Jim Furyk began thinking about golf course design back at Manheim Township HIgh School in Lancaster County, PA.
“I should have been paying attention to my teachers, but I was drawing golf holes in my notebook,” Furyk said at the ground-breaking of his first (out of school) course design – Glynlea Country Club at Wylder in Port St. Lucie, FL.
The 560-acre property – just of few miles off St. Lucie West Blvd. – is the latest addition to Florida’s red hot Treasure Coast area of private golf clubs and communities. Developed by GreenPointe Developers and managed by Hampton Golf, Glynlea Country Club at Wylder will feature single-family homes priced from the $800,000 range; parks and nature trails; and a fitness center and resort-style pool.
Furyk’s golf course layout is expected feature four sets of tees and tip out at approximately 6,800 yards – ideal for the kind of family-style, amenity driven community that have made Greenpointe and Hampton Golf – each from Jacksonsville, FL. – successful.
It’s that Jacksonville connection that brought Furyk – who lives in Ponte Vedra Beach – into the Glynlea equation.
“Three of four years ago, (Hampton Golf President) MG Orender, who I’ve known for years, mentioned that they might be looking at some land down here, and that one of the communities would have a golf course,” said Furyk, a 17-time winner on the PGA Tour and 2003 U.S. Open Champion. “He knew I had been wanting to get into the design business for a while.”
Likewise, Furyk had long-standing relationships with Greenpointe President/CEO Ed Burr and Regional VP Austin Burr, so the fit seemed natural.
“Austin and I came out one day and sort of rolled around in the dirt and mud and crawled through the trees,” Furyk said.
All of that dirt – combined with the flat terrain – basically gave Furyk a blank canvas to replace his high school notebook.
“A blank canvas gives you a lot more freedom, but you also have to create some interest and beauty,” Furyk said. “You can draw it and imagine it… but you actually have to be able to move the dirt. I want to build a golf course that looks like it belongs in Southeast Florida – not one that looks like it belongs in North Carolina. We’re going to try to make it flow.”
Furyk paused and grinned.
“I joke that as a tour professional, you criticize architects your entire career. Now I’m handed the keys. Everybody gets to criticize me.”
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Photo: Jim Furyk