The Marco Island (Fla.) Marriott has reopened for guests after completing the first phase of a $250 million upgrade; Sea Pines Resort in Hilton Head Island, S.C., will open its Harbour Town Golf Links in late September/early October; and Golf Club of Texas in San Antonio will welcome members on August 28 following completion of a $7 million club-wide renovation.
After a three-month closure to start a multi-phase brand conversion, the Marco Island (Fla.) Marriott Beach Resort, Golf Club & Spa has reopened to guests. The 726-room property is undergoing a $250 million upgrade and expansion and is scheduled to convert to a JW Marriott brand resort in 2017, the New York, N.Y.-based Real Deal reported.
C&RB featured Marco Island Marriott as its March 2006 cover story.
The completed first phase of the expansion includes bigger pool decks, a refurbished lobby and a new front entrance. A redesign of guest rooms will allow for a larger shower. Restaurants on the property including Quinn’s, Pazzi’s and Cafe San Marco have reopened, and so have the resort’s two swimming pools. Hammock Bay, the resort’s par 72 golf course, will reopen in October, the Real Deal reported.
The second phase of the upgrade and expansion will continue through the end of the year. Construction of a new 94-room, adults-only tower with a rooftop pool is ongoing. The property’s built-out oceanfront Tiki Bar is scheduled to open in late fall, and its rebranded fine dining restaurant ARIO is set to open in mid-September, the Real Deal reported.
In January 2017, the property will become the first beachfront resort operating under the JW Marriott brand, with 100,000 sq. ft. of event space, 810 guest rooms and an updated, 24,000-sq. ft. spa, the Real Deal reported.
The Sea Pines Resort in Hilton Head Island, S.C., has announced that its Harbour Town Golf Links will open in late September/early October, following a series of agronomic enhancements over the summer.
The Pete Dye-designed layout was closed in early May just after Jim Furyk won the RBC Heritage for the second time. The tee-boxes, fairways and rough have been replaced with Celebration Bermuda grass, the most scientifically-advanced surface used on warm season courses.
Harbour Town’s greens were re-grassed with Tif-Eagle Bermuda, the same turf used on the putting surfaces since 2001. A new irrigation system was also installed with advanced water management and control technology.
MacCurrach Golf Construction—which worked with Dye during the 2001 restoration of Harbour Town—managed the project.
“The enhancements to Harbour Town Golf Links will improve the year-round conditioning and playability of the course,” said Cary Corbitt, Vice President of Sports & Operations. “The stewardship of Pete Dye’s seminal design is important to us as we welcome our guests, members and PGA TOUR players to enjoy one of the world’s most famous courses for many years to come.”
Visitors to The Sea Pines Resort will also discover the new Harbour Town Clubhouse which opened in March. The 55,000-sq. ft. multi-use structure features a comfortable living room lounge, Links, an American grill with indoor/outdoor seating and sweeping golf course views, signature pro shop and retail display, wrap-around terraces with covered porches, state-of-the-art 4,000-sq. ft. locker room, and the Heritage Room, a 2,200-sq. ft. banquet and event room on the top floor.
The completely renovated Golf Club of Texas in San Antonio will reopen and welcome golfers August 28, when more than 200 membership holders will put the course through its paces in earnest for the first time.
The club, which applied Zoysia turf on every square foot of its prime playing surfaces, even the greens, will begin accepting tee times for play August 29, with the facility’s grand reopening set for mid-October. The timeframe for the course’s reopening was delayed by weather and to allow the Zoysia greens and fairways to mature into pristine playing conditions.
“We are very pleased and excited that the Golf Club of Texas will be reopening at the end of August,” said Ruffin Moore, the director of club operations for the Outlaw Golf Group, owners and operators of the Golf Club of Texas. “We will move forward knowing that the experience here will be even better as the days and weeks allow the track to mature.”
The golf course was originally designed by Roy Bechtol as a Lee Trevino-signature course. It opened in 1999, but closed in 2013 after the ongoing Texas drought negatively affected course conditions. In 2014, the facility was purchased by the Outlaw Golf Group and Bechtol was retained to return the course to its original glory and make key changes where needed.
“The changes we have made only enhance what was there in the past and address maintenance and conditioning issues that affected the course in the past few years,” Bechtol said.
The renovation cost more than $7 million as Bechtol reworked the course’s putting surfaces, bunkers and tee boxes. He added movement and more bunkers to its fairways. The front- and back-nines have been flipped to create a more dynamic finish and new water features have been constructed. Irrigation has also been updated, even as Bechtol’s revision has reduced the amount of turf that needs to be watered by more than 20 percent.
The facility also features an expanded practice area, which includes a dual-sided driving range, a “wedge world” short game zone and a private teaching area. Two new lighted practice putting greens have also been fashioned in the shadow of the updated clubhouse, one with some challenging slopes that will act as its own place for fun and competition.
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