What does a $1-million initiation fee buy you in South Florida these days? Keep scrolling to see the photos of the new Shell Bay Club in Hallandale Beach, Florida, just north of Miami.
Greg Norman designed the very private course for Shell Bay Club, completely renovating the site that formerly held the Joe Lee-designed layout at the Diplomat Golf Resort & Spa. The $220-million project was led by developers Witkoff Group and PPG Development. The property includes the Residences at Shell Bay, which has 108 Auberge-managed condominium and penthouse units with views of the golf course and Intracoastal Waterway.
Among a long slate of amenities at the community are a high-end racquet center and a private yacht club. A 60-room boutique resort is also planned to open soon.
“Shell Bay has the best amenity package of any luxury project in South Florida – there’s nothing like it,” Ari Pearl, founder and president of PPG Development, said in a media release announcing the opening of the golf course. “We feel strongly that the vision for Shell Bay will resonate with today’s luxury buyer.”
Norman’s course design stretches to 7,254 yards with plenty of water in play. The club also features a high-tech, 12-acre practice facility and a nine-hole par-3 course. The main layout is rated as one of the most difficult in the Sunshine State, with a 148 slope rating and a 76.1 course rating. For comparison, the standard slope rating for a course is 113, and slope ratings top out at 155. Slope is an indication of the relative difficulty of a course for a player who does not have a scratch handicap versus one who does have a scratch handicap.
“The course at Shell Bay will be one of the most unique, pure golf experiences I have ever designed,” Norman – the World Golf Hall of Famer who besides designing courses around the world has taken a leadership role in LIV Golf – said in the media release. “Completely isolated from its surroundings, the walkable layout will capture the true essence of the game with immaculately conditioned fairways, sweeping Sandbelt-style bunkers and contoured greens that test every club in your bag. It will be a place where you can totally immerse yourself in the game.”
About that initiation fee: $1 million seems high, because it is. It’s impossible to confirm what might be the highest initiation fees in golf’s often-secretive, private-club markets, but no other club has published $1-million initiation fees in the U.S.
But in many ways, Shell Bay’s initiation fee isn’t really a shocker in a South Florida market that has boomed since the start of COVID-19 as the state has seen an influx of well-heeled residents. Condos at Shell Bay start at $3 million, and the penthouses start at $11 million.
Other high-end private golf clubs in the area also have seen fees soar – for a bit of context, the in-development, three-course Apogee Club just up Interstate 95 in Hobe Sound offers memberships starting north of half a million dollars.
“Golf is the most undersupplied asset in the Miami market, and consequently, Shell Bay is a generational opportunity to create the first new private course in the area in 25 years,” Alex Witkoff, co-CEO of Witkoff Group, said in the media release. “A project like this can’t be replicated.”
