Naples Golf Scene

Widely recognized as golf’s greatest ambassador and statesman, Arnold Palmer recently celebrated his 80th birthday. Like the legend’s countless contributions to the game, many of the courses Palmer has designed around the world are timeless. You can find one of the King’s finest works, Wildcat Run Golf Club, a Signature Palmer design, in Southwest Florida. The club, like its creator is a champion and has achieved great success in every endeavor it has pursued. Let’s take a closer look at Wildcat Run and “Experience the Pride,” as the club’s membership does every day.

THE COMMUNITY
At its core, Wildcat Run Golf Club is a place where neighbors become lifelong friends and that has been the club’s philosophy from the very beginning.

…At reduced summer golf rates and special low hotel rates! And you can have some fun in the sun "on us"… If you fall in love as we believe you will, and purchase a property by December 31st this year through Realtors, Mal Griffin and Sarah Thompson, they will Rebate you $500 of your travel expenses at closing!

Sarah and Mal are offering beach and golf properties throughout the region, but in particular they recommend an affordable community that has the best recreational facilities to be found in the area… Pelican Sound Golf and River Club. Pelican Sound is unique in Southwest Florida because of its great amenities and location… And the golf course is exceptional… 27 championship holes that are both challenging and great fun to play!

In the two years since it has opened, the accolades have poured in for Old Corkscrew. Since late February of 2007 when the legendary Jack Nicklaus played 18 holes in a course opening exhibition round, the club has been recognized with four prestigious awards: the National Golf Course Owners Association (NGCOA) named Old Corkscrew its 2008 Florida Course of the Year; Golf Digest placed Old Corkscrew Golf Club on its prestigious list of America’s Best New Courses; Golf Magazine listed it as one of the “Best Courses Near You” and Zagat Golf Guide included the club in its 2009 edition of America’s Top Golf Courses.

And then to top that off, Old Corkscrew lured Southwest Florida’s best known golf instructor to relocate his golf academy to the site. In January, 2008, Mike Calbot, better known as Southwest Florida’s Golf Doctor, relocated his International Golf Studio and TRIAD Golf Schools to Old Corkscrew. Calbot has more than 38 years of teaching experience and has been giving golf lessons in Southwest Florida since 1978.

Naples is the land of the country club community. Each community has a trademark that makes it unique in it’s own special way. Some have 55000 square foot clubhouses designed and decorated to impress royalty. Others offer multiple outstanding golf corses, multiple clubhouses and million dollar lots for multimillion-dollar homes. Beautiful entrances are carefully landscaped with exotic plants and flowers to set the tone for the experience each individual community is attempting to project.

Forest Glen Golf & Country Club is a country club community developed by The Ronto Group conveniently located off Collier Blvd. (CR951) just one mile south of I-75. Lennar homes is the exclusive homebuilder in this quaint community that is acknowledged by many to be the most attractive value in Naples. 

Founded in 1979, a full 20 years before the Southwest Florida city of Bonita Springs officially became a city, Spanish Wells Golf and Country Club is one of Lee County’s finest and most established private golf clubs.

Entering its 30th year of operation, Spanish Wells Golf and Country Club, a member-owned and operated club, is situated within the 600-acre gated community of Spanish Wells. The club has 27 holes of championship golf, a new 32,000-squarefoot clubhouse with several fine and casual dining venues, an excellent tennis program, occe courts, swimming pool and a technologically sophisticated fitness center.

Spanish Wells is tucked away in the consistently expanding city of Bonita Springs, which is conveniently located between two metropolitan areas, Naples and Fort Myers, and equidistant from Tampa to the north and Miami to the east.

Other than his 1997 PGA Championship win at Winged Foot in upstate New York, the greatest victories of Davis Love III’s golfing life have come in the state of Florida. Love III twice won the PLAYERS Championship, one of the richest and most prestigious tournaments in all of golf, at The Players Stadium Course in Ponte Vedra Beach.

Love III has parlayed his successful playing career into a booming golf design business and after design efforts in the Carolinas and Georgia, the 19-time PGA Tour winner has finally made his way to Florida.

Love III himself took a break from his PGA Tour schedule and was present as River Hall Country Club and its stunning clubhouse celebrated official grand openings Feb. 25. But the course has been open since fall 2007, when members and residents were first able to play. Quickly approaching its one-year anniversary River Hall is a testament to the passion and pride Love III has for the game of golf.

Ryan Thomas and his Road to the National Championship

At the age of three Ryan Thomas was diagnosed with autism, a condition that has curtailed his ability to communicate, drastically shortened his attention span and made it difficult for him to focus on everyday tasks.

But on the golf course, Thomas is just like you and I, in fact, hes probably better. The 21-year-old has been married to golf since the day he joined his father, Dan, on the lawn of his family’s old home in Maryland and began imitating his dad’s swing with a plastic set of clubs.

The game that had already provided so many positives for Thomas and his family recently allowed the former Naples High School golfer to live out another one of his dreams, if only for a few short days.

Pelican Sound Golf and River Club is the premier ‘Bundled’ golf community in the Naples/Fort Myers area!

For the uninitiated, the term ‘Bundled’ means that full country club membership is included when you own a property in that community. Rather than depend on selling memberships to support the golf course and other amenities, a bundled community is supported by each and every owner in the community.

Pelican Sound Golf & River Club is unique in Southwest Florida because of its combination of great amenities and unparalleled location.

River Hall is Davis Love III's first signature course in Florida, and what a beauty it is.

Davis Love, Jr. passed along some advice to his son many years ago that Davis III has used to guide him through his own illustrious career as a fathe, golfer and course designer. "Follow your dream," his father said, "and enjoy the trip."

Davis Love III has brought that dream, and the enthusiasm to see it through, to his first Signature design in Florida, the centerpiece of the new River Hall Country Club community taking shape east of downtown Ft. Myers off State Road 80. The 1,500-acre master-planned community is being developed by the LandMar Group of Jacksonville, creator of recreationallyfocused communities, built from scratch, with stunning golf courses and homes designed by today's leading architects. 

You’re already in a place whose name (Naples) and laid back lifestyle evoke memories of the magnificence of Italy. Now, in the new community of Ave Maria, comes a new golf experience that brings together the design mastery of Gordon G. Lewis with the professionalism of Troon Golf to bring you member-for-a-day treatment at their brand new layout less than 30 minutes from the beaches of Naples.

The Golf Club at Del Webb joins a Troon Golf family that includes 185 honored upscale facilities, public and private, all around the world. More than a half-dozen of those facilities made Golf Digest’s recent list of the Top 75 Golf Resorts in North America, and The Golf Club at Del Webb has already been nominated by Golf Digest as a fi nalist for its “Top 10 New Courses under $70” list for 2008. You’ve no doubt received the Troon treatment from their well-trained staff that rolls out the red carpet for their visitors from the moment they arrive until they depart.