DELRAY BEACH, Florida — If this wasn’t an oasis before, it’s one now.
The Seagate Golf Club unveiled its renovated clubhouse and 18-hole championship golf course, designed by architect “Gentleman” Joe Lee, and its practice facilities on Dec. 4.
Golf course architect J. Drew Rogers oversaw the renovation at the site just off West Atlantic Avenue.
“While it is such a big celebration for all of you, and rightly so, it kind of also brings to a close many of our efforts building the golf course, designing and growing it,” Rogers told a crowd of about four dozen people at the course’s unveiling.
Some holes on The Seagate Golf Club saw complete redesigns
The renovation improves the course by bringing infrastructure replacements to the tees, greens, fairways, bunkers, irrigation, drainage, landscaping and paths. The course’s driving range and practice facilities also underwent upgrades.
The course closed in April to allow for its full renovation. In some cases, holes were completely redesigned.
Hole-by-hole renovations: Click here for a complete guide to The Seagate Golf Club’s changes
Also newly renovated is the course’s 41,064-square-foot clubhouse. Upgrades include architectural finishes in the lobby, meeting rooms, event spaces, locker rooms, corridors and the outdoor patio. The golf course and clubhouse renovations totaled $14.5 million.
The clubhouse features a dining room that serves lunch, brunch and dinner with both indoor and outdoor seating.
Some new touches are leather-tufted couches, a custom reception desk and brass-glowing alabaster light fixtures. It also has a curated art collection made up abstract pieces and vintage photos by Slim Aarons of Palm Beach and the surrounding area.
The course’s last significant renovation was 10 years ago, after it was purchased and renamed “The Seagate Country Club” in 2012. That renovation was headed by architect Gene Bates, with some design consultation by PGA-touring professional Jeff Sluman, a member of the golf club.
“One of the things that I think is very well appreciated by the mayor and many of our public officials is that the Seagate Resort actually is a legacy property in this community,” said Richard Sands, Seagate’s owner and the former CEO of Constellation Brands. “It’s got a long, great history and a hamlet, which is what this was before the Seagate.”
The Seagate Hotel’s history in Delray Beach dates to 1945
Sands is referring to the hotel on East Atlantic Avenue, which was built in about 1945 when an heir to Henry Flagler had 30 units constructed on the street facing the beach. They were called the Flagler Apartments, and they now serve as the Seagate Hotel’s south building.
In the early 1950s, American industrialist and philanthropist Arthur Vining Davis and a young real estate agent purchased the property along with the club — on the beach across the street from the apartments.
The pair turned it into the hotel and club that visitors have today. Davis’ real estate firm sold the property to a group of men from Michigan before they sold it to Seagate Development Corp.
The Seagate Country Club, located about 3 miles from the resort, is a 300-acre layout designed by Lee in 1973. It was known as “The Hamlet of Delray Beach” and was among the state’s first private clubs. It is available for use to any guest of the resort, resident of the country club’s community or member of the club.
Jasmine Fernández is a journalist covering Delray Beach and Boca Raton for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at jfernandez@pbpost.com and follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at @jasminefernandz. Help support our work. Subscribe today.
