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Norman & Dye Collaborate on New Course in Naples
In late May 2003, WCI Communities, Inc. announced plans for the private Tuscany Reserve Golf Club in Naples, Fla. Expected to open in late 2004, Tuscany Reserve will add to WCI’s slate of highly amenitized residential communities with signature golf courses.
The par-72 Tuscany Reserve Golf Club will be the second collaboration in Naples involving WCI and Greg Norman. On this project Norman is collaborating with Pete Dye, one of golf’s most influential architects. Norman, the Australian pro and former British Open champion who’s designed more than 30 courses worldwide, worked with WCI on the design of Tiburón Golf Club in Naples, which features two 18-hole layouts within a residential and resort community.
Dye, named Golf Course Architect of the Year in 1994 by Golf World, and Norman previously collaborated on the design of the Medalist Golf Club in Hobe Sound, Fla., which opened in 1994.
Tuscany Reserve’s course will meander over terraced hillsides with water features slowly spilling over aging stone walls into finger-lakes and channels. A farm-like landscape of olive groves and flowering orchards will create the look and feel of Tuscany, Italy. The course will boast a variety of uphill and downhill holes.
In keeping with its commitment to preserving the environment, WCI will incorporate the criteria for resource management and cooperative sanctuary golf course design established by Audubon International in the planning and development of Tuscany Reserve. One of course’s special features will be out-of-play upland areas designated as butterfly habitats.
The Tuscany Reserve Golf Studio will be managed by director of golf, John Calabria and a host of nationally renowned visiting PGA professionals. The Golf Studio will serve as the interim clubhouse until the clubhouse is completed. The studio will contain two hitting bays, club repair, computerized video analysis, and a halfway house.
WCI plans only a limited number of exclusive homes in Tuscany Reserve, and will offer only a limited number of non-resident club memberships, by invitation only.
