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? \u2013 Karen Kaminski, Naples\u00a0<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are excited to announce that Hibiscus Golf Club will stay open as a daily-fee public golf facility through March 2027,\u201d Hibiscus Golf Club announced in a digital newsletter emailed March 12. \u201cWe 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.\u202fBrooks Bar & Grill will also stay open through March 2027.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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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.<\/p>\n
Tim Aten<\/p>\n
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. \u201cWe anticipate keeping the current golf course open to the public until the end of April 2027,\u201d Morris said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Brooks Bar & Grill operates as the clubhouse restaurant and bar for Hibiscus Golf Club on Rattlesnake Hammock Road in East Naples.<\/p>\n
Tim Aten<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The lengthy sale history of the local golf course dates to August 1986, when local developer Richard L. \u201cDick\u201d 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.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The managers of Nassif Golf Ventures, David Nassif and Al Moscato, could not be reached for comment regarding the current sale. The club\u2019s new owner, The Lantern Club LLC, is managed by Naples-based WBDC Inc. \u2014 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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A new clubhouse will be built for The Lantern Club, a proposed private golf club at 5375 Hibiscus Drive.<\/p>\n
MHK Architecture<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Hibiscus golf course was built in 1969 \u2014 57 years ago \u2014 and our team is bringing a fresh new quality facility to the town of Naples,\u201d Morris said. \u201cI 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.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have put together an incredible team of experienced companies to design and build The Lantern Club,\u201d Morris said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
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This rendering shows the new clubhouse, pro shop, women\u2019s lounge and cottages proposed for The Lantern Club.<\/p>\n
MHK Architecture<\/p>\n
According to a November 2025 document created by Winfield to answer FAQs about The Lantern Club, the golf-only club\u2019s nonrefundable initiation fee is expected to start at $250,000 with annual dues anticipated in the $20,000 to $25,000 range. \u201cPricing of initiation fees will be adjusted based on the demand for membership,\u201d according to the document, which outlines invitation-only individual memberships for founding partners, charter members and full members.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTo 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.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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The proposed entrance gate into The Lantern Club at 5375 Hibiscus Drive.<\/p>\n
MHK Architecture<\/p>\n
Golf carts will be restricted on the new course. \u201cThe Club will offer an exceptional caddie program for its members and their guests, and the use of caddies and walking will be encouraged,\u201d according to the FAQs for The Lantern Club. \u201cIn 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.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u2019s, Erin\u2019s 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n