18-hole course part of resort development
FAIRHOPE – Tom Fazio, one of the most recognizable names in golf course architecture, will design The Point Clear Club, Baldwin County’s newest course.
The Point Clear Club, which will be an 18-hole facility, is part of a new resort development on property owned by the McLean family and engineered by Jade Consulting with Daniel Realty Corporation as the developer. The new project is designed to be a private club limited to 350 members and will offer restaurants, tennis, swimming pools and other resort amenities.
The resort is south of the Fairhope Airport on the west side of U.S. Hwy. 98 near the Polo fields. The 547-acre tract will house the course along with building lots and other amenities. The county’s Planning and Zoning Commission has approved the concept plan, but more approvals are needed before construction begins.
Jason Tickle, a Daniel Corp representative, said the plan is to break ground lager this year. The multi-phase project will take five to six years to complete.
Fazio has designed championship courses in 36 states and nine foreign countries including TPC Myrtle Beach, Pinehurst No. 6 and 9, and nearby Fallen Oak, a Top 100 Course and home to the Mississippi Gulf Coast Classic, a PGA Tour Champions event.
The Point Clear Club will be the second Fazio design in Alabama. He and Jerry Pate are listed as co-designers of Old Overton in Birmingham that opened in 1993.
Baldwin County currently boasts sixteen golf facilities with play ranging from 9-36 holes. Courses open to the public include: Craft Farms (36), Emerald Greens (9), Foley GC (18), Glenlakes (27), Gulf Shores GC (18), Holly Hills (9), Kiva Dunes (18), Lost Key (18), Peninsula (27), Quail Creek (18), Rock Creek (18), Soldiers’s Creek (18), Timbercreek (27).
Private and semi-private courses are Lake Forest (18), Lakewood (36) open to members, their guests and guests of the Marriott Grand Hotel, Steelwood Resort (18) and Longleaf CC (18), the county’s newest links.
Phillip Ellis has covered Gulf Coast golf for over 40 years. His resume includes articles for the Azalea City News, Bayside Loafer, a Sunday column in the Mobile Press Register and the Lagniappe. He’s the author of the novels “Golf n’ Grits The Adventures of Orville and Calvin Clyde,” and “Golf n’ Grits Orville and Calvin Ride Again.” His latest is the upcoming “Murder on the Turn, a Desi Quina Mystery.” Reach him at PhillipEllisMedia@gmail.com.
Featured image of Tom Fazio courtesy of Links magazine
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