The aging Sabal Trace Golf & Country Club in North Port, Fla., will be razed and rebuilt, featuring replicas of signature holes from Augusta National GC, Muirfield Village GC, Oakland Hills CC, Winged Foot GC and more.
Developers have unveiled plans to raze the aging Sabal Trace Golf & Country Club and rebuild its golf course with replicas of signature holes from some of the nation’s most iconic courses, the Sarasota (Fla.)-based Herald-Tribune reported.
The clubhouse in North Port, Fla., will be demolished in April, and the existing 18-hole course will be ripped up, redone and rebranded as Valente at Sabal Trace, which will surround 280 new homes. In time, a boutique hotel is envisioned at the entrance, the Herald-Tribune reported.
As a way to lure golfers to North Port, half of the 18 holes at the new Par 71 course will be exact, licensed replicas of some of the most challenging ones in the country, most of which are not accessible to the public, the Herald-Tribune reported.
“People will be able to live, breathe and feel it when it gets done,” course designer and property owner Matt Mootz said.
Offering replicas is not a new concept, but it is unique here because the course will be open to the public. The only other Florida course with replica holes, the Golden Ocala Golf and Equestrian Club, is private, the Herald-Tribune reported.
“That’s why this is very special,” said Marion Walker, regional director of operations for property owner Charlotte Golf Partners. Mootz, an owner of Charlotte Golf Partners, and the Tour 18 golf course architect firm are designing the course, the Herald-Tribune reported.
Among the new holes planned for the North Port course are replicas of Nos. 15 and 16 from Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia, home of the Masters. Others include No. 17 from Muirfield Village Golf Club, a par 5 hole is on a Jack Nicklaus-designed in Dublin, Ohio, and No. 18 from the Arnold Palmer-designed Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando. Holes from Oakland Hills Country Club in Michigan and Winged Foot Golf Club in New York also will be featured, the Herald-Tribune reported.
Perhaps the signature stamp, though, will be the two island green par 3 holes modeled after ones at The Club at PGA West in California and TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach. Those holes will be Nos. 9 and 18 at Valente, a way for players to finish their rounds, the Herald-Tribune reported.
“It’s going to be a different world for us players,” said member Sharon Vincent, who has a 15.1 handicap and has never played an island green. “It’s going to improve our game.”
As Valente at Sabal Trace becomes more of a destination course, Director of Golf Cathy Edelen said, she expects to draw players from Tampa, Naples and Orlando. Mootz said the opportunity to rehabilitate the former North Port Country Club, which once was the heartbeat of the city, is exciting, the Herald-Tribune reported.
“The market is ripe for it,” Mootz said, one of three owners of Charlotte Golf Partners, which with parent company Signature Golf has bought underperforming courses for revitalization since the 1990s.
The current Charles Ankrom-designed par 72 course is 6,755 yards long and was built by General Development Corp. in 1970. The clubhouse was built in 1972 and formerly was known as North Port Country Club. Charlotte Golf Partners purchased the North Port property in January 2002 from ClubCorp, the Herald-Tribune reported.
The demolition makes room for the new 18-hole golf course, a relocated clubhouse and 280 residences. If work proceeds as expected, the golf course will be ready by January 2016. The course will be the focal point of the community, Walker said. Many of the 200 golf club members live in the existing Sabal Trace neighborhood surrounding the property, the Herald-Tribune reported.
Adjacent residents opposed the original plans, submitted to the city in 2006, because two-story buildings blocked their golf course views. The density also was much higher with 614 multifamily units, the Herald-Tribune reported.
Now, all of the proposed single-family homes and villas are one story, and the golf course is being reconfigured to run between the existing and new neighborhoods, the Herald-Tribune reported.
Builders have not yet been selected to construct the clubhouse or the residences. Mootz said his company is in talks with three nationally known builders, all of which have experience working in the City of North Port. The work will be done in two phases with the clubhouse and golf course construction coming first, the Herald-Tribune reported.
A core group of employees, including Edelman, a golf course superintendent and a bookkeeper, will stay on site as construction ensues. Several seasonal workers, such as golf attendants and wait staff, will lose their jobs while the site is closed, the Herald-Tribune reported.
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