Florida boasts more than 1,000 golf courses -- more than any other state in the U.S. -- and the southeast coast between Miami and Fort Lauderdale is one of the Sunshine State's most popular destinations. Two new Raymond Floyd designs at Fairmont Turnberry Isle Resort & Club now provide golf enthusiasts even more reason to visit.
Combined with a $100 million facelift to the resort's guestrooms and common areas (completed December 2006), and the addition of two new restaurants -- Cascata Grille and Bourbon Steak (a Michael Mina restaurant akin to the acclaimed chef's venue of the same name in Detroit) -- and Fairmont Turnberry Isle has evolved into one of the elite luxury golf resorts in the country.
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| View of No. 18 at Turnberry Isle - Soffer Course. |
He brought the same verve to his second career as a golf course architect. Most of his designs are concentrated near his home in southern Florida, although he has also delivered courses as far away as Michigan and Nevada. Influenced by masters such as Donald Ross, Alister MacKenzie and A. W. Tillinghast, Floyd prides himself on being a hands-on designer.
So when he was asked to put his hands on two aging courses at Fairmont Turnberry Isle in Aventura, Fla., he did so with a sense of purpose. His mission was to bring the courses up to the high quality standards that have long propelled this resort above its competitors.
Calling them "new" is only a bit of a stretch, because even though they were built on the site of two existing designs at Fairmont Turnberry Isle, "You wouldn't recognize them if you knew the courses from before," Floyd says.
Originally opened in 1972, the two golf courses -- then called North and South -- played host to a number of professional tournaments over the years, including the PGA Senior Championship (1979-1981) and the LPGA Elizabeth Arden Classic (1979-1986).
A longtime Florida resident, Floyd was asked to bring the luster back to Turnberry's golf offerings, to bring them on par (so to speak) with the resort's 392 luxurious rooms and suites, exquisite dining options and elegant spa.
"Our goal was to provide a challenging and fair test to golfers of all skills and handicaps," Floyd says. "There are enough tees for the higher-handicap player to get around. But if the golf professional gets on those back tees, he will have all the challenge he wants."
Hole 1 on the Soffer Course -- formerly the South Course, now named in honor of the resort's visionary founder, Don Soffer -- clues you in right away to the changes Floyd made: the formerly flat fairway now sports pronounced undulation; a canal crosses 100 yards out from the shiny (and speedy) new paspalum-grassed putting surface; a small waterfall beautifies the rear of the green; the cart path and waste area on the left is crushed white coquina shell.
Water has always been one of the primary characteristics of golf at Turnberry Isle, and Floyd was careful to retain that trait. In fact, he increased the presence of water on the new layouts.
"What we've done is create more water, but taken it out of play," he says. "We've widened landing areas, re-routed holes, created waterfalls ... it is a very pleasant, tropical environment."
More than $100,000 was spent in landscaping on each hole, adding colorful flora and trees -- including several thousand new palm trees. The resort's renowned Audubon-sanctioned bird refuge was preserved and enhanced, with special nesting areas positioned throughout the courses. A new "Flamingo Island" was built within Lake Julius, ensuring that the flamboyant resident flamingoes are able to nest and nurture their young in a natural environment.
