Bill Bergin to renovate The Golf Club at Crown Colony in Florida

The Golf Club at Crown Colony, on the southern outskirts of Fort Myers, Florida, will undergo a $12 million renovation by Bergin Golf Designs.

Bill Bergin’s masterplan has been approved by members – it does not alter the course’s routing, but the architect says, “everything else will be changed”. The project includes upgrades to irrigation and drainage, rebunkering, regrassing and adding new or relocating tees to allow the course to play from 4,300 to nearly 7,000 yards.

“Crown Colony is under the radar especially as a place to play golf in a beautiful environment,” said Bergin. “I want to expose all that while creating a course where you’ll have to use your head. We realise people don’t always execute perfectly, but we’ll give them the room to play less than perfect golf and still have fun.”

The most visible changes will be to the grass-faced bunkers. “Typical Florida bunkers are flashed sand and that’s all you see,” said Bergin. “I feel there are three forms of art to a bunker – the crest line; the sand line; and the bunker face itself – and how those lines complement one another, their shapes and movement, where there’s grass. These bunkers will stand out.”

The par-four tenth will be redesigned. “Right now, golfers must hit over this blind sand bank, which would be cool if there were room, but there isn’t; all the trouble on the left is hidden,” said Bergin. “We’re going to widen the hole and make it visible, exposing the blend of sand and water so golfers can make a choice of where to hit it. It’s going to be a hole that everyone will look forward to playing, high risk but fun with a good chance to score.”

The course, which previously hosted the 2022 LPGA Drive On Championship, 2023 Florida Open and PGA Tour Q-School presented by Korn Ferry, will be grassed with Platinum paspalum throughout.

All greens will renovated with Bergin looking to introduce new pin locations, new shapes and sizes and more fairway-cut chipping areas around them.

Bergin’s redesign will also open up a large portion of land near the clubhouse and eighteenth, which will be used to create a practice facility with a double-sided range and shortgame area.

“We are elevating both the golf course and member amenities as part of The Golf Club at Crown Colony’s long-range plan,” said David Kent, general manager and chief operating officer at The Golf Club at Crown Colony. “Key elements of that plan are continual improvements to keep the club at the top of this highly competitive market.”

Before the renovation begins, the course will host the 2025 US Senior Open and qualifying for the US Open. It will remain open throughout the 2025 season with work scheduled to begin in spring 2026 and completed by the end of the year.

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