The National Golf Course Owners Association named Old Corkscrew Golf Club its 2008 Florida Course of the Year. Old Corkscrew is an 18-hole golf facility designed by legendary golfer Jack Nicklaus, and is located on a magnificently wooded and secluded 275-acre site on Corkscrew Road in Estero, Fla. between Fort Myers and Naples.
The Course of the Year award is presented annually to an NGCOA member facility that is setting new standards in golf course design and club management by demonstrating exceptional quality, excellence of ownership and management, outstanding contributions to the community, and significant contribution to the game.
The award will be presented at the NGCOA national conference in Orlando in January. NGCOA is the leading authority on the business of golf course ownership and management. Its membership includes more than 6,000 facilities and more than 18,000 golf course owners and operators around the nation.
“This award from NGCOA is a thrilling honor for Old Corkscrew,” said Mark Iwinski, manager of golf operations for Old Corkscrew Golf Club. “The course has been open for only eight months, so it is exciting and a privilege to be so highly recognized this soon after our debut.”
The site of the golf course is diverse with outstanding natural assets that include mature oak, pine and cypress trees, and a natural flow way through the center of the property. The par-72 championship golf course winds its ways through this spectacular acreage, with beautiful vistas of lakes and preserves. The golf course has no surrounding residential development, which results in exceptionally serene play for golfers.
Old Corkscrew is a Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course, which is the highest standard of design offered by Nicklaus Design and includes Jack Nicklaus’ personal oversight and involvement in every step of the design and construction. The Club is the only Signature Nicklaus Design non-residential course in Southwest Florida.
“The lack of a residential component allowed us to concentrate on the golfing experience,” said Jack Nicklaus, the golf course’s designer. “We had great latitude in working with the site’s natural elements, as well as the ability to preserve native vegetation, including oak hammocks and the cypress slough that is part of the natural flow way that divides the course.”
Old Corkscrew is a private membership club with flexible tee time access for member’s guests and visitors to the area who want to experience a Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course. Membership plans are considered the most flexible in Southwest Florida. For more information or to book a tee time to evaluate the course, please contact director of membership Dave Griffiths at 239-949-4700 or by email dgriffiths@oldcorkscrew.com.
