Delray Beach Golf Club Is Almost Back. Here's What's Settled and What Isn't Before the First Tee Time.

"So excited about what's happened and the opportunity to come back and play a virtually new golf course, but yet have the old integrity." Ronnie Dunayer has taught at the Delray Beach Golf Club for 20 years. She said this to WFLX in June, after an early look at the renovation. In the meantime she has been teaching at an indoor facility.

The city's 18 holes on Highland Avenue, west of I-95, have been closed since November 3, 2025. In September, Boca Magazine reported an estimated reopening in late November 2026, a few weeks after this post publishes.

The course reopens on a different footing from the one it closed on. It now has a new manager, and that manager has a new parent company. The renovation was also financed so that golfers' own fees will pay it off. The figure that will shape what this course costs and how it runs is the green fee, and the city hasn't adopted one yet.

Two architects, two nines, two bunker styles

The history is part of the case for the work. The city bought the land in 1923, and Donald Ross's original nine holes opened in 1926. After World War II, Dick Wilson added a second nine, and the full 18 opened in 1950. In the city's renovation announcement, Golf Hall of Famer Betty Jameson, a longtime Delray Beach resident, is quoted calling the course "accurate in measurement, with excellent fairways and exceptional drainage." By the city's account, it ranked among the top ten courses in the country at its peak.

The restoration is led by John Sanford of Sanford Ferris Golf Design, with support from Kimley-Horn. It keeps the two architects' work apart on purpose. "You see a distinct contrast in the bunkering style from the Ross nine to the Wilson nine," Sanford said in the Bobby Jones Links announcement published in April.

The April plan calls for a par 72 playing from 4,611 to 7,111 yards, and it says those numbers could still change before the course is finished. The new greens are TifEagle Bermuda built to USGA specifications. Fairways, greens and bunkers are getting added drainage and a completely new irrigation system. Dunayer gave WFLX a player's view of the changes. "I think it's going to be a bit more difficult because of some of the changes they've made to the bunkers and stuff like that, but it looks absolutely magnificent."

The city's list of work covers more than the holes:

• New practice facilities
• Cart paths, including a cart crossing on the Ross nine and a replacement cart bridge on the south nine
• Removal of exotic vegetation
• Upgraded restrooms and rain shelters
• A new maintenance facility
• Parking improvements

The clubhouse is being modernized as well.

Golfers' fees will repay the bill

How Delray got here matters more than the turf. In an earlier round, the city considered a public-private partnership: a developer would redevelop the course in exchange for part of the land. Boca Magazine reported that six developers submitted proposals, and that the commission at the time rejected all of them after residents and golfers pushed back.

After that, a city consultant proposed a revenue bond backed by the fees golfers pay, so taxpayers wouldn't cover the cost. The renovation was approved in October 2025 on that basis, and the bond will be repaid over time from user fees.

The price tag differs depending on the source. In June, the city and WFLX described a $30 million project whose budget hadn't changed since work began. The Bobby Jones Links release from April put it at $32 million. Boca Magazine's September report said $33 million.

Whichever number holds, the repayment comes from people who play. That ties the course's finances to how busy it is. Before the closure, Bobby Jones Links described it as one of Florida's busiest municipal courses, hosting 60,000 rounds a year plus weddings and special events.

The rates in circulation are still the 2025 proposal

The numbers that get repeated come from the consultant's proposal, first reported by Boca Magazine in August 2025.

The same proposal included a $67 permit that would give residents discounted rates. It didn't say how long the permit would last or what the discounted fees would be. Under that schedule, the peak-season gap between residents and non-residents is $25 a round. The off-season gap is $8.

That structure fits the course's tradition. In the city's request for proposals for a manager, the club's regulars are described as prepaid greens-fee permit holders, not members. No commission-approved post-renovation rate schedule has been published.

The most recent golf item on the commission's agenda wasn't about rates. A budget amendment on October 13, 2026 included $140,000 to replace diseased trees on the course. Trees have been an issue since clearing began. In January, WPTV reported that crews had uncovered a large banyan. The city tried to save it, while the Lake Worth Drainage District called for its removal.

A new manager, with Troon behind it

On January 20, 2026, the City Commission approved Affiniti Golf Partners LLC, which does business as Bobby Jones Links, to manage this course and Lakeview Golf Club, the city's par-60 executive course. The contract runs five years, with an option to renew for five more. It replaced the earlier arrangement with BJCE, Inc., which city records extended through March 27, 2026. Whitney Crouse, CEO and co-founder of Bobby Jones Links, said in the company's April announcement that he learned to play at Delray Beach Golf Club as a kid while visiting his grandparents.

Then, on August 3, 2026, Troon announced it had acquired Bobby Jones Links. The company keeps its own brand, and its co-founders stay on as CEO and COO.

Some of the day-to-day plans come from the operator's proposal to the city, not from final policy. They suggest public tee times bookable 7 to 14 days ahead, a longer window for annual-pass holders, and up to six months ahead for outings of more than 16 players. The proposal also describes a "Restaurant and Pub" in the clubhouse open seven days a week, without a name or brand. Under the city's terms, food, beverage and banquet operations are the manager's responsibility.

Still open before the first tee time

The city's project site, dbgolfrenovation.com, still lists the course and clubhouse as closed. It gives the reopening as "late fall/early winter," and its most recent drone footage is from July 28, 2026. Bobby Jones Links' April release allowed for a reopening as late as early 2027. As this post goes out, five things are still open:

1. Opening day. The city's project site gives a season, not a date.
2. Rates and the resident permit. The only figures in circulation are the 2025 proposal.
3. Booking. The tee-time channel and booking window haven't been published.
4. The clubhouse restaurant. It has no name or operator beyond the management contract.
5. The banyan. No final decision on the tree has been reported.

Because user fees repay the bond, those rates will set how the gap between residents and non-residents works, what the $67 permit actually gets you, and whether the course can carry its own debt. The city will have to answer the rate question before the first peak season under the new terms begins.

If you own a home near the course, or a renovation like this is part of how you're weighing a Delray Beach property, Tommy Holmes watches public-amenity projects like this one closely. Schedule a private consultation to talk through what the reopening could mean for the streets around Highland Avenue.