Gator Attacks Man On Florida Golf Course

A Florida man searching for golf balls in a lake at a Florida golf course was attacked by an alligator on Tuesday.

Golfers who saw the attack rushed to help Stephen Martinez as he struggled with the 7-foot gator.

Martinez managed to escape with a bite on his left hand.

A trapper was called in to catch the alligator.

Martinez said he was lucky. "He started pulling me under," he said. "As I tried to make it to the side, he locked onto my arm. He started twisting, and luckily, I kicked him."

The gator will be destroyed because it is considered a "nuisance alligator."

Alligators are considered a nuisance when they lose their fear of humans and may see people as a source of food.

So, don't feed the Florida golf course alligators.

Cost To Play On A Florida Golf Course Drops

They’re not stopping in the pro shop just yet, but Mike Spetsios can see them on the driving range getting ready.

Easter weekend marked the end of season in Florida, meaning prices at area Florida golf courses have begun their annual nosedive.

Year-round golfers, accordingly then, are all set to start plunking Titleists and Top-Flights into the nearest water hazard.

“You definitely recognize the regular summer crowd, and they’re not quite back yet,” said Spetsios, the head golf professional at San Carlos Golf Club a Florida golf course. “Some of them are on the range hitting balls, dusting off the clubs, but the they’re not quite playing yet.”

Rates at most area courses took their first drop on April 1, but Monday — May 1 — officially marks the move to cut-rate summer prices.

San Carlos, for example, dropped from its peak season rate of $60 for golf and a cart to $46 on April 1. Next week, the price drops to $27.

“To me, May 1 is when our locals start to play golf in Florida,” Spetsios said. “Right now, it’s definitely more visitors, more tourists.”

Even with the Florida golf course plummeting prices, the annual exodus of winter residents and visitors from Florida this time of year causes the volume of play at area courses to drop almost in step with prices — first a little, then a lot.

“I was surprised at how much traffic has still been up here,” Spetsios said of the first days after Easter, April 16. “We had a fantastic season and it’s still holding pretty steady. We’re not turning people away, like we were in season, but we’re at pretty good capacity. Typically the third week of April is slow, and the last week of April is really bad.”

Spetsios said San Carlos was maxed out on rounds per day during the season with about 280-290 daily. As of November, the Florida golf course increased the interval between tee times — from 7 1/2 minutes to 8 1/2 minutes — dropping it below the 300-plus rounds it had been doing each day in past years. The Florida course raised its price by $5 from last season to compensate for the lost rounds, but Spetsios said the end result was positive.

“That improved our pace of play,” he said of the wider tee time intervals. “The customers were in a better mood after they finished playing. Our repeat business was fantastic.”

From about 280-290 rounds daily, San Carlos dropped to about 240-260 rounds a day the first two weeks of April, Spetsios said. Last week, the number dropped to about 180-190 a day, still a marked improvement over what the coming summer months will bring.

“If we’re playing 90 rounds a day, that would be pretty good,” Spetsios said. “And I know that’s better than average.”

Along with the heat, humidity and thunderstorms that hurt summer traffic, Florida’s multitude of private and semi-private communities also cut into traffic at daily-fee facilities.

Heritage Palms Golf & Country Club in Fort Myers is so busy with member play during the season that there is little room for outside play. Head professional John Osbrink estimates that only 1 percent of rounds played at the 36-hole facility come from outside the community during season.

By next month, however, non-member rounds will rise to as high as 50 percent of play at Heritage Palms, Osbrink said.

“It’s a factory out here during season,” said Osbrink, estimating Heritage Palms does about 550 rounds a day — 275 per course — in February and March before dropping to about 400 rounds a day in April and finally just 200-250 rounds during the summer.

“That’s wall to wall, from 7 in the morning to about 5:30, quarter of six at night,” he said of seasonal play. “We did 45,000 rounds in the first three months of the year. We’ll do 45,000 in the next seven months.”

The one hiccup in the linear equation is known in the business as “recips.” Reciprocal play — various clubs providing playing privileges to members of other clubs — typically takes place during the first two weeks in May, providing some clubs a respite, however brief, from Florida’s annual summer slide in golf traffic.

“We’ll get a mad rush, above 400 (rounds) a day,” Osbrink said.”But that’s pretty much it. After about the second or third week of May, you’re starting to hit 90-95 degrees.”

As Spetsios said: “Forget it.”

This Week On Florida Golf Courses - April 27-April 30

LPGA TOUR - GINN CLUBS AND RESORTS OPEN, Reunion Resort & Club, Orlando, Florida - The LPGA shifts to the Sunshine State this week for a new event, the Ginn Clubs and Resorts Open. The new event will help bring some sunshine to one family in particular.

The Ginn Company heard about a 13-year-old girl named Dakoda Dowd, whose mother, Kelly Jo, is terminally ill with cancer. One of Kelly Jo's dreams was to see her daughter play in a LPGA Tour event, so the Ginn company extended a sponsor's invitation to Dakoda.

Now before you think this is some sort of ploy for extra coverage, you may want to consider Dakoda's record. She has already won nearly 200 junior tournaments and is the top-ranked player in the graduating class of 2011. Last year, as a sixth grader, Dakoda Dowd played for Northside Christian High as the No. 2 player on the golf team and helped it claim its first state title.

The event will be using a composite course at Reunion Resort & Club. The 18- hole layout will be spread over the Legacy Course, designed by Arnold Palmer, and the Independence Course, designed by Tom Watson.

A world-class field is also on hand for the inaugural playing. Women's world No. 1 Annika Sorenstam heads a field that also includes reigning Rookie of the Year Paula Creamer, fellow U.S. Solheim Cup performers Juli Inkster, Natalie Gulbis, Beth Daniel, Cristie Kerr and Christina Kim, as well as two-time U.S. Open champion Meg Mallon and reigning Women's British Open winner Jeong Jang.

The Golf Channel will broadcast Dakoda Dowd's action on the first two days, before CBS covers weekend action. The tour moves to the Franklin American Mortgage Championship in Franklin, Tennessee, next week. Stacy Prammanasudh is slated to be on hand to defend her crown there.

Fort Myers-Run Florida Golf Course Criticized For Pricey Fees, Poor Upkeep

Ireland's Mary and Michael Feeley and Tadhg and Chris O'Connor were several days into their Florida golf vacation in Lee County last month when they ended up at Eastwood Golf Course.

Using only a glossy pamphlet on Southwest Florida courses as their guide, the couples booked an afternoon tee time for $60 per person. They expected to see a reasonably well-conditioned layout, one that once ranked among Golf Digest's top 50 public courses in the nation, let alone Florida.

What they found instead were many greens in such poor condition that Tadhg O'Connor said a course in similar disrepair in his homeland wouldn't even be open.

"You'd get nobody to pay a greens fee," said O'Connor, 61, who like his friends is from the south of Ireland in County Cork, home to such historic courses as Killarney and Ballybunion. "Certainly, that was the worst Florida golf course we played for the conditions."

"There's some very good golf holes, particularly on the back nine," said Michael Feeley, 56. "But the whole Florida golf course needed to be refurbished."

To the dismay of many golfers, that has been a common refrain at the popular municipal Florida golf course.

With the battered eighth green the most-glaring symbol of its diminished condition, Eastwood has prompted several letters to The News-Press editorial page in recent months from disgruntled golfers.

March 4, John and Jody Vansicklen of Commerce Township, Mich., wrote that Eastwood should inform golfers of deteriorated conditions before they play and should not charge full price.

"We went to the Florida golf course and paid our green(s) fees and soon learned there were no greens," wrote the Vansicklens, visitors to Fort Myers for several years. "The greens were brown."

Two weeks later, Fort Myers' Tony Wolff criticized the course's "deplorable" sand traps, cart paths "full of potholes," wooded areas "loaded" with uprooted tree stumps, and fairways with "large segments of browned-out grass or no grass at all," which are "likely diseased."

"Eastwood, and very likely Fort Myers Country Club, have fallen into a situation of so many municipal courses where the local powers that be probably spend the course revenues for their pet projects instead of returning an adequate amount of the revenue generated to maintain and improve the Florida golf course," Wolff wrote of Eastwood and fellow city-owned Fort Myers Country Club. "What we need is a golfing mayor."

The city's actual mayor, Jim Humphrey, said he has seen the letters and that Wolff's allegations just aren't true.

"I have been a proponent of enterprise funds all having a repair and replacement account, a reserve account and an operation and maintenance account," Humphrey said of self-sustaining operations. "If you continue to drain off the excess revenues, then you neglect (the enterprise)."

Humphrey and director of golf Rich Lamb, an independent contractor who runs the city's two courses, said Eastwood will close for six months in 2007 to undergo $1.5 million in renovations. Ultimately, the course is slated for about $4.5 million in improvements during the next three to four years.

The city recently had to abandon plans to add nine new holes at Eastwood because of what planners said will be a negative impact on Humphrey's goal to build affordable, "work-force" housing near the course. But Humphrey said money to improve Eastwood's existing facilities wasn't nixed.

"And now I think it's more important than ever to improve the 18 holes because we're going to have, I hope, a lot of people around there who will want to play there," he said. "So it's going to be very important."

Next year's Florida golf course renovations will focus on four projects: completely rebuild greens, level and resurface tee boxes, rebuild bunkers, and expand and upgrade irrigation. If there's enough money, Lamb said, Eastwood's driving range also will be renovated.

The money for the improvements will be borrowed at 4 percent interest from the city's utilities department.

The long-term improvements to the driving range and aging clubhouse will be repaid with some of the money from the The Bonita Bay Group sale of about 500 acres next to Eastwood for work force housing, Humphrey said.

"That will then ensure that it (Eastwood) can stay in the top 50 or wherever it is," Humphrey said of all the upgrades, terming the clubhouse improvements "not something extravagant, but to improve it to where people can really go there after the golf and talk and enjoy themselves.''

"Right now, they have to get in the car and go somewhere else," he said. "So I think we're missing the opportunity."

As for the existing conditions at Eastwood, Lamb said its troubled greens are primarily the result of an inability to water the course for more than a week after Hurricane Wilma in October and the ensuing dormant period for the course's bermuda grass greens through the winter.

The problem was made worse on the eighth green, Lamb said, by poor drainage below the surface. Heavy watering to promote some growth resulted in a soggy, unhealthy environment, Lamb said. A last-ditch effort to overseed with rye grass in December also proved fruitless.

Fort Myers Country Club does overseed its bermuda greens each fall and is noticeably lush in the winter. Lamb said that course is overseeded because its tiny greens would not be able to withstand the heavy, concentrated foot traffic of winter if they were bermuda alone. The lush overseed color also presents better for the Beck's Open held in February, Lamb said.

Because foot traffic is not as concentrated on Eastwood's larger greens, the course's bermuda turf normally is able to maintain its health and playability through the winter, Lamb said.

In just a few weeks, he emphasized, Eastwood's bermuda greens will hit their growth phase, while the overseed on Fort Myers Country Club's greens will begin dying off. That will leave an uneven period at Fort Myers Country Club before the bermuda takes over again.

And so Lamb expects feedback on the two city courses — that Eastwood looks "terrible" and "The Fort," as it's known, looks great — to switch 180 degrees.

As for other complaints about Eastwood, Lamb said that nearly all of the uprooted tree stumps from Wilma have been removed, more than 200,000 tons of sand have been added to its 84 bunkers, and its cart paths are only in need of an "overlay."

The paths at Fort Myers Country Club, he said, were scheduled to be resurfaced last fall, but that Florida golf course project was postponed because of Wilma. Lamb said the $88,000 job will be done in the next few weeks and will be paid for from the course's own revenues.

Could Florida Swing Bypass Tampa Bay Florida Golf Course?

The news didn't generate much interest around here. A golf tournament in Pennsylvania was being replaced by one in Connecticut. What's the big deal?

If you look at the big picture, it's huge. And it should be a warning that a PGA Tour event in Tampa Bay on a Florida golf course is not the lock.

When the new FedEx Cup schedule for 2007 was announced three months ago, the 84 Lumber Classic in Pennsylvania took a prominent spot in June. And it was no surprise.

In just three years, it had positioned itself nicely because of big-bucks 84 Lumber owner Joe Hardy . He poured millions into his golf course in western Pennsylvania. He pampered the players. And his tournament got a coveted spot, bumping out such tour mainstays as Hartford and Washington.

A few weeks ago, Hardy decided that the millions it costs to sponsor a PGA Tour event could be better spent. So he pulled the plug. And the PGA Tour, wasting no time and giving local organizers in Pennsylvania no chance to locate a new title sponsor, got the Hartford folks on the phone and offered them their tournament back. (Hartford officials had been considering a Champions Tour event.)

The St. Paul Travelers Championship will take 84 Lumber's spot, June 21-24, 2007.

The lesson is that the PGA Tour can be ruthless when it comes to filling tournament dates.

There was great joy when it was announced that the Chrysler Championship would be part of the FedEx schedule and part of the Florida Golf Course Swing in March 2007.

But Chrysler is bowing out as title sponsor, and a new one must be secured. Then there is the issue of working out a new contract with the Westin Innisbrook Resort a Florida golf course, a key aspect in having the tournament here. Given the fact that Innisbrook and the tournament need each other, a deal should get done, but a contract has not been signed.

The bigger issue, however, is securing a title sponsor. They are simply not lined up outside tour headquarters ready to throw down $7-million a year to sponsor a florida golf course tournament. They must be courted and schmoozed and no doubt that is happening. But nothing is imminent.

So if you want a good conspiracy theory, consider: The tour has yet to sign off on the fall portion of its schedule, the events that will follow the Tour Championship. One of those is believed to be the Texas Open in San Antonio, an event sponsored by oil refiner Valero that has raised millions for charity over the years. It has been a successful tournament despite going up against the Ryder Cup or the Presidents Cup. It craves a shot at the big time.

Perhaps the tour has not announced the fall events because it is waiting to see what happens with Tampa Bay on a Florida golf course, one of just two tournaments (along with Colonial) without a title sponsor. If nothing materializes here, the tour could make some minor adjustments to the Florida Swing, with the Honda Classic, Arnold Palmer Invitational and Doral followed by a mini-Texas Swing in San Antonio and Houston.

It's a sinister scenario, to be sure. But if the PGA Tour can leave the state of Pennsylvania without a tournament, it can bypass Tampa Bay, and forget play on a Tampa Bay Florida golf course.

Fire Chars Part Of California Club A Florida Golf Course

Miami-Dade Firefighters spent part of their Easter Sunday fighting a grass fire at the California Club a Florida golf course in North Miami-Dade, as South Florida continued under a Red Flag fire danger alert.

The fire, near Ives Dairy Road and San Simeon Way, was controlled by early Sunday afternoon, but the smoke plume cause brief slowdowns on nearby I-95 as motorists slowed to look..not at the golfers hitting smoking drives down this Florida golf course.

The fire started about Noon Sunday, but firefighters have yet to determine the cause.
Might be onf of those fired up Florida golfers.

73-YEAR-OLD WOMAN HAS TWO ACES IN ROUND ON FLORIDA GOLF COURSE

Cissy Perkins couldn't sleep Monday night. Her mind was still racing hours after a once-in-a-lifetime day on a Florida golf course.

Perkins, 73, made two holes-in-one at the Babe Zaharias Golf Course in Tampa Florida. A 24 handicap, she shot 83 at the par-70 course, the best round of her life.

"I was going to go home (Sunday), but my daughter thought I should stick around another day and play golf with them," said Perkins, who lives in Naples Florida. "I'm glad I did."

In a threesome with her daughter, Karen Marotta, and her daughter's friend, Kathy Ottens, the first hole-in-one came at No. 8, a 107-yard hole all over water with the pin 10 yards from the front of the green. Perkins used a 6-iron on that Florida golf course hole.

The second ace came at the 15th hole, which measures 113 yards. Perkins said she decided to be safe and hit a 5-iron.

"They all said it was long, so we were looking for the ball over the green," Perkins said. "Then Kathy saw it in the hole and started screaming. We were making so much noise, everybody on the Florida golf course knew what happened."

New Construction At Florida Golf Course Coral Creek Club

Placida's ultra exclusive private Florida golf course will hold a ceremonial ground breaking for its new clubhouse this afternoon.

Coral Creek Club plans to have construction crews on site by next month, said Michael Zmetrovich, chief executive officer of Trophy Golf Management, the company that oversees day-to-day management of the club.

The 12,000-square-foot building will house the club's dining room, a bar, a veranda dining area, and men's and women's locker rooms. It should be completed by fall of 2007, Zmetrovich said.

This opening will in turn release space in the current golf house that will be used for additional bag storage. The golf house will also continue to house the club's pro shop.

A timetable has not yet been established for the Florida golf course's other big construction project -- a "lodge" with 15 condominiums. These will be sold to individual members, who will have the option of entering them into a rental pool and leasing them for portions of the season to other members.

The total Coral Creek property covers 211 acres. One selling point is that the amount of housing is going to be strictly limited, said Donna Loftin, director of membership. Currently, there are only 10 cottages on the property, none of which fronts directly on the course.

Although the Florida golf course condo has become a staple of Florida development, the owners of Coral Creek have taken the line that having dwellings right up to the edge of the course detracts from the beauty of the landscape.

"The Coral Creek estuary is just a great backdrop to design holes to -- as opposed to houses or a blank landscape," Zmetrovich said.

Another unusual aspect of the Florida golf course is that it has its own private airstrip, which is an extra service for a limited number of paying members.

The club is still trying to fill the last 75 of 225 member slots, Loftin said. Membership is by invitation only, and the club does not publish its dues structure.

However, because the club shuts down for maintenance during August and September, a break on dues is being offered to recognize this fact and offer a small price break for new members, Loftin said.

The new clubhouse will be built by Yusk Construction Co., owned by Coral Creek member Dick Yusk.

Coral Creek golf course was built in 1999 and acquired in 2003 by a group headed by Dan Doherty, founder of Eastern Development LLC, one of New England's leading developers and owners of commercial real estate. They in turn hired Trophy Golf not quite a year ago to manage the club.

Prior to forming Trophy Golf, Zmetovich worked in Jack Nicklaus' golf course development business. Trophy Golf also manages courses in Oregon and Wisconsin.

"Our management company likes to get involved with projects that have some unique assets," Zmetrovich said. "What attracted us to Coral Creek was the chance to be associated with a world-class course designed by Tom Fazio."

Fazio, considered one of the top designers in the world, created for Coral Creek an 18-hole, Par 71 Florida golf course of 7,038 yards.

Zmetrovich explained that the really unusual aspect of Coral Creek was the way Fazio incorporated the natural beauty of the Coral Creek estuary into his design. Surprisingly few Florida courses really take advantage of natural waterways. "It's difficult because of the availability of land. And it's difficult to get permitting that allows you to build holes along the water," he said.

Another aspect of Fazio's genius is the way he can create Florida golf courses that are challenging to experienced players but also a "playable and joyful experience" for beginners, Zmetrovich said.

Big Shot Scores A New Car On Florida Golf Course

The shiny red car that sits in the Pierce family's driveway in Rockledge represents many things.

An early birthday present.

The shot of a lifetime.

And a reminder to Erica Pierce that the next time she feels like rolling over instead of getting up to play golf, she needs to go to the course. Because something great might happen to her.

Playing in a charity outing that raised more than $12,000 for St. Jude's Hospital last Sunday at Turtle Creek Golf Club, a Florida golf course, Pierce watched her father make a hole-in-one -- and a lot, lot more as it turned out.

His first career ace, which came on the 13th hole, allowed Mitch Pierce to deliver on the promise he had made to Erica minutes before he hit the shot he'll never forget.

OK, so Pierce told his daughter in jest that he would win her the 2006 Mustang. It was bravado as much as anything.

But when Erica Pierce earns her driver's license -- the Rockledge High sophomore turns 16 next month -- she will have a fresh set of wheels, courtesy of her father.

"It's just an unforgettable thing," Mitch Pierce said.

Improbable too, and for many reasons.

The Pierces weren't going to play in the four-person scramble because they had to attend a family wedding in Fort Lauderdale the day before the tournament.

Erica, who helped Rockledge's girls' golf team win the District 16-2A title last fall, was still rubbing sleep out of her eyes when her group got to the 13th tee (after starting on No. 10). That's when her father told her, "I'm going to go ahead and win you that car."

Yeah, OK.

After stepping off the yardage on the hole that played 181 yards that day and also taking note of the slight breeze behind him, Pierce put the 5-iron he had initially grabbed back into his bag and opted for a 6-iron.

Pierce, who belongs to LaCita Country Club another Florida golf course in Titusville and has an 11 handicap there, started his ball just right of the pin and had a little draw on it.

It bounced just short of the green, took another hop and then dived into the cup.

"I put both my arms straight up in the air and started yelling and screaming," said Pierce, who owns a garage-door business with his father and brother.

It didn't take long for word of what had happened to make its way around the Florida golf course.

Of course, when Erica called home to tell her mother about the shot, Penni Pierce reacted as if her daughter were trying to pull a belated April Fool's Day joke.

"It took me 10 to 15 minutes to convince her that we weren't lying," Erica said, laughing.

The car that has Chris Cagle's autograph clear-coated inside the driver's door -- the country-music singer played in the event and signed for Pierce -- is proof enough that she was indeed telling the truth. County offers discount card. Brevard County Parks and Recreation is selling a discount card that can be used at any of the three courses the county owns and operates.

The card, costing just more than $50, is valid until the end of November at The Savannahs on Merritt Island, Spessard Holland in Melbourne Beach and The Habitat in Valkaria, all Florida golf courses.

Those who have the card only have to pay $9.22 a round at any of the three courses, and the first round along with a cart is free. The card also gets golfers discounts on merchandise in the pro shop at the three Florida golf courses.

Summer rates are in effect for The Savannahs, Spessard Holland and The Habitat, meaning Brevard County residents only have to pay $12.99 for a green fee.

For more information call 633-2046. Chip shot. Michael Hebert recently won a Florida Junior Tour event in Port Charlotte. The 15-year-old Palm Bay resident shot 145 (74-71) at Riverwood Golf Club to win the boys' 13-15 division by two strokes.

Eagle Creek to Host Florida Open

The 2006 Florida Open Golf Championship will be conducted at Eagle Creek Golf Club in southeastern Orlando, September 28 -October 1. The competition is 72 holes of stroke play, with a cut after 36 holes.

"Eagle Creek is an unusual layout compared to the typical Florida course," says tournament director, Rick Whitfield. "It has great bunkering, it has some elevation change and there are several great risk-reward holes that should had excitement to the Florida Open. Ron Garl did a terrific job with Eagle Creek, and we are excited to come to a course we think will make for a great tournament."

Eagle Creek is a favorite among tournament planners, having hosted the national finals of the Buick Scramble, the Golf Channel's Drive Chip & Putt Junior Challenge, and several Florida State Golf Association competitions. The 7,198-yard design by Garl and Howard Swan has earned many honors in its two years, including being named among the top 10 new courses of the decade in Florida by Travel & Leisure.

The Florida Open's list of winners over the years reads like a who's who of great Florida-based players. They include Dudley Hart (1990), Bruce Fleisher (1987, 1980), Donnie Hammond (1982), Gary Koch (1969), Larry Mowry (1983, 1979), Gardner Dickinson (1952), and many others.

"The Florida Open is a great tradition in our state and Eagle Creek is proud to host such a prestigious event," said Eagle Creek Eagle Creek director of golf Tony Crawford. "We think our course will present a test worthy of a state championship."

Whitfield is particularly excited that the 18th hole at Eagle Creek could be the deciding factor in the final round. The 18th hole was re-designed after the initial work had begun on the golf course, turning a par-4 into a dramatic par-5. The change gave Eagle Creek the only par-73 layout in Orlando.

The 18th is the definitive risk/reward hole. At 535 yards, it tempts the player to go for the deep ball off the tee in hopes of reaching a long and narrow putting surface in two. But the drive must carry fairway bunkers on the left, and avoid the water hazard on the right. The green is completely fronted by water, and slopes dramatically from back to front. So whether hitting a third shot after playing it safe, or gambling to reach in two, the approach shot must be struck with accuracy to assure a two-putt.

"Our 18th always is the talk of the grill room after rounds," said Crawford. "Along with the beauty of the hole with our clubhouse visible from start to finish, the challenge and excitement it creates is the perfect ending to a great round of golf."

Don't Turn Florida Golf Courses Into Homes

There has been much in the news about the Monterey and Sabal Palm golf courses in Florida. Prestige Builders has bought the land on which to build individual homes and townhomes. They are trying to get the property rezoned from commercial recreation to low-medium (five to 10 units an acre) residential. The only way to reach this development would be through either Northwest 47th Terrace or Mainland Drive, going through an existing senior community to get there.

How many people realize the impact this new development would have on Commercial Boulevard? Commercial Boulevard is one of the most congested roads in Broward County. From Rock Island Road to State Road 7, there are six stoplights. Four of these stoplights are between the Florida Turnpike and State Road 7, within a half-mile. If Prestige Builders develops this property, the entrance will be next to the turnpike exit.

I live in Mainland 1 and 2. It is difficult to get out of our community because of the traffic. The drivers of these eastbound cars block the intersections at both Northwest 47th Terrace and Mainland Drive. Imagine how difficult it will be with appoximately 1,000 more cars trying to get out onto Commercial Boulevard.

On March 22, there were several hundred of our residents at the Tamarac City Hall meeting concerning the rezoning of the Florida golf courses. There were representatives from Prestige and the Florida Department of Transporation. About 40 or more of the residents spoke about the impact the development would have on the traffic, green space, water, etc. I challenged the city panel to come to our area every morning for a week between 7:30 and 9 a.m. and 5 and 6 p.m. and get into the traffic. This would give them first-hand understanding of what we are talking about.

The mayor and other officials voted to send the Prestige rezoning request to the state. Tallahassee has no knowledge of our traffic issues.

I am urging the residents of Tamarac, and anyone else who is driving in this congested traffic every day, to discuss this with your city officials. If there is a recall petition, I am urging you to sign it.

Developer Puts Off Answers On Riviera Florida Golf Course's Future

A developer's plans to plant affordable housing on a public Florida golf course in East Naples had unleashed an uproar from residents, and now there are questions about the project's future.

But the developers and the current property owners aren't answering questions.

MDG Capital executives have said they hoped to construct more than 1,000 condominiums on the Florida golf course in the 55-and-older Riviera Golf Estates community.

Late Thursday, MDG released a statement that is making residents and county officials wonder: Now what?

"We have notified the owners of Riviera Golf Course that we cannot proceed on the purchase and redevelopment of the golf course for Affordable Work Force Housing without resolution of the conflicting title opinions relating to the deed restrictions," it reads.

Does that mean the Florida golf course project is off?

Patrick McCuan, the MDG Capital CEO, wouldn't say when contacted Friday.

He wouldn't say if that means the project is just delayed. He politely declined to comment on any questions springing from the statement.

"We don't mean to be difficult," he said.

Collier County Commissioner Donna Fiala, who represents East Naples, has been fighting to stop plans from going forward. She is relieved, for residents, that the proposal at least has been slowed.

"That's it, huh?" Fiala said. "I think MDG is purposely keeping people in the dark. I don't know what their motives are for not just being up-front about what's really going on here."

The Riviera Golf Club , an 18-hole Florida golf course, sits among 692 manufactured and single-family homes in Riviera Golf Estates.

Residents there weren't elated but not dismayed.

"First of all, it's not bad news," said David Gelsomini, vice president of the homeowners association board and a resident since 1991.

Gelsomini, who cherishes his course view, said homeowners' deeds dating back to the 1970s said the course must remain in use as a golf course or for related activities.

"They could take us to court to challenge the deed," he said. "If we go to court, that's going to put us right back in the soup but we'll do whatever it takes. We will win."

The association board hired attorney Patrick White, who said Friday that MDG hadn't contacted him to discuss any issues.

"I'll have to investigate that more fully," he said after he read the statement.

Joe Schmitt, head of Collier County's community development and environmental services division, said the MDG Capital president left him a message about the release but he didn't know anything more.

The company with a Maryland headquarters and a Naples office postponed its February pre-application meeting with Collier County officials, he said.

"It appears right now, at least, any plans of this Florida golf course in the immediate future have been tabled," he said. "I just don't think they were even prepared."

Schmitt said there is a restriction on properties adjacent to Florida golf courses but it's not the county's responsibility to sort out those issues. Residents in Florida golf course communities shouldn't fear the redevelopment of courses in the community, he said, because Riviera's neighborhood zoning is unique.

Similar communities are master planned as a development, Schmitt said, but Riviera Golf Estates has piecemeal zoning, which allows a developer to pursue a switch without an expensive, time-intensive change of the master plan that most developers would loathe to do.

St. Joe Hits Snag with Florida Golf Courses

St. Joe Co. is planning a community called WaterSound North in Bay County, which is set to include 1,300 homes, several Florida golf courses and a retail development with restaurants and shops on Lake Powell. It will be located the North end of Highway 98. All this will be built soon, unless St. Joe’s is stopped short by a preliminary injunction, which has halted construction due to a suit filed by the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is responsible for issuing a permit to St. Joe in June of 2004.

St. Joe’s apparently remains unflustered by the lawsuit, since it only affects areas that are under the Army Corps permit. The company owns about 80% of the land in the area, and continues to work on areas unaffected by the lawsuit. The development will eventually be a gated community with a beach, private pool club, outdoor fireplace, recreational park, and private putting green with several Florida golf courses. The homes will be connected by an extensive biking and walking path that will be accessible by golf carts as well.

The Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council are against the housing community, which would allow St. Joes to build on over 30% of a 48,150 acre area. Construction would also destruct 20% of the wetlands. Members of both organizations claim that the permit issued by the Army Corps of Engineers is illegal. They are concerned that the destruction of the wetlands will endanger Florida’s natural resources.

The St. Joe’s Florida golf course construction on the areas under the Army Corps permit was stopped on November 10 after US. District Judge Timothy J. Corrigan issued the injunction. The decision about whether or not the permit will remain valid will be made in February. Until then, St. Joe’s will continue to work on developing the residential, retail and Florida golf courses of WaterSound not under the Army Corps Permit.