Where does a club spend $63 million after it has already rebuilt its longest and hardest golf course? Grey Oaks Country Club announced its answer last week. Members approved GO Beyond, a capital plan that runs from 2027 through 2032. Club + Resort Business reported the approval on November 5, and the Business Observer followed a day later with renderings of a new patio and a redesigned clubhouse entry.
The headline number is large. The project list says more. The club's first five-year plan was a golf plan. Nearly every item in the new one sits around the golf: where members eat, recover, swim and bring their grandchildren. Most of that work lands on the Estuary side of the property.
The first plan was built around the Pine
GO Forward 2026 was Grey Oaks' first five-year capital plan. A Fall 2025 profile of General Manager Don Emery in Club Trends reports that it passed a membership vote with 83.46% participation. It put $17.4 million into the club, and $15 million of that went to renovating the Pine course. The rest covered the short-game practice area, a larger racquets facility and an employee parking lot.
The Pine was the obvious place to start. Lloyd Clifton designed it in 1993, and Golf Course Architecture describes it as the longest of the club's three courses and one known for its difficulty. Andrew Green widened the fairways, enlarged the greens, reworked the bunkers and added new tees. When the course reopened in late 2023, Senior Director of Golf Marty DeAngelo told Club + Resort Business that the expanded green surrounds gave golfers "a lot of variety to approach the shot."
Golf got more in those same years. Green's short-game area was finished in 2022 with Inrange technology. A 30-bay Inrange driving range with covered and indoor bays followed in 2023, and the GO PLAY pavilion, which seats up to 16 players for virtual golf and food-and-beverage events, was completed in late 2023.
Two plans, side by side
| GO Forward 2026 | GO Beyond | |
|---|---|---|
| Total | $17.4 million | $63 million |
| Window | Five-year plan ending 2026 | 2027 through 2032 |
| Golf | Pine course renovation, short-game area | Estuary Course renovation |
| Clubhouse and dining | Not part of the itemized plan | Estuary Clubhouse renovation with year-round pub, East Clubhouse patio, more dining and social space |
| Wellness | Not part of the itemized plan | Spa and longevity facility expanded to about 9,500 square feet |
| Recreation | Racquets expansion | Pool deck and cabanas, racquets, children's playground |
| Behind the scenes | Employee parking lot | Grounds maintenance facilities, employee accommodations, operational infrastructure |
The new plan is more than three and a half times the size of the old one, and golf has gone from nearly the whole list to a single line on it.
The Estuary side becomes the project
Bob Cupp designed the Estuary Course, which opened in 2002 as the newest of the three. Tim Liddy later redesigned it, and his firm dates that work to 2017. Under GO Beyond, the course will be renovated to improve playability and the overall golf experience, according to the Business Observer.
The clubhouse next to it gets the bigger change. The Business Observer lists the Estuary Clubhouse work as:
- A year-round pub serving lunch and dinner
- A redesigned entryway
- More flexible dining spaces
Dining at the Estuary was already growing before this plan. The Fall 2025 Club Trends profile describes a Wednesday through Saturday fine-dining program there and a Monday upscale-burger night. It reports that fine-dining covers rose 57% and revenue rose 125% between fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2024. The same profile puts the club's food-and-beverage revenue growth at 28% since 2019. A pub that serves lunch and dinner all year adds a casual, every-day option to a building that is now known for its fine-dining nights.
The other clubhouse also gets more room. A new patio behind the East Clubhouse will add seating and event capacity, and the club's statement says it will allow more à la carte dining in the busier seasonal months.
Wellness and recreation fill out the list
The plan also expands the club's 30,000-square-foot wellness center, and its spa and longevity facility grows to about 9,500 square feet. The Business Observer lists sauna and steam, a cold plunge, more massage rooms and space for expanded physical therapy services. Gulfshore Business reported the same 9,500-square-foot figure.
Recreation follows the same pattern. The pool deck gets more seating and cabanas, the racquet areas get upgrades, and the children's amenities are improved. This is the second round of racquets investment in five years. The expanded racquets center opened in December 2022, and Club Management reported that pickleball visits then rose more than 150% and tennis visits 35%.
The club says the projects came out of five years of member surveys, focus groups and ongoing feedback. Speaking to Club + Resort Business, Emery explained the reasoning behind the plan.
"Successful private clubs must continually evaluate how their members' needs are evolving and make strategic investments that anticipate those changes."
What the Pine years showed about pacing
Club + Resort Business reports that the club organized GO Beyond as one coordinated, phased plan so it can schedule financing and construction over several years and keep disruption to members low.
The Pine shows how a full course renovation has run at Grey Oaks. Construction started in February 2023 and was set to finish in July. A four-month grow-in followed, with the course scheduled to reopen in November 2023, and it reopened that month. That schedule put the heavy work in the off-season and had the course ready by November.
The work members won't see
Part of the $63 million goes to grounds maintenance facilities, employee accommodations and operational infrastructure, which Club + Resort Business says are needed to support the experience for both members and staff. Grey Oaks has invested in this area before. The Fall 2025 Club Trends profile notes that the club had secured permanent workforce housing for more than 100 seasonal and part-time team members.
Board Chair Mary Perry told Club + Resort Business that members' support "reflects a commitment to preserving the club's legacy while ensuring it continues to offer one of Naples' most distinctive private club experiences for generations to come."
This season, at the tables that exist now
GO Beyond's window opens in 2027. The Grey Oaks events and dining page lists four current venues: the Pool Cafe, the Point Grille, Estuary and Grab & GO.
The Fall 2025 Club Trends profile describes Chef Derin Moore's "GO Fresh," "GO Bold" and "GO Sweet" lines of house-made items. It also mentions honey from 12 beehives on the property and Grey Oaks Coffee, made with a Florida roaster. BoardRoom reported that Felicia Anderson Naufel joined the club as catering and events manager on October 2, 2025.
Grey Oaks' homes sit around the courses and clubhouses that GO Beyond will change between 2027 and 2032, from the Estuary Clubhouse entry to the patio behind the East Clubhouse. If you own here, or are weighing a home near the Estuary side, J2 Luxury Group can show you how the plan's projects sit relative to the streets and fairways you care about. Discover Elevated Living. Schedule a Private Consultation.
