The renovated men’s grill and lounge at Desert Highlands will be designed as a gathering space, with new windows bringing in more natural light and accordion doors opening the room to an outdoor patio.
In years past, men’s locker rooms might’ve been dark and tucked away—hardly a design feature, nor a place to gather. The goal now is “to create a much more open space that is more inclusive and welcoming,” says Joan Sykora, Chief Brand and Experience Officer for Desert Highlands in Scottsdale, Ariz. To achieve this, the club is investing $3.5 million in its men’s locker room, which includes the men’s grill and lounge and the new Nicklaus Room.
Modern finishes, improved lighting, upgraded amenities, and an overall refined design will create a contemporary, welcoming environment for members.
“We wanted to create something that brought light in, while also acting as a great gathering space,” Sykora says. “So we’re opening up walls. We’re adding windows. We’re doing accordion doors that open up to an outdoor patio.”
The Nicklaus Room, a fireside lounge, will pay homage to Desert Highlands’ legacy as the world’s first Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course.
The Nicklaus Room, a fireside lounge, will pay homage to Desert Highlands’ legacy as the world’s first Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course.
“The Nicklaus Room is going to have beautiful, oversized leather chairs and a huge bookshelf,” notes Sykora—“a good place to have a cocktail or a bourbon by the fire, among the richness of that history of Jack Nicklaus and the traditions here at Desert Highlands.”
Darker wood tones and wainscoting will nod to traditional design, while windows and modern fixtures will bring in light.
Meanwhile, the shower and restroom areas will be fully modernized for design and functionality.
“The countertops will have a dark, leathered granite look,” adds Sykora, “so it’s not shiny or polished—very traditional colors with antique or champagne brass fixtures in some areas and black matte in others.”
The goal is for this space to be completed by the end of the year.
The renovated vanity areas in Desert Highlands’ new mens locker rooms feature dark, leathered-granite countertops with antique or champagne brass fixtures in some areas and matte-black fixtures in others.
A Good Partner
This past November, Desert Highlands completed a $9.8 million restoration project to its golf course, which included design enhancements to several holes, greens reconstruction, tee reconstruction, bunker reconstruction, desert de- and re-vegetation, and restoration of the turf found on the tees, fairways and rough.
The club also completed a $2.5 million modernization of its golf shop and women’s locker room. The golf shop now features a redesigned layout with an expanded entrance and a relocated retail counter. The women’s locker room offers brighter finishes, a refreshed card lounge, upgraded vanity and wet areas, and a new self-serve station that includes snack drawers and grab-and-go lunches, plus wine and beer on tap.
Desert Highlands’ women’s locker room offers brighter finishes, a refreshed card lounge, upgraded vanity and wet areas, and a new self-serve station that includes snack drawers and grab-and-go lunches, plus wine and beer on tap.
“We looked at the men’s locker room like phase two of our lower clubhouse,” says Sykora. “Phase one was our golf shop and our ladies’ locker room because we wanted to do the ladies first, and we knew this was a little bit of a bigger project. We were moving and removing walls and adding windows, so there were some structural elements.”
The process for the men’s locker room began about a year ago.
“We have a small committee of members that we put together to get their input and their involvement in what we wanted and how we wanted to do it,” says Sykora. “We did some member forums, where we went over concepts with them and got feedback.”
Desert Higlands recently completed a $2.5 million modernization of its golf shop and women’s locker room.
Desert Highlands has 563 memberships, all tied to homeownership.
“We don’t have categories of memberships,” notes Sykora. “Everybody has access to everything.”
At members’ request, the club went through a bidding process before ultimately continuing its relationship with the general contractor who did construction in the other parts of the clubhouse, alongside the design and architectural firms.
“That’s probably the most important thing,” says Sykora. “Making sure you have a good partner in your design firm that knows your club and understands your history.”
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