Q: Is it true that Hibiscus Golf Course is being sold and closing in the spring to become a private, member-only club? Will Brooks close too? – Karen Kaminski, Naples
A: After more than 50 years as a public course in the Naples area, Hibiscus Golf Club sold for $28 million to create an exclusive private golf club, but the public course and Brooks Bar & Grill in its clubhouse will continue to operate for at least another year.
“We are excited to announce that Hibiscus Golf Club will stay open as a daily-fee public golf facility through March 2027,” Hibiscus Golf Club announced in a digital newsletter emailed March 12. “We will be offering our traditional summer golf packages starting May 1. Our Frequent Player program will be available starting Nov. 1. The driving range, short game area and putting green will be open to the public. Golf instruction and leagues will all be available as before. Brooks Bar & Grill will also stay open through March 2027.”
Hibiscus Golf Club on Rattlesnake Hammock Road in East Naples sold for $28 million to create an exclusive private golf club, but the public course and its Brooks Bar & Grill will continue to operate for at least another year.
Tim Aten
The Hibiscus course and restaurant actually can continue to operate through April 2027, said Naples resident Robert Morris, a spokesman for the partnership that acquired the course this month in order to create The Lantern Club, a proposed members-only golf club with an 18-hole course, clubhouse and six golf cottages. “We anticipate keeping the current golf course open to the public until the end of April 2027,” Morris said.
The Lantern Club LLC acquired the more than 160-acre property at 5375 Hibiscus Drive, on the south side of Rattlesnake Hammock Road in East Naples, from Nassif Golf Ventures LLC for $28 million during a March 6 transaction, according to Investment Properties Corp. principal David Stevens, who listed the commercial property. The golf course flows around single-family homes and condominiums on streets named for notable golf courses, such as Augusta, Doral, Pebble Beach, Pinehurst and St. Andrews, but the residential lots were not part of the sale.
Brooks Bar & Grill operates as the clubhouse restaurant and bar for Hibiscus Golf Club on Rattlesnake Hammock Road in East Naples.
Tim Aten
The most recent sale price is more than all of the previous sale prices combined for Hibiscus Golf Club, which has changed hands a half dozen times in the last 40 years, Collier County property records show.
The lengthy sale history of the local golf course dates to August 1986, when local developer Richard L. “Dick” Klaas, president of Naples Community Golf Course Inc., sold the property to Chicago-based Poinsettia Corp. for $1.9 million. Six years later, Poinsettia sold the property in June 1992 to National Fairways for more than $1.6 million. In July 1998, National Fairways sold the golf course for $7.4 million to KollStar, a California-based operator and developer of golf courses nationwide, as part of a six-course deal in Florida. The property was acquired by Wells Fargo Bank for more than $6.4 million in October 2000, and by Naples-based Nassif Golf Ventures LLC for $3.8 million in June 2004, records show.
The managers of Nassif Golf Ventures, David Nassif and Al Moscato, could not be reached for comment regarding the current sale. The club’s new owner, The Lantern Club LLC, is managed by Naples-based WBDC Inc. — Winfield Building & Development Co., operated by Clay Winfield, Florida Secretary of State, records show. Since 2014, Winfield has had links to ownership of The Club at the Strand private golf club in North Naples.
A new clubhouse will be built for The Lantern Club, a proposed private golf club at 5375 Hibiscus Drive.
MHK Architecture
“The Hibiscus golf course was built in 1969 — 57 years ago — and our team is bringing a fresh new quality facility to the town of Naples,” Morris said. “I believe the location some 10 minutes from downtown Naples will be desirable to both local and national members. We anticipate the membership being full within 12 months of opening. We also believe the surrounding area and homeowners near our property will benefit once the facility is completed. Currently, we are working closely with the county on the permitting requirements needed to break ground and start construction.”
If permitting is in place and The Lantern Club can break ground shortly after Hibiscus closes next spring, the new club is expected to be operational by late 2028. The proposed new clubhouse and six adjacent cottages are being designed by MHK Architecture of Naples, while the new 18-hole championship course will be created by Ohio-based Fry/Straka Global Golf Course Design, which lists a portfolio that includes the Calusa Pines Golf Club, Naples National Golf Club and The Quarry in the Naples area.
“We have put together an incredible team of experienced companies to design and build The Lantern Club,” Morris said.
This rendering shows the new clubhouse, pro shop, women’s lounge and cottages proposed for The Lantern Club.
MHK Architecture
According to a November 2025 document created by Winfield to answer FAQs about The Lantern Club, the golf-only club’s nonrefundable initiation fee is expected to start at $250,000 with annual dues anticipated in the $20,000 to $25,000 range. “Pricing of initiation fees will be adjusted based on the demand for membership,” according to the document, which outlines invitation-only individual memberships for founding partners, charter members and full members.
“To ensure top-tier golf course conditioning, the Club will be closed in certain summer months each year to perform annual golf course maintenance. This practice is commonly seen at elite private clubs in South Florida.”
The proposed entrance gate into The Lantern Club at 5375 Hibiscus Drive.
MHK Architecture
Golf carts will be restricted on the new course. “The Club will offer an exceptional caddie program for its members and their guests, and the use of caddies and walking will be encouraged,” according to the FAQs for The Lantern Club. “In addition, the use of golf carts will be restricted or not permitted during certain times. Members and guests who require accommodation will be granted medical exemptions.”
The new clubhouse will have a private bar, lounge and restaurant but is not planning to offer regular dinner service. Brooks Bar & Grill signed a long-term lease when it launched last June in the former restaurant and bar space of Mulligan’s, Erin’s Isle and Bogey’s Bar & Grill in the Hibiscus clubhouse, but Brooks is expected to close when the public golf course closes in April 2027 after operating less than two years, said Todd Brooks, who also independently owns Brooks Burgers locations in downtown Naples and North Naples.
The Tim Aten Knows weekly column answers local questions from readers. Email Tim at Tim.Aten@NaplesPress.com.