Sarasota’s municipal leaders voted in 1925 to acquire land for a public golf course and retained Donald Ross to lay out an 18-hole design; Ross’s office produced a detailed 1925 plan (drawn by his draftsman Walter Irving Johnson, Jr.) and accompanying field notes that governed construction the following year. The city opened the first nine holes on June 5, 1926, added the second nine on September 30, 1926, and staged a formal dedication with Bobby Jones in February 1927, when the municipal course was renamed in his honor.
Contemporary state and local histories corroborate the sequence—Ross engaged in 1926 with phased openings in 1926 and a high-profile dedication early in 1927. The city’s bond-funded project created a 6,240-yard, par-71 course on low, flood-prone ground northeast of downtown, explicitly following Ross’s 1925 drawings.¹²³¹⁰¹¹
Ross’s design intent for this specific property is unusually well documented. Surviving firm notes referenced “enlarged greens plans” and set relative heights between fairways and putting surfaces (e.g., greens four feet above fairway grade). The 1925 sheets also sketched shallow canals through the front-nine corridor to move water off the course and depicted extensive centreline and flank mounding in fairways—Ross’s site-specific substitution for sand hazards on poorly drained terrain. These particulars were used as controlling documents in the modern restoration and reflect what Ross prescribed for Sarasota’s ground conditions in 1925–26.⁴⁵
After opening, the municipal complex expanded well beyond Ross’s original eighteen. Additional nines were added by other architects (Robert Bruce Harris in 1952 and Roy Anderson in 1965), and later renovations altered portions of the Ross back-nine loop when the property was configured as side-by-side “American” and “British” eighteens. A 1980s renovation by Ron Garl rebuilt elements on the American course, including holes that overlaid Ross’s original back nine.⁶¹⁵
Records consulted do not indicate a later, documented Ross return to Sarasota to modify the municipal course after 1927; subsequent changes through the mid-20th century trace to other architects and city works rather than to the Ross firm.¹⁵
The city ultimately elected to restore the original Ross eighteen. In 2022–23, Richard Mandell reconstructed the course to the 1925 plan and notes, reopening on December 15, 2023. The project also created a large nature park on non-golf acreage and added a new adjustable nine-hole short course on separate ground—decisions unrelated to Ross’s 1925 work but central to the present configuration.²³¹⁶
Unique Design Characteristics
Because the Sarasota site sat on a floodplain with minimal natural relief, Ross’s drawings emphasized ground-game interest created with subtle elevation contrasts, fairway mounds, and selective canals rather than elaborate interior green tiers. Mandell’s restoration kept Ross’s relative vertical relationships—greens now sit at the same relative heights above fairways specified in Ross’s notes, even as absolute grades were raised to ensure modern drainage.⁴
Routing and water courses. The reinstated routing uses the same Ross corridors, including the front-nine sequence where a narrow canal now runs as Ross sketched: behind the 8th green, in front of the 7th tee, behind the 5th tee and 4th green, and then in front of the 2nd tee before exiting the property. The canal was only schematically indicated on Ross’s 1925 sheets and was never fully executed in the early years; it now functions as Ross intended—an ever-present positional and visual element without requiring deep, flood-prone bunkers.⁴
Mounding as primary hazards. Ross’s Sarasota plan shows conspicuous mounding within fairways—an atypically explicit feature set in his office drawings and a direct response to the site’s high water table. Those mounds were rebuilt and are visible today across multiple holes; they influence angles and stances more than carry distances and are thus integral to the daily-play character Ross sought for a municipal venue.⁴¹³¹⁵
Bunkering and simple shapes. The restored bunkers follow the lines painted directly from Ross’s plan—“spot on,” in Mandell’s words—eschewing modern flourish in favor of the restrained, low-profile pits Ross drew for this property. That fidelity shows most clearly around finishing corridors such as 18, where the flanking pits and modest shoulders read as they do on the sheets.⁴
Green complexes and elevations. Ross’s field notes called for putting surfaces to sit modestly above adjacent grades (for Sarasota, four feet was a typical callout), creating firm, slightly elevated targets with short-grass runoff rather than severe interior tiers. The modern greens were rebuilt to those relative relationships—Mandell has said Ross’s greens here were “not heavily contoured” by his broader standards, making external slopes and surrounds do more of the work.⁴¹²
Ross tees and yardages. The official scorecard marks “ROSS” tees (6,240 yards) enabling play at the exact yardages Ross listed hole-to-hole; on some holes the Ross yardage derives from what is now a back tee, while on the next it may be from a middle tee, matching the 1925 sheet notations.⁴⁷
Exemplar holes. The long par-3 8th is the clearest single-hole expression of the Ross Sarasota brief: a subtly elevated target protected by restored side bunkering, a canal beyond, and strategic mounding that affects both the tee shot and recoveries. While a modern championship tee now stretches it to 236 yards, the Ross tees preserve the original scale (circa 191 yards) so the hole can be experienced at Ross’s intended length.¹¹⁷ The canal-mound interplay on 2, 4, 5, 7, and 8 collectively best preserves Ross’s low-ground hazard strategy—a signature of this site rather than a generic Ross trope.⁴
Historical Significance
The Sarasota municipal course belongs to Ross’s mid-1920s Florida work and pairs locally with his private design at Sara Bay (then Whitfield). What distinguishes the municipal layout within that cluster is the documentary richness—plan, notes, and early aerials survive—and the overt, site-driven use of fairway mounding and shallow canals as primary hazards on public ground. Contemporary observers of the restoration have noted that fairway mounding “through the middle of the fairways” stands out even among Ross’s Florida courses; Mandell has compared the Sarasota strategy to Ross’s approach on other low-lying commissions, underscoring its site-specific logic.⁴¹
Tournament history reinforces the course’s stature as a public venue. The PGA of America brought the Senior PGA Championship to Sarasota in 1940 and 1941, using Ross’s municipal holes at Bobby Jones along with the companion private course (then North Shore/Sarasota Bay).ⁱ⁴ The LPGA’s Sarasota Open was staged at Bobby Jones in 1955 and 1956.⁸ Local historical summaries also attribute the 1935 Sarasota Open (PGA Tour era) to Bobby Jones GC, won by Johnny Revolta; while result lists confirm Revolta as champion, primary contemporary newspaper verification of the venue has not yet been located, so the 1935 venue attribution remains best-evidence from local histories and secondary compilations.¹⁴
Recent assessments place the restored municipal among the most notable public revivals in the state; the Florida Historic Golf Trail notes its reopening and cites its recognition in Golf Digest’s 2024 affordable-course rankings.¹⁵
Current Condition / Integrity
Today’s 18-hole Ross course presents the original routing in full, rebuilt to the 1925 drawings and notes. Mandell has said he restored all but two green complexes in their original locations; the two exceptions were adjusted to resolve contemporary drainage and grading constraints on the floodplain. Bunker outlines were painted from Ross’s plan, and the restoration re-introduced the fairway mounding that Ross drew “through the middle of the fairways.” Relative green-to-fairway elevations follow Ross’s notes (e.g., greens four feet above adjacent fairways), even as playing features, tees, and landing areas were raised above the floodplain for resilience. A front-nine canal system that Ross had only sketched in 1925 was built as part of the project, now threading behind 8, by 7 and 5, past 4, and in front of 2.²³⁴⁶
What has changed relative to 1926: two green sites were relocated; modern irrigation, subsurface drainage, and fill have elevated playing corridors; and the 8th now has an additional championship tee stretching the hole to 236 yards, while the ROSS tees preserve the original scale.¹¹⁷ Outside the Ross eighteen, the property has been rebalanced into an 18-hole Ross course, a separate adjustable nine-hole short course, expanded practice grounds and putting course, and a large public nature park under conservation—changes that do not affect Ross’s restored routing but do define the broader municipal campus.²³¹⁶¹⁷
Earlier alterations and their legacy. Mid-century additions by Harris (1952) and Anderson (1965) created the later “American” and “British” configurations by pairing those newer nines with Ross’s original nine-hole loops; a 1980s renovation by Garl rebuilt parts of the American course (including a Ross nine) without reference to the Ross plan, accelerating the drift from Ross’s 1926 complexion. Those layers have been removed from the restored Ross course, which returns the municipal to its original 18-hole identity while acknowledging that a pair of green sites and absolute grades could not remain exactly as they were in 1926.⁶¹⁵
Presently, the course plays par 71, 6,714 yards from the longest markers, with “ROSS” tees at 6,240 yards to match the 1925 sheet. The municipal publishes its scorecard with the Ross-tee yardages identified, inviting golfers to recreate the 1926 experience.⁷
Sources & Notes
Florida Department of State, Florida Historic Golf Trail – Bobby Jones Golf Club (overview of 1926 opening, Ross hire, 1927 dedication, restoration summary).
City of Sarasota, Grand reopening celebration for Bobby Jones Golf Club and Nature Park (press release, Nov. 30, 2023; describes restoration of the original Ross layout and opening events).
Golf Course Architecture, Sarasota’s Bobby Jones club reopens after renovation (Dec. 15, 2023; restoration scope and timeline).
Sarasota Observer (YourObserver), Andrew Warfield, Bobby Jones course architect reflects on why ‘Sarasota has me for life’ (Nov. 19, 2023). Contains Mandell’s detailed remarks on following Ross’s plans, relative green elevations, canal alignment by holes 2–8, mounding as hazards, and “Ross tees.”
Friends of Bobby Jones Golf Club, The Ross Field Notes (summary of 1925 plan authorship by Walter Irving Johnson, Jr., and Ross’s instruction re: enlarged greens plans).
Golf Course Architecture, Richard Mandell to restore Ross features at Bobby Jones GC (Jan. 4, 2019). Notes that the other nines were by Robert Bruce Harris (1952) and Roy Anderson (1965); cites Ron Garl’s 1987 renovation; and that all but two greens would be restored in place.
Bobby Jones Golf Club, Official scorecard (PDF) (yardages, par, designation of “ROSS” tees at 6,240 yards, and 6,714 yards from longest markers).
Wikipedia, Sarasota Open (LPGA Tour) (venue listed as Bobby Jones GC for 1955–56; used here to identify years and site for the LPGA event).
PGA of America, KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship: Host Venues and Course Architects (lists 1940 and 1941 venues as Bobby Jones GC plus North Shore/Sarasota Bay).
Friends of Bobby Jones Golf Club, Timeline 1886–Present (records June 5, 1926 opening of first nine and Sept. 30, 1926 opening of second nine).
GolfFeatures, Grade ‘A’ Architecture – Bobby Jones Golf Club (discussion of the 8th hole; original ~191-yard scale and modern championship tee at 236 yards).
Sarasota Observer (YourObserver), Seven years later, Bobby Jones Golf Club is visibly taking shape (Sept. 27, 2022; restoration progress and adherence to Ross’s drawings).
Golf Course Industry, Melding golf and urban green space (Dec. 1, 2023; outlines the repositioning of the property with a large nature park and restored Ross eighteen).
Friends of Bobby Jones Golf Club, Timeline 1886–Present (entry attributing 1935 Sarasota Open to Bobby Jones GC; used alongside general tournament result compilations). See also GolfCompendium and WGHOF social posts for Revolta references; primary newspaper venue confirmation not located.
City of Sarasota meeting record, BJGC SC Comments 09.10.2015 (PDF; cites an American-course renovation by Ron Garl in 1986 that impacted part of the Ross nine; included to note year discrepancy with other sources).
Disputed/Uncertain Points
1935 Sarasota Open venue: Local BJGC histories place the event at Bobby Jones GC with Johnny Revolta as champion; tournament result lists confirm Revolta but often omit venue. Primary contemporaneous newspaper confirmation of Bobby Jones GC as the host has not yet been located; attribution here follows the Friends timeline and secondary compilations.
Year of Ron Garl renovation: One professional source cites 1987, while a City of Sarasota document cites 1986; both refer to the American course work that included holes over Ross’s back-nine footprint. The exact completion date may reflect multi-month construction spanning calendar years.