The driving range at Frenchman's Creek has been fenced off since early May. Where members used to warm up before a round on the North or South Course, there's now a construction access road, staged sod pallets, and the low grind of heavy equipment moving earth behind privacy screening. For most of the club's 606 members, this reads as a straightforward story: a practice facility that's more than two decades old is finally getting attention, the way any aging amenity eventually does.
Coverage of the project also describes an accessibility dimension to the renovation, alongside the broader facility improvements planned for this summer.
What's Actually Being Rebuilt
Construction on the $10.48 million project began Wednesday, May 6, with a formal groundbreaking ceremony held May 14. The scope, according to reporting from Golf Course Industry, covers several connected areas:
- The driving range is being rebuilt from an elevated, north/south tee configuration into a traditional ground-level tee line, with a dedicated iron tee area and a new privacy berm.
- Four smaller individual tees are being added along the western edge for shots of 185 yards or less, giving members a lower-effort practice option that doesn't require a full swing off the main line.
- The short-game and putting complex is being relocated and expanded next to the first tees, with two separate greens and an enlarged range of chipping and bunker shots.
- The ninth hole on the South Course, positioned directly behind the clubhouse, is being reimagined for both appearance and function, including a larger irrigation pond.
The club has said the entire project is targeted for completion this fall, timed to wrap before the winter season brings members back in force.
The Accessibility Context
An interview with William Schmit, the club's director of agronomy, published by Club + Resort Business, discusses the stairs at the former range tee. The old driving range tee required members to climb up to reach it, and with an average membership age around 75, that climb had become a real barrier to a facility members were paying dues to use.
The project also includes four smaller tees for shots of 185 yards or less and a relocated short-game area near the first tees. The planned ground-level tee replaces the elevated platform and its access stairs.
Rob Oosterhuis, the club's general manager and COO, also discussed the renovation with Club + Resort Business:
"Infrastructure is definitely a driving factor because we have a golf course and facility that's in that 20 plus year range. From a practical perspective, things have evolved since the last time we made renovations and people have a different view on clubs than they did years ago."
Oosterhuis has described member engagement, giving people a reason to stay on campus rather than seek golf and gathering elsewhere, as the real end goal of the renovation. Schmit's comments about the stairs also add an accessibility dimension to the project.
The Money and the Team Behind It
The project is being led by Fry/Straka Global Golf Course Design, with construction managed by NMP Golf Construction. A longer bench of specialists is filling out the work: Flynn Engineering, Insite Studios, A Cut Above Landscaping, SPD Projects, TCI-Rood Irrigation, and H&J Site Contractors, according to the project rundown from Fry/Straka. Club president Alan Gurock framed the scope of the work in a statement to Golf Course Industry, calling it a project that "demonstrates our members' commitment to continually enhancing the Frenchman's Creek experience," from the ninth hole to the practice grounds.
The statement describes the project's physical scope; Schmit's comment about the stairs provides additional context for the changes.
What This Means for Your Summer at the Club
Day-to-day golf continues through the construction. Both 18-hole layouts, the Jim Fazio-designed North Course and Robert Cupp's South Course, remain part of the rotation this summer, with the club managing play around the ninth hole while that work is underway. What's off-limits is the practice complex itself: the driving range, the smaller tees, and the short-game area are closed for the duration.
For members who'd normally spend a summer afternoon working on their short game before dinner at the clubhouse, the practical alternative this season is the club's beachfront outpost on Juno Beach, confirmed on the club's own site as offering waterfront dining, a heated pool, and cabana service. It's not a substitute for a bucket of balls on the range, but it's the version of a Frenchman's Creek afternoon that's fully available while the west end of the property stays under construction fencing.
The reopening is set for this fall, ahead of the club's traditional winter season. That timeline puts the new tee line, the expanded short-game complex, and the reworked ninth hole back in members' hands right as the club fills back up for the year.
Accessibility Considerations in the Renovation
The project replaces the elevated tee with a ground-level tee line and adds four shorter tees and an expanded short-game area. Schmit's comments about the former stairs provide context for the accessibility implications of that design change for the club's current members.
That's a small detail. But it's the kind of detail that tells you more about a community's actual character than any amenity list ever could.
If you want the resident's view of what's changing in Frenchman's Creek and other communities across Palm Beach County, Palm Beach Luxury Portfolio Group tracks it season by season. Let's Start a Conversation.
