Founding a new tradition: Sarasota's Founders Club delivers a special golf experience & lifestyle for a privileged few.

There's a shotgun hanging over the bar at The Founders Golf Club in Sarasota, FL, and the general manager, Ian D.N. Fetigan, CCM, is not afraid to use it. That's not quite as extreme as it might sound: The ornate field piece was fired to signal an authentic "shotgun start" for the tee-off for the First Annual Gillespie Open, a nine-hole event played exclusively with antique clubs.

And, last November 12th, the sound of bagpipes trilling over the green heralded the grand opening celebration for Golf Hall, the elegant 24,000-square-foot clubhouse of The Founders Golf Club, the private membership entity within The Founders Club development. Famed golf course designer Robert Trent Jones Jr., designer of the club's par-72 course, was present for the occasion, resplendent in a kilt and tam o'shanter. Like another famous Robert--Scotland's poet laureate Robbie Burns--Jones had pen in hand for the occasion. The poem he penned hangs in the Grille at Golf Hall.

In addition, Fred Ridley, president of the United States Golf Association and an honorary member of The Founders Club, attended a walkabout with Jones last November 27th. The club's course is "a course that demands strategy," Ridley remarked, "making it a different course to play each and every time."

The clubhouse opening marked another chapter in the fast-shaping history of a club that seeks to meld the tradition of golf in the Sarasota area and the security, technology, and service of a modern gated community. The Founders Club (the name of the community versus "The Founders Golf Club" for the golfing entity) offers "home sites from the $400,000s"; "homes with home sites from the low $1 millions."

$1.6 Million "Cottages"

And spectacular homes they are. GM Fetigan currently oversees the activities of six approved custom home builders who are charged with building the 262 homes that will be allowed on The Founders Club's 700 acres (425 of which are set aside for golf and natural preserves). The homes ranging in size from 3,100 to over 8,500 (under air) square feet, feature vaulted ceilings, some with veined Venetian plaster, indoor/outdoor pools, and jaw-dropping amenities. Near the clubhouse the community is also building 13 detached "golf cottages" (think Newport or the Poconos), designed in the Southern low-country tradition, which are priced from $1.6 million.

The Founders Club development is the brainchild of Sarasota-based U.S. Assets Group and The Starling Group. The principals include Thomas Brown, Jay Tallman, and Fred Starling. The planning process for the project began in 1999. The golf course opened in February 2005 and the golf clubhouse in November of last year.

Brown and Tallman head U.S. Assets Group, a luxury residential development firm. The boutique developer's projects include the exclusive golf communities of Orchid Island Golf & Beach Club and Windsor in Vero Beach and the waterfront condominiums of Orchid Beach Club on Lido Key, Beau Ciel in downtown Sarasota, and en Provence on Longboat Key.

Fred Starling directs The Starling Group, a Sarasota-based full-service commercial real estate organization. Since 1981, The Starling Group has been involved in all phases of real estate from acquisition, planning, design, and construction to sales, marketing, and management.

The thing that Fetigan most appreciates and respects about the developers is their insistence that every aspect of the development and the golf club be first rate. Early this year, Club Management had the opportunity to be a fly-on-the-wall at the first homeowners' meeting. In one instance, the developers quickly assuaged an owner who was concerned about plantings on the half-mile-long wall bordering the development by pointing out that--unlike the foam-based stucco walls covered in ficus at many Florida gated communities--The Founders Club wall is solid concrete and will not deteriorate or need to be repainted.

Fetigan considers The Founders Club position to be the management job of a lifetime. There's not an aspect of the project with which he's not intimately involved and familiar--from the electronic security that can identify every returning member at the gate, to maintaining architectural standards on new homes (imagine being involved, through the architectural standards inspector, in telling a member to repaint their home because of an unfortunate color choice), to food and beverage, to the state of the golf course.

Fetigan grew up in a family of hoteliers in Bermuda and after attending school in England and the U.S. he managed clubs in the New York area for over 20 years, including Pelham Country Club in Pelham Manor, NY; The Country Club of Darien in Darien, CT; Glen Arbor Golf Club in Bedford, NY; and The Tuxedo Club in Tuxedo Park, NY.

Memberships in The Founders Golf Club (Fetigan is constantly telling vendors and media that there is no apostrophe in the name) are not automatic upon home ownership. The development has its own small clubhouse near the community's gate, but in order to use The Founders Golf Club, an equity membership must be purchased. The categories of membership are charter, "signature" (no green fees, full privileges); golf; and social. There are also a limited number of corporate memberships. The club will have a maximum of 275 golf memberships resident and non-resident. The number of social members is limited to the number of residences and home sites in the community, less the number of golf memberships issued to property owners.

Instant Tradition: Pecky Cypress & Green Copper

The centerpiece of the development is the golf clubhouse, dubbed "Golf Hall." The Starling Group, one of the developers of The Founders Club, built Golf Hall, the clubhouse, in less than a year, according to Fetigan. "Golf Hall combines tradition, elegance, and function," he said.

"We named our community 'The Founders Club' in honor of Sarasota's founder J. Hamilton Gillespie, the first mayor. Gillespie brought the game of golf from his native Scotland and opened his clubhouse, 'Golf Hall,' at the corner of the present-day Golf Street and Links Avenue in 1905," Fetigan stated. The clubhouse includes a photographic homage to golf in Sarasota a century ago.

The Founders Club chose the award-winning firm of Fleischman/ Garcia for the architectural design and FT Design for the interior design of the signature building.

Architect Sol J. Fleischman, AIA, founder, president, and chairman of the 33-year-old, Tampa-based architectural firm, said, "I've designed approximately 30 golf clubhouses in Florida. This is probably the one that I'm most proud of. It is architecturally authentic. We've made no compromises. It is not only highly functional, but it's also a beautiful building to house a warm and inviting club."

From pecky cypress wainscoting to a copper roof that will quickly take on a soft green patina in the Florida climate, the designers sought to capture the spirit of Florida low-country architecture.

Sol Fleischman was lead designer for Golf Hall with Kevin Smith, AIA, a Fleischman/Garcia partner, serving as the project architect. "One of our goals was to capture the beautiful view of the golf course and the majestic live oak trees on the property," Fleischman said. "We also wanted to create an elegant clubhouse that is highly functional."

Golf Hall encompasses a private dining room, as well as a spacious dining room with easy access to a large dining verandah with fireplace, overlooking the golf course.

The Grille in the clubhouse features a brick fireplace in the corner and a custom black granite bar with inset antique mirror surrounded by burl wood.

In keeping with The Founders Club's desire for understated elegance and traditional styling, Golf Hall features wide verandahs with Ipe decking, high sloped roofs with six copper-roofed dormers, tall proportioned windows with dark green shutters, and highly detailed wood columns--all sitting on a brick base. The building's rafter outriggers create deep overhangs that shadow and protect the white walls.

"As you approach Golf Hall, first you see the porte cochere, which has a tall cupola with a copper roof," Fleischman said. "As you enter, you come up the steps to a very wide verandah with traditional wood floor and wood beams."

Lori Fountain of Sarasota-based FT Design created interior styling in harmony with the architectural approach, using wood floors, bead-board ceilings, and crisp white trims. "We wanted Golf Hall to look like it's been here since the early 1900s, with a homey feeling. We also wanted to make every square foot usable," Fountain said. She had some fun while she was at it--sprinkling the clubhouse with eclectic little collections of objects like magnifying glasses.

The clubhouse provides "a careful blend of overstuffed leather upholstery, wrought iron fixtures, and handmade inlaid tables designed specifically for this project," Fountain said. "We also used imported antiques to enhance the warm, inviting ambiance, including an 1840s English library cabinet that we converted for use as Golf Hall's trophy case."

The lockers are an elegant combination of cherry and mahogany, with special areas in each locker room: for the men, a card room with card tables, a big-screen TV and a kitchenette; for the women, a private sitting room.

Fax on the Ninth Tee

The expansive fitness center includes an exercise room and massage room, which are adjacent to the well-appointed golf shop. For those who are out playing golf, there's a fax machine on the ninth tee. At that point, halfway through their 18 holes, the members can consult a menu and fax their order to the kitchen. Lunch is ready by the time they arrive at Golf Hall. It's just one more example of the functional--if not necessarily traditional--approach at The Founders Golf Club.

The 18-hole championship golf course takes cues from the rolling terrain, set against a backdrop of centuries old oaks, pines, and palms highlighted by natural buffers of untamed landscaping. The 7,094-yard, 72-par layout offers an unfettered route of play, embraced by lakes and natural wetlands that add a challenging aspect to the course. Members can choose to ride or walk and can avail themselves of the course's corps of professional caddies.

Robert D. Irving is The Founders Golf Club director of golf. He came to The Founders Club after a stellar career both as a pro and player, including the 1995 PGA National Senior Club Professional Championship.

Golf Course Superintendent Mark Nykorchuck started his career in the Berkshires, then worked in South Carolina and Florida, most recently at Isleworth Country Club and the Marriott Orlando Word Center Resort--both in Orlando. He joined The Founders Golf Club in April 2004, where he accomplished a successful grow-in in less than a year, despite four hurricanes and 60 inches of rain between the time of his arrival and the course's grand opening on February 4, 2005.

Sarasota's New Pioneers

In his column in the Winter 2006 issue of The Tartan, The Founders Club newsletter, General Manager Ian Fetigan reflected on the progress that he has witnessed:

"Sometimes it pays to stop, take a breath, and review all that we have accomplished at The Founders Club," Fetigan wrote. Though developers Tom Brown, Jay Tallman, and Fred Starling began this community over six years ago, we actually broke ground on Friday, March 5, 2004.

"As soon as ceremonial shovels bit into the rich soil on that warm, sunny day, we got to work. Excavators dug 100 acres of lakes, then used that earth to elevate homesites and shape the golf course. Next we built the infrastructure and a spectacular golf course.

"Our community and club are growing rapidly, with enough members to create a vibrant lifestyle. We have over 90 homes either finished or under construction. We have accomplished great things and continue to do so, thanks to the many people who have contributed to this project. Everyone who has helped should feel very proud to be part of this team. I want to thank them, as well as the builders, homebuyers, and club members who have shared our vision and participated in the development of this community and club. We truly appreciate their joining us in this adventure."