Source: The Bradenton Herald
The attendant stood at attention outside the well-decorated portable toilet, offering towels and hand lotion. The flutist played a flawless rendition of Johann Sebastian Bach's "Six Sonatas." A polite waiter offered a tray of mimosas.
All this on a picture-perfect morning - in the middle of old-Florida farmland that will look a bit greener this time next year.
The first-class treatment typical of Ritz-Carlton hotels seeped into a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday where hotel officials unveiled plans for The Members Golf Club - an exclusive Tom Fazio-designed course that should be ready to have tee times penciled in about a year from now.
The addition of a premier golf course to its stable of amenities pushes the Sarasota-based Ritz-Carlton to the top of its 59-hotel-and-resort portfolio, said general manager James McManemon. The new course will complement the existing hotel, Spa Club and Beach Club in Sarasota.
Membership will be capped at 300, but Ritz-Carlton members at the hotel's spa and beach clubs will also have limited golf privileges. Three membership levels, platinum, gold and premier, will be offered. The one-time deposits for each range from $75,000 to $125,000. Upon termination of membership, those deposits would be refunded 100 percent, said Liza Kubik, a Ritz-Carlton spokeswoman. Monthly dues range from $400 to $900 depending on membership level.
East Manatee and northern Sarasota have recently become home to the biggest names in golf course design. With the two Arnold Palmer-designed courses in Lakewood Ranch, the Jack Nicklaus- and Tony Jacklin-designed Concession and Sarasota's Founders Club designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr., the region is now home to prestigious names in golf. Design-wise, Fazio might be the most lauded.
The 315 acres to be transformed into The Members Golf Club will likely be his best work yet, Fazio said, adding that in the course design business, you're only as good as your most recent work.
Other than the club house, the golf course will have no other buildings or houses along its 18 holes - further enhancing the golf experience, Fazio and Ritz-Carlton officials said.
"This will be pure, uncompromised golf," Fazio said.
"Just golf at its very best," McManemon said.
The site borders the southern side of the Braden River at 7295 Lorraine Road.
A typical golf course site is about 220 acres, Fazio said. The 315 acres provides the opportunity to give the course a wide-open feel that will appeal to golfers of every skill level, he said.
"This will be very different than most Florida golf courses," Fazio said. "The easiest thing in golf design is making a course challenging and tough for the best players.
"What's important is that for the average person, it's about fun and enjoyment."
Ritz-Carlton purchased the property from Lakewood Ranch developer Schroeder-Manatee Ranch Inc. The group has an option to buy an additional 180 acres and build a second 18-hole course should the market demand it. Fazio said he would be part of the design team for a second 18 holes.
The landscaping budget for The Members Golf Club could exceed $1.2 million just for the trees. While many golf courses require years of landscaping and vegetation growth to acquire a mature look and feel, the Ritz-Carlton course will have a mature feel immediately, Fazio said.
"The dollar amount budgeted for landscaping is the largest ever allowed in Florida," he said. "Right away, we'll have a mature-looking golf course."