In his first few months as the brand new Membership Supervisor at PGA Nationwide Resort, Cody Sherrill realized — and continues to be taught — the identical issues that golfers, enterprise vacationers, and households have realized. That’s, the storied resort in Palm Seaside Gardens, over the previous six years, has undergone one of many extra spectacular reinventions of any “identify’’ golf resort within the nation.
Positive, the two,000-acre property has been the centerpiece of classy Palm Seaside Gardens because it opened in 1980. However because it was acquired by Brookfield Asset Administration (for a reported $233 million) in 2028, the 339-room resort has undergone a renovation that has lifted it from a sterile golf resort manufacturing facility to a vibrant, guest-friendly resort that exudes the high-end life-style of the “Gardens,” north Palm Seaside County and all of South Florida.
“I had by no means been right here till this previous February,’’ stated Sherrill, who got here to PGA Nationwide after almost six years at Silverado Resort, one other Troon-managed property, within the Napa Valley.
“I knew Palm Seaside County was a mecca for golf. And I knew concerning the Honda Basic (now the Cognizant Basic on the PGA Tour) and the Bear Entice on the Champion Course as having among the hardest holes on the PGA Tour. However I didn’t know a lot concerning the resort, so it’s been fascinating to listen to tales from members about what issues have been like 10 years to now with all of the renovations.’’
It’s generally troublesome to establish the place all the cash goes when a resort undergoes a $100 million renovation. At PGA Nationwide Resort, nevertheless, Brookfield can put these {dollars} within the class of “{dollars} properly spent’’ with a vibrant foyer design, new entrance entrance, renovated visitor rooms, two celebrity-chef-driven eating places, and doubtlessly game-changing golf course designs.
The resort has six golf programs — the Champion, Fazio, Palmer, Match, Staple and Estates. The Jack Nicklaus-designed Champion course (7,045 yards, par 72) will get many of the consideration, however essentially the most important adjustments to the resort’s golf operations has been the creation of the Staple and Match programs. Designed by Andy Staples, every course is a testomony to possession’s dedication to a family-friendly setting.
The Staple, a nine-hole structure, is likely to be the world’s most casual golf course. No gap is greater than 160 yards lengthy; gamers are guided to the following gap by the instructions of Adirondack chairs, and there are not any formal tee markers. If a participant desires to solely chip and putt across the greens, that’s effective. If she or he desires to play way back to potential, that’s effective, too. Staples designed the course (strolling solely) with simply sufficient nuances for golfers of each ability degree.
The Match, in the meantime, affords gamers the alternatives to principally tee it up wherever they select on the course and play any means, any format they want, whereas experiencing among the basic design works of Donald Ross, Seth Raynor and Charles Blair MacDonald.
“We’ve one of many more difficult programs on the PGA Tour within the Champion. It’s on everybody’s bucket record,’’ Sherrill stated. “However what’s actually intrigued me concerning the re-invention of the Squire course into the Match and Staples programs.
“The Match could be very ahead considering. It’s not rated, so no matter you shoot is what you shoot. It nonetheless hasn’t caught on huge but, however some golfers say it was their favourite course on their journey. The Staples course is a good way to get the household — or newcomers — on the market.’’
Luxurious resorts usually are graded on their meals and beverage affords, so give PGA Nationwide an “A.” With superstar cooks, Jeremy Ford (The Butcher’s Membership) and Lindsay Autry (Honeybelle), the resort, over the previous three years, has elevated its F&B choices to be among the many finest in South Florida.
This previous December, Sushi by Bo?, a preferred, fast-growing Omakase restaurant, joined the portfolio that additionally contains Birdie’s Diner close to the resort’s professional store. Sushi by Bo? is an intimate venue with cooks getting ready dishes proper in entrance of you, so ensure to make a reservation.
“It’s actually vital for a resort reminiscent of PGA Nationwide to have a high-end steakhouse,’’ stated Resort Director of Meals and Beverage Ruwan Silva. “Different resorts I’ve labored at – Sea Island and Greenbrier – every have a high-end steakhouse. It’s a part of a resort’s ambiance and expertise.’’
At Honeybelle, Autry, a North Carolina farm woman and three-time James Beard Award nominee, serves up her excellent fried hen, together with different Southern favorites, for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
PGA Nationwide Resort just lately added six new pickleball courts to carry its complete to 12.
“Once I acquired right here three years in the past, we had solely two pickleball courts and two others painted on the tennis courts,’’ stated Alexandru Pop-Moldovan, the resort’s racquet sports activities director. “Now this system has grown so quick that we now have 200 energetic members enjoying weekly. We’ve classes and leagues and round-robin tournaments. Our greatest round-robin day is Sunday, once we get 70 individuals.
Pickleball classes, Pop-Moldovan stated, can be found to the general public, together with PGA Nationwide members and resort company, however solely members and resort company could entry the courts at different instances.
“After we had fewer (pickleball) courts, our members have been on them on a regular basis,’’ Pop-Moldovan stated. “Now with the 12 courts, we’re full with members and resort company, so everyone seems to be completely happy.
“We have created corporate events packages for pickleball and tennis,” Pop-Moldovan says. “We’ve had some massive events and ladies’ weekends. Individuals are driving from as far-off as Miami to remain and play.’’
PGA Nationwide’s 40,000-square-foot spa is likely one of the prime vacation spot spas within the Southeast. It options such facilities as a pair’s therapy room and two Himalayan salt rooms. Don’t miss the Spa’s “Waters of the World’’ mineral swimming pools.
The spa affords a complete menu of restorative therapies designed to nurture an openness to therapeutic, stability and development.
“The very first thing I did once I got here right here (in 2022) was actually work with the therapists,’’ stated Spa Director Brian David Douglass. “I believe we now have a powerful workforce now. I’ve put a number of emphasis on schooling. So, I began with that core basis to ensure they’re extremely expert and extremely educated. Then, we began elevating all of the experiences.
“I don’t want a massage just to be a massage,” explains Douglass. “So, whether or not it’s scrubs or massages, I actually need to elevate every of the providers to a better degree.’’
Put all of this collectively and you’ve got one of many nation’s prime golf resorts proper in South Florida’s yard.
