Lots of golf courses say they are private. However, through a variety of means, most any golfer can get a tee time if they are willing to pony up the money.
Now, Osprey Cove isn’t one of those courses.
“We are completely private. We are shut down to the public,” said Travis Norman, the vice president of marketing for Hampton Golf, which manages Osprey Cove, North Hampton, South Hampton and several courses in the Palm Coast area.
But, why totally private in an era where is as popular as ever but public courses seem to be vanishing?
“Because of our master plan communities, which are a majority of what LandMar develops,” said Norman, adding that with over 1,000 homes in the Osprey Cove development, the time is now for the conversion. “At a minimum, you need over 1,000 homesites to feasibly go completely private and make it work. There are now enough members for us to go completely private. There is so much demand that there is no room for outside play.”
According to Norman, a development with 1,000 homesites requires that about 30-32 percent of the homeowners be active members of the club in order to even consider the conversion from semiprivate to totally private.
Norman said that everyone that was a member before the conversion will remain a member of the Southeast Georgia country club.
The course was bought by LandMar, which owns Hampton Golf, about three years ago. Norman said one the first things the company noticed was the need for major renovations, from the clubhouse to the bunkers.
To design and oversee the project, LandMar brought in PGA Tour professional Mark McCumber, the course’s original architect.
Over the past two years, according to Norman, LandMar has sunk about $1 million into the course and another $1 million into the clubhouse. Norman said the membership is more than pleased with the results.
“We needed to make all the elements perfect before we deemed the course totally private,” said Norman. “The membership is excited. They have wanted this since day one when we took over the course. The changes were promised for years by the previous ownership.”
The new clubhouse will allow the club to host everything from formal dinners in the banquet room that seats 250 to informal card games between members. Golf-wise, at peak Norman said the club will do about 20,000 rounds a year.