Miami Void Ends For Florida Golf Course Designer Fazio
With a design portfolio ranging from Jupiter Hills to four Pinehursts, the glitzy Shadow Creek and the latest upgrades of Augusta National, rare is the locale where Tom Fazio hasn't left his mark.
Consider greater Miami one of the exceptions.
''It's the biggest city in the state of Florida, and I've not done anything,'' said Fazio, who has kept a Jupiter office for 35 years. ``I'm not sure I've even gotten a call for a Florida golf course in Miami.''
Until now. Fazio gets his chance this summer, when he begins moving dirt for the new Fort Dallas Golf Club a Florida golf course in southwest Miami-Dade.
Named after the 19th-Century outpost that grew to become modern Miami, Fort Dallas will make over 168 acres now occupied by Calusa Country Club. The private, invitation-only club is targeted for a November 2007 opening.
''It's a neat thing that's happening,'' Fazio said.
Unlike the construction boom in Palm Beach County and the Naples and Fort Myers areas, the land squeeze in Miami-Dade has made new Florida golf courses a rarity.
Nothwithstanding such redesigns as Miami Beach GC or Doral's Blue Monster, the last Miami-Dade layout carved from scratch came when Greg Norman transformed Doral's mundane White course into the Great White six years ago.
Before that, you would have to go back to the opening of Deering Bay in 1991.
''The Florida golf courses that are there have been there [for years],'' Fazio said. ``I think Fort Dallas will be good for the area, give it some added distinction.''
With 14 courses ranked among Golf Digest's top 100, Fazio's name lends distinction to any project.
His designs are especially known for their visual appeal, whether it's the natural beauty of the Pinehurst sand hills or man-made masterpieces. Fazio is the man who made Shadow Creek rise up out of the Nevada desert, importing an entire forest with the help of casino magnate Steve Wynn's $37 million budget.
He has been given similar resources for a comparable masterpiece at Fort Dallas, which is being developed by Facundo Bacardi, chairman of the spirits company that bears the family name.
Plans call for moving enough South Florida dirt to create 30-foot elevation changes on this Florida golf course, along with three winding waterways.
''Elevation and contours and drama and framing and definition,'' Fazio said. ``It will be a very dramatic, wonderful feel. [Yet] it'll look like it belongs in South Florida.''
More specifics will be unveiled at a private reception tonight at the Biltmore in Coral Gables. Groundbreaking is scheduled for August.
Meantime, Calusa CC the elite Florida golf course reopened to golfers Monday after a six-month shutdown to recover from Hurricane Wilma damage. Public play will be accepted until approximately Aug. 1.
Consider greater Miami one of the exceptions.
''It's the biggest city in the state of Florida, and I've not done anything,'' said Fazio, who has kept a Jupiter office for 35 years. ``I'm not sure I've even gotten a call for a Florida golf course in Miami.''
Until now. Fazio gets his chance this summer, when he begins moving dirt for the new Fort Dallas Golf Club a Florida golf course in southwest Miami-Dade.
Named after the 19th-Century outpost that grew to become modern Miami, Fort Dallas will make over 168 acres now occupied by Calusa Country Club. The private, invitation-only club is targeted for a November 2007 opening.
''It's a neat thing that's happening,'' Fazio said.
Unlike the construction boom in Palm Beach County and the Naples and Fort Myers areas, the land squeeze in Miami-Dade has made new Florida golf courses a rarity.
Nothwithstanding such redesigns as Miami Beach GC or Doral's Blue Monster, the last Miami-Dade layout carved from scratch came when Greg Norman transformed Doral's mundane White course into the Great White six years ago.
Before that, you would have to go back to the opening of Deering Bay in 1991.
''The Florida golf courses that are there have been there [for years],'' Fazio said. ``I think Fort Dallas will be good for the area, give it some added distinction.''
With 14 courses ranked among Golf Digest's top 100, Fazio's name lends distinction to any project.
His designs are especially known for their visual appeal, whether it's the natural beauty of the Pinehurst sand hills or man-made masterpieces. Fazio is the man who made Shadow Creek rise up out of the Nevada desert, importing an entire forest with the help of casino magnate Steve Wynn's $37 million budget.
He has been given similar resources for a comparable masterpiece at Fort Dallas, which is being developed by Facundo Bacardi, chairman of the spirits company that bears the family name.
Plans call for moving enough South Florida dirt to create 30-foot elevation changes on this Florida golf course, along with three winding waterways.
''Elevation and contours and drama and framing and definition,'' Fazio said. ``It will be a very dramatic, wonderful feel. [Yet] it'll look like it belongs in South Florida.''
More specifics will be unveiled at a private reception tonight at the Biltmore in Coral Gables. Groundbreaking is scheduled for August.
Meantime, Calusa CC the elite Florida golf course reopened to golfers Monday after a six-month shutdown to recover from Hurricane Wilma damage. Public play will be accepted until approximately Aug. 1.
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