The Gate golf course remains on track for December

Collier County’s new public golf course, a public-private partnership, is on schedule to open in December, with nighttime driving ranges, the First Tee Academy for youth and restaurants with golf views. 

The Gate Golf Club Inc., a nonprofit established by Arthrex founder Reinhold Schmieding, will include a regulation-length nine-hole, par-35 golf course, 18-hole Gater Putting Course, The Bays practice driving range, a pro shop, event center, clubhouse and 175-seat restaurant on county-owned land at 4100 Golden Gate Blvd., at the southwest corner of Collier Boulevard.  

Schmieding proposed the public-private partnership six months after BigShots Golf missed deadlines and backed out of a county agreement in June 2023. 

“The Gate is a community golf club where everyone is welcome to enjoy the game of golf at their own pace and play level,” The Gate General Manager Scott McGregor told the Board of County Commissioners during a project update on May 26. “… For a low handicapper or … a good golfer, if they’re playing from the appropriate tees, it provides a challenge. But the number of tees that we have for all the different levels of golfers, it’s really a welcoming, approachable golf course.” 

The course was designed by Peter Jacobsen and Jim Hardy, of Jacobsen-Hardy Golf Course Design. 

Fees will be affordable, McGregor said, and county residents will pay discounted fees of 20%, and 40% during peak season at the golf course and club, which will be available for use by residents of the adjacent veterans nursing home that’s being built. McGregor said The Gate is in the final stages of finalizing budgets for golf pricing and programming. 

In earlier presentations, Arthrex officials said they’d charge peak season rates from Nov. 1 through April 30, when a county resident would pay $53.40 for nine holes, while a non-county resident would be charged $89. To play nine holes off-season, residents would pay $31.20, while it will cost $39 for non-residents. 

Typical golf fees in Collier County range from $55-$145 or more, depending on the golf course. Commissioner Rick LoCastro questioned whether there would be any priority memberships, but McGregor said, “We are open to the public. Everyone is welcome.” 

The site will be home to nonprofit First Tee-Naples/Collier, which will guide junior golfers through its golf programs and life-learning skills curriculum, McGregor said, adding, “One day, a junior golfer from the Golden Gate community may become a PGA or LPGA champion.” 

The Gate is among several projects being developed on the 167-acre former Golden Gate Golf Course, which the county paid $29.1 million for in 2019, hoping to prevent overdevelopment, preserve open space and build a veterans nursing home and day care facility. Also planned are a 252-unit workforce housing project with some units reserved for seniors and veterans; 215 rent-restricted contemporary studio apartments in the former Golden Gate Inn and Quality Inn & Suites Golf Resort; and a veterans community center that will be built in the long-vacant J.D. Jags Ribhouse & Grille and banquet center. 

In April 2024, commissioners unanimously approved a 40-year lease and operating agreement for The Gate, a more than $21 million public golf course designed by Matthew Kragh, of  Naples-based MHK Architecture. Under the agreement, the county will pay The Gate $6 million to redevelop the former golf course and The Gate will pay the county a $130,000 yearly rental fee, except during construction. Rent will be adjusted yearly based on the Consumer Price Index. 

First Tee Learning Center, which will operate under a $1 annual sublease, will feature an indoor putting space, covered hitting bays, indoor virtual golf simulations, classrooms, offices, conference rooms and storage. 

Private donations, including from the Schmiedings and Arthrex, also are helping fund development. Construction began in February of last year. 

“We are in the early stages of mowing and refining the greens, tee boxes and fairways,” McGregor told commissioners during the video presentation, adding, “The course is really starting to take shape.” 

The Gate is still finalizing its hours, but McGregor said the driving range is expected to be open until 10 p.m., which prompted Commissioner Burt Saunders to question whether lighting will affect neighboring homes. McGregor said it’s being developed by the same company that designs Topgolf, so lights have adjustable canopies to ensure no light shines outside spaces being used. 

The slab has been laid for the 38 practice bays, eight of which are reserved for First Tee’s junior golfers. The bays feature Trackman golf and gaming systems that help golfers of all skill levels improve their game, McGregor said, while also offering interactive games for groups, date nights and family outings.

The Pavilion outdoor bar, which will serve lunch and dinner daily, with drinks and regional beers, will offer “some of the best people-watching views of the bays,” he said, noting it’s equipped with “massive fans circulating all year long. This will be the spot to hang out post-round or for locals looking for a fun, relaxed vibe to catch the game on our TVs.” 

The Gimme will offer grab-and-go food; healthier versions of traditional golf-course favorites for breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. The name was inspired by the term for a practically guaranteed short putt. The Gater is adjacent to the north patio of the 175-seat Oakwood Grill restaurant, which will serve lunch and dinner daily and feature southern views of the ninth hole and northern views of the Gater Putting Course and The Bay’s practice range. 

The Gater’s signature 18-hole putting course was designed by Jacobsen, McGregor said, and is now being sprigged with Bermuda grass. It also features lighting for nighttime play. 

Commissioner Chris Hall noted the county is “filled with private golf courses that you have to pay extreme amounts of money to be a part of” and members accustomed to paying for “$8 beers and $17 glasses of wine.  

“I have great hopes for this facility, that this is going to be the people’s place, where they don’t have to pay those kinds of prices to enjoy them,” Hall said, adding he wants public funds to be put to good use without the course seeking “extreme” profits.  

McGregor assured him that’s The Gate’s mission, noting: “We are a community golf club and our rates and our prices for everything that we serve or service will be very approachable.”