FORE! Charlotte County Commissioners vote to buy Port Charlotte Golf Club

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — On Tuesday, Charlotte County Commissioners voted to purchase the 158-acre Port Charlotte Golf Club property for $3M.

The course closed after it sustained damage in Hurricane Ian in 2022, and was never repaired or reopened. The now overgrown course is hardly recognizable from the meticulously maintained greens and fairways that it once boasted.

“It actually hosted LPGA events,” said Stu Orr, former president of the club. “It opened in 1959 and it was a gorgeous golf course.”

Orr told Fox 4 the course had always bounced back from hurricane damage, and after Hurricane Charley in 2004, members of the club helped clear debris and make repairs. He said the club offered to help make repairs after Hurricane Ian.

However, the current property owner, The Golf Links of Charlotte Harbor LLC, decided it would be too expensive to make the course operational again.

Stu Orr.

“Oh it was extremely disappointing,” said Orr. “We really tried extremely hard to make it happen again.”

The property had changed hands several times since it first opened, and on Jan. 28, commissioners unanimously voted to purchase the property.

Although there is no plan for the property yet, Commissioner Stephen R. Deutsch said several ideas have been suggested including sports fields and courts, a park, or keeping it as a golf course.

“It’s wide open, and the property is big enough that we have a bunch of things that are being suggested, but you probably won't see anything happen there for several years,” said Deutsch.

According to Travis Perdue, the county’s Facilities Director, extensive research and planning will have to be done before a decision is made about the property’s future.

“What will need to take place is that we will have to go through a programming component that will be county wide through many different departments,” said Perdue. “There will be a lot of input, there will be public input and the board of county commissioners will ultimately make the decision on what gets built there.”

The county has 90 days to inspect the property before the sale officially closes.