Delray Beach Golf Course Restoration: Ross and Wilson Return

The Delray Beach Golf Course restoration is the biggest reset this municipal layout has seen in decades. The city closed the course on Highland Avenue, just west of I-95 and south of Atlantic Avenue, on November 3, 2025. Crews are rebuilding it around the two architects who made it famous: Donald Ross and Dick Wilson. The work brings the old character back and finally gives the grounds the irrigation, drainage, and maintenance facilities they never really had.

Two designers, one municipal course

The city bought the land in 1923. Donald Ross, the most prolific architect of the golden age of American golf, designed the original nine, which opened in 1926. That nine is the south side, now called the Ross nine.

Dick Wilson’s tie to the property runs deeper than a set of drawings. In the 1930s he served as club professional and greenskeeper here, before the course closed during World War II. After it reopened in 1945, the city asked Wilson to design a second nine. Those holes, today’s north nine, opened in 1950. For a stretch in the 1950s, players ranked the Ross-Wilson layout among the better courses in the country. Tour players and celebrities passed through, including Tommy Armour and Jackie Gleason.

Later remodels softened a lot of that original work. Crews rebuilt greens and bunkers more than once, a third nine came and went, and storms took out trees. Michael Fay of the Donald Ross Society has said little of Ross’s detail survived. This restoration is the city’s attempt to put both signatures back on the ground.

How the new course follows Ross and Wilson

Sanford Ferris Golf Design, led by architect John Sanford, with engineering from Kimley-Horn, is restoring each nine in the style of its original designer rather than blending them into one modern look.

The bunkers show the contrast most clearly. Ross bunkers use flat bottoms, grass islands, and simple sand lines. Wilson bunkers flash sand up the faces, with irregular edges and more movement. Sanford has said that difference is intentional, and players will still read it once the course reopens.

The routing stays close to the historic 18. The plan calls for a par-72 layout that can play from about 4,611 to 7,111 yards, long enough for today’s game without losing the public-course feel. Crews are rebuilding the greens to USGA specifications in TifEagle Bermuda. By early June 2026, the Wilson nine stood fully grassed and growing in, and crews were grassing the Ross nine. The city said the project stood about halfway done at that point.

NMP Golf Construction holds the contract. The commission awarded the course work at about $28.6 million. Public reports have put the full renovation in the $30 million to $32 million range.

What crews are rebuilding

This is closer to a rebuild than a freshen-up. The published scope includes:

• A complete new irrigation system, including a pump house
• New drainage on fairways, greens, and bunkers
• A new maintenance facility
• New and improved practice and teaching areas, plus a reconfigured driving range
• New cart paths and a new cart crossing on the Ross nine
• On-course restrooms and rain shelters
• Parking-lot improvements and lighting
• Bridge work for carts and maintenance equipment
• Removal of exotic vegetation and a native landscaping plan

The irrigation piece matters more than the yardage. For years the course never had a system that could keep turf consistent in a South Florida summer. Without reliable water, the staff could not hold fairways and greens, and conditions slipped even when they worked hard. A new irrigation system, paired with better drainage and a real maintenance facility, is what lets the design restoration last. Bobby Jones Links is taking over management of both this course and Lakeview Golf Club as the work wraps up.

The clubhouse is closed for its own renovation. On the city’s project site, it is set to reopen with the course in late fall or early winter. The city has also added a complete update of the bar and grill to that clubhouse work. That extra scope is one reason the full reopening could slip into next year, even if the golf course itself stays close to the late-2026 target the city was still using in June.

Why a stronger course makes Delray more complete

Delray already has the beach, Atlantic Avenue, and a busy downtown. What it has not had, for a long time, is a municipal golf course that matches the rest of the city. This layout has hosted on the order of 60,000 rounds a year, plus junior and family programs, but aging infrastructure made it hard to keep the place looking the way a city this size expects.

A restored Ross and Wilson course, with water that actually reaches the turf and a bar and grill worth staying for after the round, fills that gap. It gives residents a public golf option that is not an afterthought, and it gives visitors one more reason to treat Delray as a full day, not only a dinner reservation. The city has also framed the project so green fees, rather than a general tax hit, cover most of the cost.

The official target has moved between November 2026 and late fall or early winter, and some reports allow early 2027. With the bar and grill update now in the mix, next year is a realistic window for the whole property to come back together. When it does, Delray gets back a nearly 100-year-old public course that the city can finally maintain the way Ross and Wilson drew it.