Perpetuity is a long time.
But that’s what the city of Sarasota committed to when it decided in early 2022 to keep green — in perpetuity — the land once occupied by 45 municipally owned golf holes at the Bobby Jones Golf Course.
Now reimagined and rebuilt into a sprawling nature park, an 18-hole golf course and a short course across the street, the 307 acres east of downtown between Fruitville Road and 17th Street are meant to remain forever as a spot to unwind amid one of the fastest-growing regions in the United States.
RELATED: The public gets involved in plans for Sarasota's Bobby Jones Nature Park
Mayor Liz Alpert said such a commitment is critical to a well-planned community.
“It’s one of the really important things when you’re designing a city,’’ she said on a recent tour preceding the reopening. “One of the important things for the residents is to have enough park space and green space. If you don’t have that, people start moving out, because it’s not a desirable place to be.
“This made sure no matter what happens in the future, that there’s not going to be that temptation to sell this off.’’
In partnership with the Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast, the city almost two years ago finalized a conservation easement along with the plan to rebuild the course along the path originally drawn by well-known designer Donald Ross nearly 100 years ago.
Central to that plan was use of land not set aside as a golf facility for stormwater transmission, retention and filtering in the form of a 90-acre preserve. Soil excavated to craft those elements was employed to raise the level of the redesigned course, eliminating a bothersome characteristic of the old course— its propensity to flood.
“We’re allowing the golf course to act as retention for rain in major storms, hurricanes, floods like that,’’ said course architect Richard Mandell, who led journalists on a tour of the course recently. “There will be times when the golf course will take on water, but that’s designed, and the good news is that the greens, the tees, the fairway playing areas are raised enough that they won’t be affected, except in very rare situations.’’
Beyond its stormwater benefits, the nature preserve features the 1.57-mile Eagle Trail, with three spurs: Prairie (.4 mile), Hammock (.12 mile) and Osprey (.07 mile). The park is free and open to the public daily from dawn to dusk. Informational signs have been placed to explain the surroundings, and public forums have taken place seeking ideas on what kind of amenities might fit in the future.
Mandell’s golf course design includes six teeing spots on each hole to allow players of various proficiencies to enjoy the course that ranges in length from 6,714 to 4,583 yards. A mixture of hole lengths called the “Ross” tees – so marked on the scorecard — mimic the original century-old design at 6,240 yards. All options play to a par of 71.
“I design for fun and enjoyment, and I want everyone, everybody, it doesn’t matter who you are, to have a fun and enjoyable experience,’’ Mandell said. “By the same token, it will challenge the golfers who are looking for a challenge no matter what your talent level is.’’
Along with state grants for the nature preserve, the city borrowed $20 million for the project and contracted Indigo Sports LLC, a private management company, for day-to-day golf operations.
Green fees will be dynamic and include a 40 percent reduced rate for city residents. During peak times, such as the winter season, rates can range from $74-$114 on weekdays and $84-$124 on weekends.
The Gillespie short course, on the other side of Circus Boulevard, isn’t expected to open until 2024.
The original Bobby Jones course closed to golfers in the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic and remained so, reopening only as a nature park to joggers, cyclists and walkers a few months later. Public access to the land ended in early 2022 as initial preparations for construction began.
The opening is the culmination of years of discussions, public input and a variety of scenarios.
“I was elected in 2015 and we were talking about it then,’’ Alpert said said. “Through many, many meetings and a lot of design and going back and forth, we finally made this happen nearly nine-10 years later. This is certainly exciting for me and it’s exciting for the community.’’
Eric Garwood is the executive editor of the Community News Collaborative. Reach him at ericgarwood@cncfl.org.
