THE AREA

Southwest Florida loves golf! We love to play golf! And we love professional golf with three tournaments, including the year ending CME Group Tour Championship for the LPGA. In 2018, Ariya Jutanugarn won at Tiburón at the Ritz Carlton Naples, avoiding a 3-way playoff by one stroke.

Also at Tiburón, the QBE Shootout hosted by Greg Norman will return with last year’s team, Sean O’Hair & Steve Stricker, defending their title. Teeing it up again is LPGA star Lexi Thompson who will be paired with long-hitting Tony Finau.

Last but certainly not least, the PGA Tour Champions stars return to Naples. Won last year by Joe Durant at Twin Eagles, the event is back at Lely Resort, where it was played in 1996. The PGA Tour Champions event is, by far, the longest running Tour event in the Naples area. The event began in 1988 at Club Pelican Bay, where it was played for three years, moving to Vineyards, Lely, Bay Colony, Pelican Marsh, Twin Eagles, Quai West, TPC Treviso Bay, The Quarry, back to Twin Eagles, and now to Lely Classics where it will be played for the 30th time overall. Coincidentally, the Classics course at Lely was designed by Gary Player, who hit the first tee shot of the tournament way back in 1988.

With the TeeUpFlorida® web site you will find over 175 golf courses in Southwest Florida. Most are in gated communities, some with more than one course, where the fans of those golf tournaments live, both year-round and part time. The choices of communities to live range from bundled golf, where the initiation fee is included with the purchase of the home, to the ultra-exclusive where homes are several million dollars with very limited golf memberships so you can often tee it up without a tee time.

Pros and sports celebrities who choose to live here include Peter Jacobsen, Scott Hoch, Chip Beck, John Harris, Wayne Levi, Mark Lye, Fuzzy Zoeller, Kris Tamulis, Larry Bird, Mike Ditka, Dave Wannstedt, Mary Carillo, and Johan Kriek. This is by no means ALL of them, but it shows the desirability of Southwest Florida for celebrities who can choose to live anywhere they choose. Also, Top 100 teachers such as David Leadbetter, Rick Smith, Dr. Jim Suttie, and Tom Patri have academies in the Naples area.

Since 2010, many clubs have spent tens of millions of dollars to upgrade their facilities beyond golf renovations. Members have spoken and they want activities in addition to golf and tennis. New casual restaurants and resort style pool bars, fitness centers with yoga instruction, entertainment venues, Pickle Ball, all the way to full clubhouse upgrades have occurred.

And don’t forget! When you belong to a club or live in a golf community, your club reciprocates with dozens of other clubs from May 1st to October 31st so you can play all over the area for those 6 months of the year.

So, as you can see, Southwest Florida really loves golf and if you do too, click here to start your search for a perfect home.

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