Weed’s firm initially updated the celebrated Tampa layout in 2011 as phase I of II
TAMPA, Fla. – Bobby Weed Golf Design has finished the phase II modernization of Palma Ceia Golf & Country Club, 14 years after the firm’s initial phase I restoration of the famed Tom Bendelow and Donald Ross original design. Weed’s extensive experience as a Ross historian and restorer, along with his deep knowledge of Palma Ceia, allowed his team to efficiently improve the golf course design, infrastructure and playing experience. The highly anticipated reopening took place on Oct. 31.
A conceptual plan of hole 18 shows how shifting the green to the right creates a more dynamic finishing hole with improved strategy, shot options, additional separation from the clubhouse and overall aesthetics.
As the founding club of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA), former host of the largest event purse on the PGA TOUR and annual host of the Gasparilla Invitational, known as one of the most prestigious national amateur golf tournaments in the U.S., Palma Ceia’s championship roots run deep.
For well over a decade, Bobby Weed Golf Design has provided services focused on short- and long-term improvements and Master Plans for the celebrated club. Following their “2012 Renovation of the Year, Private Course” award at Palma Ceia, the firm’s third in eight years, Weed’s team was tasked with updating these elements for 2025:
Most Notable Improvements
- Re-grassing the entire property
- De-mucking all lagoons
- Replacing all bulkheads
- Overlaying and widening numerous cart paths
- Substantial enhancements to holes 4 and 18
- Enlarging all par 3 tees and adding additional tees
Updated Holes
- Hole 4 tee, lake, bulkhead and green
- Hole 5 tee length and expansion
- Hole 7 fairway bunkers
- Hole 10 fairway bunkers
- Hole 12 fairway bunkers
- Hole 13 tee, bulkhead and cart path
- Hole 15 green and bulkhead
- Hole 18 tee, landscaping, fairway bunker, lake, bulkhead and green
A conceptual plan of hole 4 shows necessary updates to the tee boxes, retention pond, retaining walls and green complex.
Grassing
The entire property was re-grassed wall-to-wall. Tees (TifGrand bermudagrass); collars and approaches (TifGrand); greens (TifEagle ultradwarf bermudagrass). Fraze mowing de-thatched the top inch of turf, accompanying the spray out program to comprehensively eradicate all prior turf.
Pictured is one of Palma Ceia’s renovated bunkers, which were excavated, re-shaped and re-constructed with new drainage, liner and sand.
Greens
All greens were fully stripped and restored. Notably, the green on hole 18 was lowered 2.5-feet and repositioned further right against the new bulkhead.
Tees
Enlarged select holes and all par 3 tees. Forward tees were also implemented. Adding to the clean aesthetic are new tee walls and concrete steps overlaid with brick pavers.
Bunkers
Excavated, re-shaped and re-constructed with new drainage, liner and sand. More tight shortcut is featured around greenside bunkers, which effectively makes them play larger.
Drainage
Supplemental work was performed around the renovated areas.
Irrigation
Updates were performed on the pump station, with additional heads in select areas.
Landscaping
A detailed tree management program included tree removals and new plantings. Podocarpus hedges were added for screening and aesthetics.
Lagoons
Four to six feet of muck and spoil materials were removed from all lagoons.
Bulkheads
Reconstructed course-wide with select modifications.
Cart Paths
Comprehensive, course-wide sub-base and asphalt cart paths, with select widening and concrete curbs.
Palma Ceia has been part of the fabric of South Tampa since its opening in 1916.
“Led by renovation chairmen Phil Carrol and Dan Fields, along with superintendent Carson Kamps, Palma Ceia has entrusted our firm to guide the continued evolution of Tampa’s oldest private golf course,” said golf course architect and longtime ASGCA member, Bobby Weed. “Our latest scope provides a more consistent, drier and faster playing experience that will be well received by Palma Ceia’s membership.”
“To lay out a phased Master Plan that was encompassed over a decade, proves that proper planning and budgeting to fit the club’s other capital improvements is a testament to Palma Ceia’s goal of raising the bar for all amenities at the club,” continued Weed, who was also aided by his associate, Joey Graziani.
Bobby Weed Golf Design is cognizant and responsive to the rising costs of new course builds and renovations. The firm is widely respected for its value engineering throughout all project phases, from pre-construction to completion. Palma Ceia’s phase II modernization is the latest example of this effective strategy.
To learn more, visit www.bobbyweed.com.
About Bobby Weed Golf Design
Bobby Weed Golf Design (BWGD) possesses some of the most innovative minds in golf. Bobby Weed has designed over 50 new courses and comprehensive renovations spanning from the “golden age” to the “modern era” of design. His work features a balance of visual appeal, sustainability and playability, all informed by an environmentally sensitive aesthetic and an exceptional hands-on approach.
His professional career began in the 1970s with an extended apprenticeship under Pete Dye, sparking a 45-year friendship and working relationship. Hired in 1983 as the Certified Golf Course Superintendent at TPC Sawgrass, Weed went on to become the PGA TOUR’s first in-house golf course architect. He was responsible for many of today’s best known TPC venues, which continue as host sites for prominent professional events.
In 1994, Weed’s career reached new heights with the formation of his own design firm and working with Pete Dye. Both his original and renovated courses are consistently ranked at the top of their respective design categories.
BWGD is also a leader in golf course repurposing – a means to update layouts through redesign and reallocation of partial acreage for higher value land uses – which results in successful, refined and durable golf course designs.
Weed is a longtime member of the American Society of Golf Course Architects, Golf Course Superintendents Association of America and the Florida Turfgrass Association.
More information: bobbyweed.com, 904-910-2876
