The Ponte Vedra Inn & Club, located at

Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida Ponte Vedra Beach is a wealthy unincorporated seaside community and suburb of Jacksonville, Florida in St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Located southeast of downtown Jacksonville and north of St. Augustine, it is part of the Jackso ...

, is a

AAA Five Diamond Award American Automobile Association (AAA – commonly pronounced as "Triple A") is a federation of motor clubs throughout North America. AAA is a privately held not-for-profit national member association and service organization with over 60 mi ...

resort and the first

country club A country club is a privately owned club, often with a membership quota and admittance by invitation or sponsorship, that generally offers both a variety of recreational sports and facilities for dining and entertaining. Typical athletic offer ...

at Ponte Vedra. The 9th hole on the Ocean course has the distinction of having the first island green ever built."Ponte Vedra Inn & Club"
Golf.com, Course profiles

History

In the early 1900s, Ponte Vedra was primarily an area of sand dunes, swamps, alligators, and palmetto trees. In 1912, it was discovered that these dunes were rich in

rutile Rutile is an oxide mineral composed of titanium dioxide (TiO2), the most common natural form of TiO2. Rarer Polymorphism (materials science), polymorphs of TiO2 are known, including anatase, akaogiite, and brookite. Rutile has one of the highest ...

ilmenite Ilmenite is a titanium-iron oxide mineral with the idealized formula . It is a weakly magnetic black or steel-gray solid. Ilmenite is the most important ore of titanium and the main source of titanium dioxide, which is used in paints, printing ...

, and

zirconium Zirconium is a chemical element with the symbol Zr and atomic number 40. The name ''zirconium'' is taken from the name of the mineral zircon, the most important source of zirconium. The word is related to Persian '' zargun'' (zircon; ''zar-gun'', ...

. These minerals were vital in the production of steel, which was in high demand. After this discovery, it was transformed into a mining town with worker's quarters, a post office, and a supermarket. The National Lead Company began mining ore and spurred development, which supported the war effort. After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

ended, demand for the minerals decreased and the company decided to transform the beachfront property into a resort community, crowded with small seaside cottages. The Ponte Vedra Inn and Club debuted in 1928, attracting socialites from nearby San Jose,

San Marco San Marco is one of the six sestiere (Venice), sestieri of Venice, lying in the heart of the city as the main place of Venice. San Marco also includes the island of San Giorgio Maggiore. Although the district includes Piazza San Marco, Saint ...

, Ortega,

Riverside and Avondale Riverside and Avondale are two adjacent and closely associated neighborhoods, alternatively considered one continuous neighborhood, of Jacksonville, Florida. The area is primarily residential, but includes some commercial districts, including Fi ...

. Stockton, Whatley, Davin & Co. was a developer of Ponte Vedra Beach in the early 1930s and owned the Ponte Vedra Club. The resort became a favorite of the wealthy with guests and their families returning year after year. The 1937 clubhouse stands behind the lobby building and is still in use."Ponte Vedra Inn & Club"
Expedia website, Hotels In the early 1980s,

Gate Petroleum A gate or gateway is a point of entry to or from a space enclosed by walls. The word derived from old Norse "gat" meaning road or path; But other terms include ''yett and port''. The concept originally referred to the gap or hole in the wall ...

purchased the Florida real estate holdings of Stockton, Whatley, Davin & Co., which was then owned by

Phillips Petroleum Company Phillips Petroleum Company was an American oil company incorporated in 1917 that expanded into petroleum refining, marketing and transportation, natural gas gathering and the chemicals sectors. It was Phillips Petroleum that first found oil in the ...

for $60 million. The purchase contained more than of land in northeast Florida including the Ponte Vedra Inn and Club.

Renovation

In mid-1999 Gate began a $30 million renovation/expansion of the resort. A new clubhouse, pro shop and 3-story parking garage were the largest improvements, but the inn saw the addition of 20 guest rooms, as well as refreshing the existing structures. The property was awarded the AAA Five Diamond designation in 2002 and every year since.

Golf courses

The Ponte Vedra Inn and Club introduced the first golf course to the region in 1928, and Ponte Vedra is now known as one of the golf capitals on the East Coast. The golf facilities at the resort have a total of 36 holes on two courses. The ''Ocean Course'' was designed by

Herbert Strong Herbert Augustus Strong (24 November 1841 – 13 January 1918) was an Australian scholar, professor of comparative philology and logic at the University of Melbourne. G. R. Manton,Strong, Herbert Augustus (1841 - 1918), ''Australian Dictionary o ...

in 1928, redesigned by Robert Trent Jones Sr. in 1947, then again by

Bobby Weed Robert C. "Bobby" Weed, Jr. (born April 13, 1955), president of Bobby Weed Golf Design, is a golf course designer and builder specializing in design, renovation and repurposing. A protégé of Pete Dye, he resides in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Wee ...

in 1998. The ocean breeze makes the island green on the 9th hole a challenge. The

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is named af ...

was scheduled to be held there in 1939, but was cancelled when

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

began. The front nine holes of the ''Lagoon Course'' were a Robert Trent Jones Sr. design and opened in 1961. It was 16 years before the back nine was built, laid out by Joe Lee. In 1997,

redesigned the entire course and then again in 2007, fixing irrigation issues, enhancing the landscaping, and changing the routing on several holes. The Lagoon is considered the easier course to play. The latest clubhouse renovation occurred in 2001. The course is limited to members and their guests or guests of the resort.

References

External links

Ponte Vedra Inn & Club official website
{{coord, 30, 14, 31, N, 81, 22, 44, W, display=title, source:dewiki Buildings and structures in St. Johns County, Florida Hotels in the Jacksonville metropolitan area Companies based in Jacksonville, Florida Seaside resorts in Florida Hotels in Florida Golf clubs and courses in Florida Golf clubs and courses designed by Robert Trent Jones Golf clubs and courses designed by Bobby Weed Gate Petroleum