Former Golden Gate club in Naples, Florida, has been redeveloped and now includes a new layout by Jacobsen Hardy Golf Design
The Gate Golf Club in Naples, Florida, is preparing to open its nine-hole golf course in December 2026 following a complete redevelopment of the former 18-hole Golden Gate Country Club.
Golden Gate CC opened in 1964 as an 18-hole public course designed by Dick Wilson and Joe Lee. Collier County purchased the approximately 165-acre property in July 2019 for $29.1 million to prevent intensive private development and to preserve public golf on the site. The course closed on 1 August of that year. Subsequent efforts to secure a private redevelopment partner encountered financing difficulties, leaving the property closed for several years. The county ultimately allocated portions of the land to affordable workforce housing, a state veterans’ nursing home and a redesigned public golf facility.
“The opportunity emerged after the county purchased the property with the clear intention of protecting public golf,” said Kristina Schmieding, president of The Gate Golf Club. “When the original development partner withdrew in 2023, our family established a nonprofit and submitted an unsolicited proposal to redevelop and operate the course as an accessible public facility. The county approved a long-term lease and operating agreement in April 2024, and the project could move forward.”
The masterplan for the nine-hole golf course, driving range and putting course (Image: Jacobsen Hardy Golf Design)
After a year spent securing funding and permits, the project broke ground in February 2025. Work has included a new regulation-length nine-hole course designed by Jacobsen Hardy Golf Design; The Bays, a 30-bay practice range equipped with TrackMan technology; The Gater, a 48,500-square-foot, 18-hole putting course; new maintenance facilities and a clubhouse area; and a restaurant and bar.
The green plan for the seventh hole (Image: Jacobsen Hardy Golf Design)
The new nine-hole layout begins and ends near the new clubhouse and is configured around portions of the property designated for housing and the veterans’ nursing home. Although the routing is new, Jacobsen Hardy incorporated many of the former playing corridors.
“Reusing those corridors allowed us to work with the site’s established ponds, drainage areas, prevailing wind patterns and mature trees,” said Schmieding. “Several adjacent holes sit within especially broad corridors, providing enough width for generous fairways and alternative playing angles. The former greens were not retained as putting surfaces. Glase Golf reshaped the course and constructed entirely new tees, bunkers and green complexes. Old cart paths were removed, crushed and reused as base material. The result is a newly constructed course that retains parts of the original property’s orientation and mature character without reproducing the former layout.”
Glase Golf handled golf course construction (Photo: Drone Pro)
The nine-hole course can be played from 1,228 yards (junior tees) up to 3,346 yards (black tees). Celebration Bermuda grass will be used on fairways and tees, with TifEagle on greens.
“The designers intend the course to be welcoming and playable without removing strategy,” said Schmieding. “Wide landing areas will provide room for slightly inaccurate shots, while strategically positioned bunkers, ponds, swales and waste areas will require golfers to consider their preferred routes to the greens. The bunkers are not intended to be excessively deep or punishing. Instead, the design will encourage a greater variety of short-game shots, including chipping and putting from beyond the green.
"The course will also offer a mixture of difficulty and scoring opportunities. For example, the short par-four eighth is designed to give players a realistic chance at birdie. Overall, the course is intended to challenge skilled golfers without overwhelming beginners, juniors, or recreational players. Its walkable layout and multiple tees will allow golfers to select a distance and level of difficulty suited to their abilities."
The par-five third and the par-three seventh holes (Photo: Drone Pro)
Available land and existing natural features were a major driver on design decisions. Due to portions of the former 18-hole property being assigned to other developments, the new nine-hole layout had to fit around those parcels while beginning and ending near the clubhouse. The design team also had to consider the wind, ponds, drainage, water-conveyance areas, natural contours and mature trees.
“Rather than extensively reshaping the land, the designers routed the holes around those features, retained the old-growth trees and removed much of the accumulated underbrush,” said Schmieding. “This approach should give the course an open appearance while looking relatively mature when it opens. Space was used to prioritise playability. Several adjoining holes have enough combined width to accommodate three fairways, although only two were built within those corridors. That extra width creates generous landing areas and makes the course more forgiving. As a public, nonprofit facility and the future home of First Tee – Naples/Collier, the course is being designed for juniors, families, beginners and experienced golfers rather than exclusively for highly skilled players.”
The project has seen an old oak tree preserved – with holes five and six routed around it (Photo: The Gate Golf Club)
Beyond the regulation course, the facility is designed to offer multiple ways to learn and play. The Gate will provide instructional programming through its own golf operation, while First Tee – Naples/Collier will offer youth golf and life-skills programmes from its new headquarters on the property.
The project has brought together local government, nonprofit organisations, designers, contractors and technology providers. Collier County, The Gate Golf Club and First Tee – Naples/Collier are the founding partners, with the county contributing $6 million to the project.
MHK Architecture donated architectural design services for the buildings, Freestyle Interiors provided interior design, Arthrex donated project management services, and Arthrex StudioX contributed video and photography. Additional support has come from Smith Media & Design, MG-IP Law, LJA Engineering, Jenkins Maag Associates, Doug Hellman of Hellman & Partners, DeAngelis Diamond, TrackMan, Range Servant and Vice Golf.