Iconic Central Florida Muni design will get acknowledged as the highest public course renovation
Dunedin, FL – Dunedin Golf Club, the historic Donald Ross-designed course owned by the Metropolis of Dunedin (simply north of Tampa), has been awarded “Renovation of the Year” by Golf Inc. within the public course class. Via the steering of golf course architect Kris Spence, a number one Donald Ross skilled, and a $6 million course restoration, the course has been restored to its roots of the Golden Age of Structure.
“Being acknowledged by Golf Inc. as the highest public golf course renovation may be very thrilling, particularly for a municipal course,” mentioned Blair Kline, Basic Supervisor of Golf Operations. “This recognition is a testomony to the help we’ve obtained from the Metropolis of Dunedin, which had the imaginative and prescient of how a restoration of this magnitude can influence the local people, together with the work that Kris Spence did in bringing again the greens and bunker complexes that Donald Ross initially supposed.
Dunedin Golf Membership was in-built 1926 and opened for play on January 1, 1927, beneath the identify Dunedin Isles Golf Membership. On the time, Ross referred to it as “his masterpiece” and attributed it to its superb mixture of rolling hills, waterways, and different pure hazards that made it potential to realize his thought in fact perfection. In 1939, the Metropolis of Dunedin took possession of the course, and in 2024, it took over the administration operations.
Over time, a number of renovations took the course additional away from what Ross had created. This included the inexperienced complexes shrinking 35-to-50 %, taking away from the technique Ross supposed. In 2014, it was listed on the Nationwide Register of Historic Locations. Now, due to this newest and meticulous restoration of the inexperienced complexes, bunkers, fairways, and tees, each golfer can expertise the course as Ross supposed – proper all the way down to the precise greens Ross initially created.
“At Dunedin, essentially the most nice shock was that I may see the previous inexperienced extending out beneath these renovations and was in a position to measure them and examine them to his authentic plans and notes, and I shortly realized that the unique greens had by no means been destroyed,” says Spence. “They had been simply buried beneath this materials, so the chance to take away the fabric, excavate and expose the unique greens, and restore them was potential.”
In 1944, the PGA of America moved its headquarters to Dunedin from Chicago and renamed the course PGA Nationwide Golf Membership – leasing it from the town. Finally, the PGA moved out, however the web site hosted 18 consecutive Senior PGA Championships – in addition to the unique PGA Merchandise Present in 1954.
Dunedin Golf Membership is now broadly thought of one in every of Florida’s high municipal programs, together with the Winter Park Golf Course in Orlando and The Park at West Palm Seaside. Charges for 18 holes vary from $85 to $130, relying on the season, and there are discounted inexperienced charges for native residents.
Golf Inc. yearly acknowledges the Greatest New Golf Course Developments and Renovations. This 12 months’s winners centered on restoring authentic designs and making previous issues new once more.
“Typically the theme of a specific crop of competitors winners is tough to pinpoint, however this 12 months’s is a no brainer: What’s previous is new once more,” mentioned Golf Inc. “The frequent thread was the will to return to how issues was once. Clearly, any golf course renovation is making an attempt to alter issues up, however this 12 months, many of the successful venues additionally sought out the unique designs of their programs and adopted them as intently as potential. Typically the previous methods actually are higher.”
Dunedin Golf Membership images (earlier than and after) and movies, click on here.
About Dunedin Golf Membership
Designed by world-renowned golf course architect Donald Ross, and owned by the Metropolis of Dunedin, positioned simply north of Tampa, Florida, the Dunedin Golf Membership opened on January 1, 1927. In 1939, the town of Dunedin first took possession of the golf course. From 1945 by means of 1962, it was the house to the PGA of America. Throughout that point, the membership hosted 18 Senior Tour Championships, marking the start of the Senior PGA Tour. Again then, the PGA and PGA Tour of at this time had been the identical company. It was additionally the place the PGA Merchandise Present began in 1954. Many golf legends have visited Dunedin Golf Membership, together with Bobby Jones, Gene Sarazan, Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Louise Suggs, Babe Didrikson, and Byron Nelson. In 2024, the ability underwent an entire restoration by architect Kris Spence to return the course to its authentic Donald Ross design. It has been restored to just about the identical as when Ross first drew it up. At present, Dunedin Golf Membership is likely one of the high golf equipment within the Tampa space.
Press launch by: Kevin Frisch PR
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