In light of the previous thread on RTJ, I thought that I'd mention this course, RTJ's winter home.
www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/golf/sfl-mell10nov10,0,3091716.column?coll=sfla-sports-golfAging jewel Coral Ridge course to get makeover
Published November 10, 2004
By Randall Mell
The aging jewel may need some buffing, but Phil Smith believes the country club that famed architect Robert Trent Jones built in Fort Lauderdale 50 years ago to be the family's winter home still holds the power to dazzle.
That's why Smith's investment group closed on a deal Tuesday to purchase controlling interest of Coral Ridge Country Club from the Jones family.
"It's a Picasso," Smith said of the signature Jones' design.
Robert Trent Jones Jr., the son of Jones Sr. and a renowned architect in his own right, begged to differ from his hotel room in Shanghai, where he's adding to the more than 230 courses he has designed around the world.
"It's better than a Picasso," Jones Jr. said. "It's a Robert Trent Jones Sr. signature design."
The sale includes the adjoining American Golfers Club on the 210-acre property.
"Coral Ridge Country Club has the potential to be a showcase golf club," said Smith, chief executive officer of Phil Smith Automotive Group and majority partner of the new investment group. "It is the premier property on the east side of Broward County."
Financial details of the sale were not released, but Smith said his group intends to make a substantial investment in upgrading the facility to rival what H. Wayne Huizenga did after purchasing the old Rolling Hills Country Club and renovating it as Grande Oaks in Davie. Coral Ridge Country Club is located in northeast Fort Lauderdale on Bayview Drive between Oakland Park and Commercial boulevards.
Smith is a 16-handicap and member at Coral Ridge. Local businessmen Jim Scott, Norman Tripp, Matt Morrall and Mike Dayhoff also are partners.
"We've made a commitment to take this club to the next level," said Smith, who says the club will remain private.
Smith also said the Jones' layout will not change but the course will be significantly spruced with major changes also planned for the clubhouse and practice areas.
Jones Jr. said the club has attracted numerous unsolicited suitors since his father's death four years ago. Jones, who inherited the property with his architect brother, Rees, said they were careful to sell to local owners who would protect the community's interest in the club. Rees will continue to own a minor interest.
Jones Sr. built the course in 1954 as a winter home but eventually made it his permanent home. His wife, Ione, started the Doherty Cup women's amateur championship there. It was one of the premier South Florida clubs at the time with Sam Snead and Ben Hogan playing an exhibition there in the late 50s. Julius Boros lived in a home on the course before his death in 1994.
"The recent transfer of Coral Ridge Country Club to Phil Smith and his partners leaves me with feelings of nostalgia and exhilaration," said Jones Jr., who will remain a club member. "Nostalgia for my father and mother and sharing with them in the creation and development of [the club] ... I cannot look or think of the club without conjuring up wonderful remembrances of them."