Tony Soave, president and CEO of Soave Enterprises in Detroit, has started the first phases of course construction at Kinsale Golf Club in Naples, Fla.
Soave has long been active in developing residential and commercial projects in metro Detroit, southwest Florida, and Virginia.
In addition, he has built hundreds of luxury condominiums along Florida’s coast, owns Chicago-area Budweiser distributorships, Midwestern metals recycling operations, and Kansas City-based Mercedes-Benz retailers, among other investments.
In Naples, Soave and his team are developing 174 acres of prime southwestern Florida land that will encompass the facilities of Kinsale Golf Club. The course is being designed by the renowned architecture team of Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner. Opening of the course is anticipated to be in the fall of 2024.
“Our vision is that Kinsale Golf Club is a true golf club that will incorporate all the elements that provide our members with the experiences that make them smile and want to talk about,” says Soave.
He adds Kinsale Golf Club, located in North Naples, was established from a love of the game but also out of a core understanding, appreciation, and respect for the traditions, rules, and honorable nature that golf embodies.
The course is intended to have the look and feel of a links course with an almost limitless variety of challenges for golfers of all skill levels. It will operate with 250 members from October through May of each year. The facilities will include an 18-hole golf course, a driving range, teaching and short-game areas, practice putting green, and a large clubhouse.
“To provide the most meaningful experience for our members and guests, we are pleased that Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner have joined our project as the Kinsale Golf Club course designers,” says Soave. “Their vision and proven record over the last two decades is a key part of our plan.”
Hanse and Wagner have earned industry merit for their restorations of U.S. Open sites such as Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Township, Winged Foot Golf Club, Merion Golf Club, and Los Angeles Country Club, among others, as well as original designs like Castle Stuart Golf Links, Streamsong Black, Ohoopee Match Play Club, and the Olympic Golf Course in Rio de Janeiro.
“Our vision is to build a fun and interesting golf course using C.B. Macdonald and Seth Raynor design philosophies as inspiration for our creativity,” says Hanse. “The holes are not to be interpreted as replicas, rather as a foundation of our design’s thought process and a basis of the course character. We’re excited to work with the Soave Team and being afforded the opportunity to create something unique for the Naples area.”
More information regarding Kinsale Golf Club can be found here.
