly popular Golfside Grill in 2019 was just the beginning. The 10,000 sq. ft. addition features a folding glass door system for all-weather enjoyment of expansive sunset and golf course views. The 260-seat casual dining space includes a large octangular bar and a second kitchen. Members enjoy a sushi bar, pizza oven and a built-in soup and salad buffet. A wall of nine 55” monitors together form one giant TV screen, in addition to 16 big screen televisions positioned throughout the space. The addition of the Golfside Grill led to an increase of 506% a-la-carte covers and a 181% increase in F&B revenues.

The renovations in 2021 included remodeling the ladies’ locker and card rooms, expanding and renovating the men’s lounge, converting the old golf shop into a multi-purpose room, building a new golf shop, and redesigned the bag drop and golf arrival areas. The goal was to increase member utilization by connecting the spaces intuitively, capitalizing on best exterior views, providing flexibility in utilization, and increasing operational efficiency.

The most notable part of the transformation was relocating the original 1,200 sq. ft. golf shop to a new 3,500 sq. ft. structure connected with covered walkways to the remodeled locker rooms. The new building overlooks the expansive golf practice facilities and redesigned cart staging area. This space offers unique retail opportunities unparalleled at most private clubs featuring more than 60 brands in a boutique style environment.

The Golf Shop has seen a 30% increase in daily traffic and is forecasting more than doubling annual merchandise sales as a result of a 50% increase in overall inventory levels and a 20% increase in categories of retail offerings.

The old golf shop was converted into a multi-function room for overflow card players during the day and private events at night. The interior design included built in wine storage displays and transformed the old golf shop into one of the most elegant flex spaces in the club.

The final phase of the transformation included expanding one outdoor patio and building a second. Members can enjoy comfortable lounge seating, bar seating, dining tables, and eight fire pits with weekly live entertainment while dining or enjoying a cocktail outside.

Upon completion of the West End renovations, Shadow Wood Country Club membership reached capacity for the first time in club history. New membership sales more than doubled and hit record highs in 2022 following the completion of the new Golf Shop and East End renovations.

5. Estero Country Club

Estero Country Club in Fort Myers, Fla. is a member-owned private country club offering golf, lifestyle, and social experiences in the friendly and vibrant Vines community. Founded in 1986, ECC is an Audubon Certified Sanctuary with a 7,072-yard, 18-Hole Gordon Lewis-designed course on 105 lush tropical acres surrounded by sparkling lakes.

In 2018, the famed golf course designer completed a multi-million-dollar course restoration and considers ECC one of his best designs.

In an effort to maintain a high level of exclusivity and member satisfaction, the leadership approached AM Design Group to provide strategic enhancements and amenities that elevate the member experience and position the golf and country club for the future. The renovation provided much-needed enhancements and amenities to take the club from a design that served members the way they lived 30 years ago to how these families live today.

The Vision of the new club design was to create a space that leads you from the inside out. Architecturally, this was accomplished in three ways: removing the wall in between the lobby and dance floor to allow a direct view from the front door of the clubhouse to the back patio that overlooks the course vista; expanding Mulligans (casual dining/bar area) to allow for complete overlook over the course from the north and west walls, and adding a new covered and open-air outdoor dining room/lounge that extends into the beautiful back landscape.

Through Interior Design, décor neutral with pops of slate blue were emphasized so the focus would remain on the views. Interior colors were chosen to coordinate with the lush tropical greenery as opposed to overwhelming it. Neutral wood-look tile floors connected the interior to nature and provided warmth to offset cooler wall and fabric color tones. Custom half-round booth niches that face the exterior view instead of a straight bank of booths facing each other were also added.

The custom members’ gallery art features professional photography of the club grounds and animal inhabitants, as well as historical pictures of the golf course so that the focus is always on the exterior, even in a windowless hallway. Special attention was paid to creating seating options for family and friends to gather, maximizing the view of the golf course and outdoor social areas.

Additional improvements include new meeting spaces, two pickleball courts, two bocce courts, casual outdoor patio seating with fire tables, and an expanded fitness center. With several coastal contemporary influences in design, members and guests have commented on the warm and welcoming feel.

The renovation not only provided meaningful advancements in facilities and amenities for the members’ enjoyment but also provided a sound foundation for the growth and stability at Estero Country Club for years to come.