Pro golfer Nick Price, Tom Fazio II to design Boca’s new public course
PROFESSIONAL golfer Nick Price and well- known golf architect Tom Fazio II will design a highly anticipated public golf course that the city’s park district bought less than a year ago.
The Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District, which owns and operates some of the city’s public parks, chose the Jupiter- based design duo to renovate the golf course, formerly Ocean Breeze Golf Club, at a meeting Monday. The park district bought the 214- acre golf course, at Northwest Second Avenue north of Yamato Road, last year for $ 24 million.
The closed and aging course sits at the center of the Boca Teeca condominium community. The park district plans to renovate the course and re- brand it “Boca Raton National Golf Club.”
A four- time PGA tour winner, Price’s Jupiter- based firm has worked on several international golf courses.
Fazio, the nephew of renowned golf course designer Tom Fazio, designed an 18- hole course at PGA National Resort in Palm Beach Gardens.
Price and Fazio have partnered on the golf course designs in the past, including on MacArthur Golf Club in Hobe Sound.
“I think we complement one another,” Price said. “We’ve had so much fun doing this and being so close to home. This is a great opportunity to build something that will really stand out.”
Now that the park district selected a firm to design the course, pending contract negotiations, the district will gather feedback from residents to help shape the final design.
Price and Fazio suggested a driving range and 9- hole short course on the east side of the golf club, divided by Northwest Second Avenue. The west side would have an 18- hole course. Those ideas could change during the design process.
“This is a big project for us, it really is,” Price said. “It gives us a chance to showcase our skills.”
Fazio assured the park district that his team could get the golf course designed and built in a short time- frame. The park district aims to open Boca Raton National Golf Club around the time Boca Raton Municipal Golf Course, on Glades Road west of Florida’s Turnpike, is expected to closes, as the city sold the land to a home builder.
The cost to design the golf course wasn’t negotiated, but the district budgeted up to $18 million for the job.
Fifteen firms submitted requests to design the 214- acre course, including a few big names in the golf industry -- like Greg Norman, Jack Nicklaus Design, Robert Trent Jones and Arnold Palmer’s design company. Many of the proposals include plans to build an on- site golf school.
The course is poised to become a local golf destination, as the city decided recently to shut down and sell its municipal golf course on Glades Road near Florida’s Turnpike to a home builder for $ 65 million.
Boca National Golf Club will be one of just two public courses in the city. The other is a smaller 9- hole oceanfront course at Red Reef Park.