Venetian Golf & River Club

David Theoret

Heritage Golf Group has come a long way since new owners took over the company a couple of years ago. Mark Burnett, Jim Oliver, and Andy Miller have more than 90 years of combined experience in the golf industry, primarily in club acquisition, operations, membership, and redevelopment. Since purchasing Heritage Golf in 2020, they have grown the number of clubs in their portfolio from 6 to 23 with plans to add several more in 2022. Burnett and Miller came over from ClubCorp, Oliver from Arcis Golf, and along the way, they have cherry-picked top personnel from their previous companies to form a “supergroup” of club management and staff. Many of the people I met and spoke with in my tour of their three southwest Florida clubs were from one of the two companies. Head south along the I-75 corridor in Florida and you’ll encounter three of Heritage’s top-notch private golf clubs: TPC Prestancia in Sarasota, home to an 18-hole Ron Garl championship golf course and an 18-hole Robert Von Hagge layout, the Chip Powell-designed Venetian Golf Club in Venice with its generous fairways framed with natural-looking mounds and strategically placed bunkers and another 27-hole Chip Powell layout in Fort Myers at the Club at Pelican Preserve. A few exits south of Sarasota you’ll find the Venetian Golf Club. Venetian offers one of the area’s most dynamic golf experiences and has by far one of the most interesting greens I have ever played on. The Club opened in 2003 and was designed by native Floridian Chip Powell. According to a few members I spoke with including “The Mayor,” the course was in pretty rough shape when the new Heritage Golf Group stepped in and immediately spent more than $1 million on course improvements. The Mayor remarked that “General Manager Jay Pittman and his staff have done a remarkable job of restoring the club to its former glory.” The course offers generous fairways that are framed with mounds, grassy hollows, and strategically placed bunkers. The TifEagle greens roll firm and true and are a joy to putt on. It’s a course that will test all aspects of your game: mental, physical, shot-making, and, of course, putting! Speaking of putting, I have never encountered a green that rivals the 11th. It’s a “Biarritz” green, which I believe is a foreign word for “golf roller coaster!” The hole is a par 3 which plays 178 yards into a long narrow green that looks like someone dug a channel through the middle of it. Don’t get me wrong, it’s meticulously maintained, but if the pin is in the back and you don’t bother to check your yardage before your tee shot, you can end up on the front of the green. From up here, the putt requires almost a full hip turn to make it down the hill and back up the hill to the proper level. It’s one of the most enjoyable par 3s I’ve ever played. Of course, membership does have its privileges. Heritage Golf Group’s portfolio of courses and private clubs extends well beyond Florida and into North and South Carolina, Virginia, Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, New York, and New Jersey. Heritage takes the club experience to the highest level by offering golf members, experiences at all of their private, resort, and daily fee facilities by upgrading to the Heritage Plus membership, which is currently in pilot at three clubs with plans to roll out to all participating Heritage clubs later this fall. There is an upper-tier category available at the TPC facility in Sarasota or Tampa, where you can also be part of the TPC Passport program with benefits that reach far beyond your home club to such places as TPC Sawgrass and TPC Scottsdale.

James Piccoli

What a great layout. They are doing work to the golf course and its beautiful.

Jeffrey Klein

What a beautiful Golf course. Picturesque views, rolling landscapes. The course is very challenging from tee to green, however there are enough tee boxes to suit your skill level. Highly recommend.

Garrett Curtis

Love this golf course. It's hard to make the flatter land here in Florida look more attractive, but this course has the aesthetic that makes playing it more like an enjoyable story that unfolds before you than just a bunch of fairways and greens. The bunkers are strategically placed. It takes the right shot to get on the green, and in many cases it's all carry. They do have run-up areas too, so you don't have to be a pro, just play smart. There are several doglegs around lakes, so you won't be bored. The great thing is, when you get on the greens, they are green, well cared for and in excellent shape. The personnel were all helpful, personable, well organized. All in all, I give this course a 5 star rating for class, aesthetics, friendliness, challenge and playability. Enjoy!