Undeterred by legal and HOA hassles and then the pandemic, ownership and management of the Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. property pushed through to unveil its innovative golf concept in 2020, with much more planned for the years ahead.
AT THE END OF OCTOBER 2020, much of the golf and club industry could be heard exhaling with a collective sigh of relief, as it had become clear that what had looked just six months earlier like it would be a year of disastrous proportions was going to end with not just good results, but also promising new potential for the future.
The end of October—October 23rd, to be exact—was also when perhaps the most surprising and encouraging development of the year occurred. A new club opened in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. that marked the revival of one that had failed under several previous identities. And when the first ball was finally struck to start play on the golf course at The Yards, owner David Miller and General Manager Mike Miles could certainly be excused for wanting to add screams of delight and a happy dance to the industry’s prevailing mood.
The opening of The Yards, which is located inside the gates of the Sawgrass Players Club, home of TPC Sawgrass and The Players Championship, marked the end of an odyssey that included over six years of legal and financial wrangling, haggling with a homeowners association, and delivery of a handwritten letter to Arnold Palmer before a bulldozer could even begin to start, in September 2019, to reshape the property into the vision that Miller and Miles had for it. And then, of course, a a pandemic broke out, just to add some extra challenge to the task.
But in the sixth months since that long-awaited first tee time finally became reality, Miller and Miles and the rest of the team helping to develop The Yards have been quickly making up for lost time. Rounds played on the various course configurations have been brisk from day one, and membership momentum has picked up for the property, which eventually hopes to see a split, Miles says, with about 30 to 40 percent of golf played by 200 members, with the rest accounted for by locals and guests who are attracted to the Sawgrass resort area. “We’re fine with being the third destination course in a destination area, and getting played on the third or fourth day of someone’s week here,” Miles says.
As March 2021 approached, The Yards was planning to maximize the additional exposure it could gain through its proximity to The Players Championship that would be held at TPC Sawgrass’ Stadium Course. The awareness would not only be gained from special events, clinics, corporate and media outings and watch parties held at the new course throughout the week, but also through the connections that Miller and Miles, a former PGA Tour player who still competes in Senior events, have forged from the start to gain help for developing and promoting the property from the Tour and its Commissioner, Jay Monahan, as well as pros including Patrick Cantlay and Billy Horschel.
The Tour has been supportive of The Yards from the beginning, Miles says, because it has been glad to see investment made in a property that certainly wasn’t reflecting well on the overall Sawgrass image before Miller, a Southern California native whose financial success came in the chemical business, purchased what was then the Oak Bridge Golf Club at the end of 2014. (The property was originally named Hidden Oaks when it was built by the Arvida development corporation in 1973; there was also a chapter of its history when it was known as Ponte Vedra Golf and Country Club.)
At the time of Miller’s purchase, Oak Bridge was in a sharp decline that only continued as legal hurdles were cleared and an arrangement was finally worked out to the satisfaction of Sawgrass Players Club residents for selling part of the 18-hole course for a 55-and-over development (which, in addition to generating funds for the golf course’s improvement and redesign, will also bring 400 doors, and potential members behind them, to The Yards’ doorstep when the facility comes on stream by the end of 2022).
Because the golf course had been redesigned by Arnold Palmer’s company in 1984, there was also the matter of making sure the vision that Miller and Miles, who also came from Southern California after years at Virginia Country Club in Long Beach, had for creating an innovative and flexible short-course configuration would not be viewed as blasphemous treatment of what Palmer Design had created. Monahan helped here, too, offering to hand-deliver a letter from Miller—which he made Miller rewrite out by hand, after it had originally been typed—the next time he visited Arnold Palmer in Latrobe, Pa., which he was able to do shortly before Palmer’s death in September 2016.
Palmer’s enthusiastic blessing cleared the way, once construction could finally start three years later, to build The Yards layout (with a big boost from equipment and agronomic expertise provided through the Tour conection) that is designed to be equal parts challenge and fun, with a premium placed on being able to play as quickly or as long as desired.
“We’re not looking for architectural awards,” says Miles. “The rewards for us are being able to take an old course that people stopped coming to and making it a lot of fun, so they’ll keep coming back and also tell others it’s something they need to check out, too.”
Elements of the fun extend to whimsical names for the holes (“Lefty Lucy,” “Hairy Coquina,” and “The Commish”—a nod to how Monahan suggested that the tee and green on the par-3 11th be elevated to resemble short holes he remembered from his youth in New England).
There are also unique physical features, such as a railroad car flatbed that serves as a bridge between two of the par-3s, and a bunker in the middle of the green on the par-3 5th, aka “The Black Hole,” that is filled with crushed, black lava. (A sign in the tee marker for that hole warns: “Caution. This is the Black Hole. A surprise awaits you may not escape.”)
Overall, Miller says, the idea for his first venture into the golf business is to capture what he’s seen from the newfound appeal of Topgolf and the more casual atmosphere that is beginning to become more pervasive in golf, without becoming gimmicky or compromising what passionate golfers look for in terms of challenge and enjoyment.
But most importantly, there is an emphasis on making the entire scene as friendly and low-key as a backyard get-together—which is what inspired the name, as suggested by Miles’ wife Stacey, after she realized that the vibe would be the same as when Miller hosts parties at the expansive yard in his own Ponte Vedra Beach home. (The course scorecard carries the theme further by designating “The Front Yard” as a nine-hole course, with an optional three that can be added to play 12, and “The Backyard,” made up of six par 3s.)
COMPLETING THE CLUB
With the golf operation finally in full swing, Miles is now ready to plunge into a second phase that will build 15 pickleball courts—eight of which will be covered—along a pro shop and pavilion, to complement the existing Oak Bridge Tennis Center that still has a thriving presence on the property.
Improvements are also planned for the former Oak Bridge CC clubhouse that The Yards occupies. That building survived the demise of the club, which was down to 30 members when Miller acquired it, in much better shape than the golf course. It is well-positioned for patrons to watch golf action and has a popular, open-to-the-public restaurant, 3 Palms Grille, that is operated by an outside party. Planned improvements will build out more covered patio space to further enhance the clubhouse’s appeal for how it brings those enjoying social activity close to the course (see photos, above right).
Miles’ most ambitious project will be to convert the property’s original course maintenance facility—which clearly does show its age now—into an event and party pavilion that will include golf simulators and a “mini-sports bar” setup (a new maintenance facility will be built elsewhere on the property). A separate member party bar will also be created, and Miles envisions having room for concerts and other large gatherings as COVID restrictions are further relaxed.
In their “spare time,” Miller and Miles eagerly search for ideas from other club properties of all types that they think could continue to add excitement and bring distinction to what they’ve created at The Yards. “We’re not in this as developers,” says Miles. “We’ve always been approaching it as a ‘Mom and Pop’ operation, with the ‘masterminds’ being a very passionate owner/entrepreneur who’s new to the business, and an old ‘been-there, done-that’ golf pro.
“We don’t have a set template we’re following; we’re constantly looking for new things we can try to apply,” he adds. “It’s taken a lot of patience, investment and some luck, too, to finally get to what we have now. But we are taking a lot of pride in being one of the first to be able to repurpose an old, many-times-failed country club into a multi-purpose complex that creates an atmosphere that enhances the already inherent social aspects of golf.
“The industry now knows that fancy course-design aspects aren’t as important as enjoying time playing a game that is naturally difficult,” Miles says. “We think we’ve created a friendly experience that captures that idea, and the way we’ve opened to rave reviews from the start seems to confirm that we have.”
At a Glance:
The Yards
Location: Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (inside gates of Sawgrass Players Club, home of TPC Sawgrass)
Opened: October 2020
History: Originally Hidden Oaks/Oak Bridge Club, built in 1973 with 18-hole, par-70 golf course that was redesigned by Arnold Palmer design in 1984.
Current Golf Configurations:
• 12-hole course, par 44 (3,695 yards from back tees)
• 9-hole course, par 35 (3,190 yards from back tees)
• 6-hole course, par 18 (802 yards from back tees)
Additional amenities:
• Oak Bridge Tennis Center
• 3 Palms Grille
• 12-court pickleball facility and events center in development
Owner: David Miller
General Manager: Mike Miles
Director of Golf: Zach Vinal
Assistant General Manager: Mariel Fleming
Director of Marketing: Beth Mason
Operations and Finance: Austin Taylor
Tennis Membership Director: Kristi Collins
C+RB
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