© Courtesy of Cody O'CallaghanPalm Cove Golf has undergone numerous transformations since superintendent Jim Kilgore joined the staff in 2024. Those transformations on the Florida course are taking a dying property and reviving it with a reimagined golf experience.
Originally designed by Gary Player and later redesigned by Chi Chi Rodriguez, the course had just changed ownership when Kilgore stepped in to lead the restoration effort. Sinkholes dotted the fairways, bridges had collapsed and equipment sat unusable. The irrigation system had failed, no plant protectants had been applied in nearly a decade and fairways couldn’t be made out from overgrowth.
“When I first walked the property, the course felt abandoned. It had lost its identity — overgrown, [unkempt] and underperforming,” Kilgore says. “Now, it has a heartbeat again.”
Restorations on the facility began in September 2024. Kilgore and his team have taken the turf and the course from surviving to thriving. To do that, all tee boxes and fairways were completely redone using Celebration Hybrid Bermuda and TifEagle. All bulkheads on the course were replaced, repairing eight failed structures found throughout the layout.
“These new systems now stabilize key edges, prevent erosion, and reinforce the course’s layout and playability,” Kilgore says. “They also support proper drainage and water control, which is crucial during Florida’s rainy seasons.”
The bulkheads also assist in environmental protection, managing runoff and sediment on the property. “It’s a serious investment — one that protects both the course’s integrity and the surrounding ecosystem, while also reducing future maintenance,” the superintendent adds.
The facility is working with Sanford Ferris Golf Design to install a new irrigation system. The system offers a full digital map of water infrastructure, allowing users to control every sprinkler head, rotor valve and other key locations.
In the future, they plan to implement Mach 1 Bermuda on greens and more native grasses in out-of-play areas. “It helps visually frame the course and supports our sustainability goals,” Kilgore says.
Other major enhancements led by Sanford Ferris Golf Design include:
- Expanding the driving range area by more than 100 yards
- Lengthening and widening fairways
- Repositioning and enlarging tee boxes
- Reshaping numerous greens
“Their goal was to refine, not erase, and they did it masterfully,” Kilgore says.
The 18-hole course has also transitioned from public to private. The change allows Kilgore and his team to focus on consistency and planning. “Going private means planning every detail in advance: traffic patterns, aerification schedules, bunker rotation, play speed and even shade patterns on greens,” he says.
Kilgore says it’s also a change in mindset — curating an experience, building a culture and providing a consistent environment.
The maintenance team has helped rebuild a failing property. Due to time and effort, their work has brought energy back to the facility.
“This place has required more of me and my team — more of our time, more of our energy, more heart — than anywhere I’ve ever been,” Kilgore says. “We come back every day because we believe in where this is going.
“This wasn’t just a restoration. It was a rescue. And to be part of the team that brought it back — that gave it life again — that’s something I’ll carry with me for a long time.”
Kelsie Horner is Golf Course Industry’s digital editor.
Tartan Talks 114
Ty Butler’s 2026 includes an opportunity to resuscitate a shuttered golf course along a large lake providing drinking water for a giant city.
Butler is combining with the Landscapes Unlimited Project Development Group on a major project at Wolf Creek Golf Club, a public course along Lake Livingston formerly known as Cape Royale. Wolf Creek is 70 miles north of Houston. Without Lake Livingston’s 1.7 million acre-feet of water, sustaining life in Houston would be an enormous challenge.
People in Houston and surrounding communities also need places to recreate. They temporarily lost one golf playground when Cape Royale went defunct in 2018. But the Trinity River Authority, a conservation and reclamation district that owns the course, opted to revive the course. The project represents Butler’s biggest effort since establishing his company, Brio Golf, in 2015.
Butler joined the Tartan Talks podcast to discuss Wolf Creek, mowing fairways with a seven-gang unit growing up in Arkansas City, Kansas, and why he wants to eradicate par from the game.
“It’s a beautiful property,” Butler says of Wolf Creek. “The TRA is very excited about it, and we’re very focused on doing a nice, upscale golf course, but being very budget conscious about it. We have been working very hard to keep the costs down so it’s a responsible build to make it affordable for most Texans looking to play public golf in the south part of the state.”
The full episode with Butler is available on the Superintendent Radio Network page of popular podcast distributor platforms.
Course news
Annandale (California) Golf Club started construction on a renovation-restoration of its historic golf course, with completion anticipated in spring 2026. Inspired by 1920s design work of William P. Bell, the restoration is led by Origins Golf Design principal Todd Eckenrode. … Elsewhere in California, Indian Wells Golf Resort is reopening its Players Course following a comprehensive renovation led by golf course architect John Fought. … Golf course architect Brian Curley and World Golf Hall of Famer Fred Couples returned to The Palms Golf Club in La Quinta, California, to modernize their 1999 layout. The restoration featured creek reconstruction, tree removal and fairway widening, among other touches. … Located less than an hour south of Perth, Australia, Links Kennedy Bay reopened following an 18-hole redesign that included the addition of more than 100 pot bunkers featuring synthetic revetted faces. The project was led by former tour professional and course architect Graham Marsh, working alongside Western Australian industry leader Trevor Strachan. … National Links Trust started Phase 1 of its rehabilitation project at Rock Creek Park Golf in Washington, D.C. Rock Creek Park Golf is one of the oldest public golf facilities in the country and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. … Landscapes Golf Management is managing Wild Ridge and Mill Run golf courses at Wild Ridge Golf and Event Center in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. … Troon is managing Hidden Valley Country Club in Reno, Nevada.
People news
Brothers Bob and Joe Alonzi, both members of the GCSAA and retired Certified Golf Course Superintendents, will receive the association’s 2026 Col. John Morley Award. … Jim Pavonetti, CGCS, the superintendent at Fairview Country Club in Greenwich, Connecticut, will receive the GCSAA’s 2025 President’s Award for Environmental Stewardship. … Chris Wilczynski, ASGCA, owner and principal golf course architect of C.W. Golf Architecture, added his son, Joe Wilczynski, as design associate with the firm. Joe represents the third generation of Wilczynskis to graduate from Michigan State University and work in golf and turfgrass. … Hunters Run Country Club in Boynton Beach, Florida, hired Joshua Levitre as its new director of agronomy. … Eighteen GCSAA members will attend the 2026 GCSAA Conference and Trade Show thanks to the Kendrick B. Melrose Family Foundation.
Industry buzz
American Peat Technology acquired and is reopening DryJect Minnesota. … Envu is introducing Signature XTRA Stressgard liquid fungicide. … Sipcam Agro USA is launching Carve Xtra turf fungicide. ... Bernhard and Company is distributing Soil Scout’s underground wireless soil monitoring technology in the United States and Canada.
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