Private Florida Golf Course To Open On Calusa Grounds

Golfing fans -- get ready to grab your clubs and hit the links. South Florida will soon enjoy its first golf course designed by well-known golf course architect Tom Fazio.

Due to open in November 2007, Fort Dallas Golf Club is being developed by Facundo Bacardi, chairman of the Bacardi spirits company.

Fort Dallas is to take up 168 acres at 9400 S.W. 130th Ave., currently the site of Calusa Country Club another Florida golf course. The new course's name is meant to honor the 19th-century outpost that first marked the site of modern Miami.

Calusa Country Club has been closed since Hurricane Katrina damaged it in August.

While the Florida golf course is expected to open in again in mid-March, the Fort Dallas team said they expect the course to then close permanently in August, when groundbreaking is scheduled for Fort Dallas.

The 18-hole championship Florida golf course will feature 30-foot elevation changes and three winding waterways.

Membership for the Florida golf course will be invitation only, limited to 275 individuals or corporations.

In addition to Fazio, the design team includes Zmistowski Design Group as clubhouse architect and Cole Martinez Curtis & Associates as interior designers.

Zmistowski has collaborated with Fazio on previous projects in Scottsdale, Ariz., and Tulsa, Okla. Cole Martinez Curtis interiors include The Lodge at Sea Island, the new Crosby Club and The Lodge at Pebble Beach.