Fort Myers’ leadership commissioned Donald J. Ross in late 1916 to lay out a new municipal course south of the then-city center. Newspaper accounts cited by later histories place Ross on site meeting with the board on December 8, 1916, with ground-breaking ten days later; clearing and build continued through 1917, and the 18-hole course opened December 29, 1917. The City’s official course page likewise records a 1917 opening and Ross’s design the prior year. Construction was supervised by James B. McGovern, a long-time Ross associate who appears by name in period accounts and who later became a charter ASGCA member alongside Ross. The club’s first professional, John “Jack” Croke, was recommended by Ross from a field of applicants.
The City of Fort Myers purchased the facility in 1927 for $165,000, considered (and shelved) a proposal to build a new municipal course further south with Stanley Thompson involvement, and retained golf on the McGregor Boulevard site. In the course’s early decades the canal that still bisects the property was already central to play: a 1918 article described the par-4 3rd as a diagonal carry “across the ditch,” with a green “hugging the edge of the ditch”—a description that tracks the modern hole’s playing lines. The course also entered the national record when it hosted the 4th Senior PGA Championship in 1942, won by Eddie Williams, between earlier stagings at Augusta National and Sarasota.
After nearly a century with only modest alterations, the City executed a comprehensive renovation in 2014 under Steve Smyers (with associate Patrick Andrews). The project added length, rebuilt every green and bunker with modern bermudagrass selections (Celebration fairways; TifEagle greens), and—most consequentially for a low-lying site—installed a new storm-water network of ponds, creeks, canals, and control structures to retain and filter runoff. The course reopened in late 2014; directories and tee sheets now show the back set at 6,780 yards with a par-70 card for most tees, although some forward sets rate par 71, consistent with the Florida Historic Golf Trail’s “par-70/71” description.
Timeline (concise):
1916—Ross engaged; clearing begins (McGovern supervising).
1917—course opens (Dec. 29).
1927—City purchase.
1942—Senior PGA Championship.
2014—Smyers renovation and re-opening.
Unique Design Characteristics (hole-specific)
The most clearly documented Ross feature that persists in today’s play is the diagonal use of the property’s interior canal on No. 3, where the carry line and a green “hugging” the water’s edge were noted in 1918; the same concept remains the hole’s identity today. Historic and contemporary descriptions also place the canal into play again on the 8th and 18th, making the watercourse a thematic hazard that structures decision-making across the round. On the back nine, city and Trail imagery show the 10th running along the canal as it connects into Smyers’s retention system—an example of how the renovation leveraged existing hydrology while retaining corridor intent.
Smyers’ 2014 plans approached the upgrade “as if Ross returned to the site today,” which translated at Fort Myers into re-setting greens within historic corridors, reclaiming scale on select targets, and re-patterning bunkers to re-create diagonal choices at modern drive lengths. The adoption of Celebration fairways and TifEagle greens supports firm, fast seasonal performance on a high-play municipal, while the pond/creek/canal network both modernizes water quality infrastructure and re-articulates hazards where Ross had once relied on the canal and ground movement. As a result, holes such as 3 (short par 4 across the ditch) read as overt Ross survivals, while others—e.g., 8 and 18 with canal influence, and several mid-length par-4s that now ask for angle-creating tee shots—express Ross’s original routing logic through modern surfaces.
Most intact Ross examples. Based on the presence of contemporaneous descriptions that match current play, No. 3 is the clearest surviving expression of Ross’s risk-reward thinking on this site. More broadly, the retention of canal-related strategy on 3/8/18 and the persistence of core corridors since at least the 1944 aerial (as displayed in the Trail archive) suggest that the routing framework remained the primary Ross artifact through the 2014 rebuild.
Historical Significance
Within Ross’s Florida portfolio, Fort Myers stands out as a municipal Ross that has remained on its original in-town site since 1917, with early civic connections to Thomas and Mina Edison and Henry Ford as nearby winter residents. The course entered the national competitive record by hosting the Senior PGA Championship in 1942—then only in its fourth staging, following Augusta National and Sarasota venues—placing Fort Myers in a small cohort of Ross courses with early senior-major history. Its 2014 renewal is also notable as a case study in retrofitting Golden-Age corridors to modern storm-water standards while preserving the canal-driven strategic identity long associated with holes like the 3rd. The club’s century-mark features and ongoing Yuengling Open (a long-running regional professional event) lend the course a continuous public-golf tournament lineage rare for a downtown Florida layout.
Current Condition / Integrity
Routing and corridors. The McGregor Boulevard footprint and the canal’s alignment constrain the playing field much as they did in 1917; Trail imagery and archival materials show consistent corridors from at least the 1940s to present. Smyers’s work respected that framework while updating yardages and safety margins for contemporary play.
Greens, bunkers, and turf. All greens and bunkers were reconstructed in 2014; greens are now TifEagle ultradwarf bermuda and fairways Celebration bermuda. Bunker forms and placements—while inspired by Ross patterns—are 2014 constructions. Accordingly, the micro-contours of putting surfaces are Smyers-era rather than Ross originals, whereas macro relationships (e.g., the 3rd green sited tight to the canal) continue earlier intent.
Water features and drainage. The 2014 project added and formalized ponds, creeks, canals, and a water-control structure, integrating the course into a citywide storm-water strategy; engineering partners have documented the infrastructure behind these features. For players, the result is a course that drains quickly after rain, with the canal and new water now acting as both hazard and hydrologic utility.
What is preserved vs. altered.
Preserved: In-town site on McGregor; routing logic constrained by canal and boulevard; canal-based strategy (especially No. 3).
Altered/lost relative to 1917: All green and bunker construction, turf types, and yardage are modern; additional water bodies serve both play and storm-water functions; tree cover is more mature than in early aerials. Overall, Fort Myers presents high integrity of setting and corridors with modernized surfaces that consciously reference Ross’s ideas rather than replicate 1917 construction.
Sources & Notes
City of Fort Myers — Fort Myers Country Club (official page). Overview, location on McGregor Blvd., and 1917 opening statement; public access, reservations, pro shop and on-site Edison Restaurant.
Florida Historic Golf Trail — Fort Myers Country Club. Commission and construction narrative (1916–1917); James B. McGovern supervision; Jack Croke as first professional recommended by Ross; 1927 City purchase; Stanley Thompson’s unbuilt municipal proposal; 1942 Senior PGA Championship; descriptive 1918 account of the 3rd hole; photos and 1944 aerial; modern summary noting par-70/71 and six tee sets (≈4,300–6,600 yards).
Sports Illustrated / Len Ziehm (Apr. 12, 2019). Contemporary synthesis citing Dec. 8, 1916 board meeting with Ross; Dec. 29, 1917 opening; McGovern’s supervisory role; City operation from 1927; early turf and construction cost details. Also notes published confusion over an erroneous 1928 “opening” date in older directories.
Golf Course Architecture (Nov. 5, 2014). Steve Smyers project report: scope of 2014 renovation, yardage increase (to ~6,801; then par 71 at reopening), Celebration fairways, TifEagle greens, and water-management system of ponds/creeks/canals.
ASGCA News (Mar. 5, 2014). Announcement that Smyers would rebuild the 1917 Ross course at Fort Myers, confirming authorship and timing.
Johnson Engineering (May 8, 2021). Engineering partner description of the 2014 project’s storm-water retention and water-quality infrastructure.
Everlast (project brief). Installation of water-control structure supporting new water features as part of Smyers’s plan.
Visit Fort Myers tourism listing. Public access summary, “classic 1917 Donald Ross walking course,” and proximity to Edison & Ford sites.
Florida Weekly Destinations (Mar. 5, 2025). Brief historical recap of 1916–1917 construction between U.S. 41 and McGregor Blvd. (contextual corroboration).
Yuengling Open (2025 news). Ongoing regional professional event staged at Fort Myers Country Club; 63rd edition in 2025; winner Michael Balcar.
Notes on Uncertainty & Points Requiring Verification
Opening year & Ross presence. Primary municipal and Trail sources place the opening in 1917, with Ross engaged in 1916; some older directories (and a secondary bibliography) have listed 1928, now generally considered erroneous. SI’s synthesis acknowledges lingering questions about whether Ross returned after opening; no club-archival correspondence has been presented publicly confirming post-opening site visits.
“First” vs. “second” significant renovation. Golf Course Architecture reported the 2014 works as the first renovation since 1917, whereas the Trail profile describes it as the second significant renovation; the latter does not identify the earlier effort.
Hole-by-hole survivals. The 3rd hole’s Ross-era canal strategy is documented in a 1918 article and persists today; claims that the canal also dictates play on 8 and 18 are supported by reputable directory descriptions but would benefit from plan/aerial overlays and city as-builts to attribute precisely what is Ross-derived vs. Smyers-era re-emphasis.