The Country Club at Mirasol in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, is continuing its relationship with JDR Golf Design as it begins additional renovations to its Sunset course with Joel Hornickel, ASGCA.
Golf Course Architecture reports:
“Drew’s involvement with the club has been continuous since 2001, and just as previous efforts in 2015, 2018 and 2023 helped the club to evolve and improve, the current endeavour aims to do the same,” said Hornickel. “The primary goal for the next round of improvements is to set the course’s features and infrastructures up for another successful 25 years, including both from both a playability and maintainability standpoint.”
Renovation work, which began in June 2026 and concluded in early September, included changes to the eighteenth, the practice green and short-game area. The changes came about because of the club’s significant investment in creating a new 41,000-square-foot multipurpose golf facility. “The new building is being constructed directly on top of the former practice putting green,” says Hornickel. “As a result of the new building’s location, both the practice putting green and short-game area needed to be repositioned and redesigned.
The practice putting green ended up being shifted approximately 35 yards closer to the starting holes on both the Sunset and Sunrise courses to create space for the new multipurpose golf facility. Likewise, the short-game area was shifted, which gave JDR Golf Design the opportunity to expand the single green from 7,500 square feet to 8,000, and chipping areas to allow for shots up to 75 yards.
“Beyond the practice areas, the most significant change to the eighteenth hole involved shifting the green complex approximately 20 yards left of its former position to increase its separation from the adjacent practice range while also improving its visibility from the new multi-purpose golf building,” says Hornickel.
“While the position of the new building had minimal effect on the finishing holes for both courses, there was an opportunity to enhance the view of both holes from the new building, especially from the second level terrace. This included removal of plant material to provide a more expansive, panoramic view as well as adjustments to the locations and elevations of the greens to increase their visibility.”
“In doing so, the green was enlarged to provide more pinnable areas as well as more variety between them. The remainder of the hole received minor expansions of the teeing areas, rebuilt bunkers, new irrigation and new turf (Bimini bermuda). Landscaping areas, which help to frame the hole, have also been expanded and refined. While the improvements may seem minimal on paper, the visual improvements are significant as a result of the enhanced bunker styling – a departure from the flat floor/grass-faced character to a more elaborate, sand-flashed presentation.”
The renovated hole and practice areas are expected to reopen in November 2026, with efforts set to restart in March 2027. Next year’s work will cover the remaining holes, and Hornickel says the focus will continue to be on “enhancing the bunker styling and rebuilding the green complexes to further increase their interest and memorability”.
“Many of the green surfaces have contracted over the past few decades, leading to the loss of pinnable areas. Additionally, increased green speeds through improvements in turf varieties and maintenance equipment have also contributed to the loss of pinnable areas. As a result, all the greens will be slightly enlarged and reshaped, but by using their existing shapes and contours as guides so their original strategic impacts can be largely maintained. Other than the modest expansions of greens to increase pinnable areas, their expansions will also help them to achieve a better scale and fit within each space. However, their locations will be mostly unchanged.”
Many of the bunkers will also be rebuilt in their existing locations, but some will be repositioned while others completely removed in an effort to “strengthen the strategy of certain holes while also continuing to be proactive in guiding the evolution of the playing experience,” says Hornickel. A hybrid application of Better Billy Bunker will be employed, which includes the installation of a duraspun material on the floors.
A new irrigation system, designed by Aqua Turf International, will also be installed by Leibold Irrigation on the Sunset course, which will also be re-grassed with TifEagle bermuda on greens and Bimini bermuda across the rest of the course. Total Turf Golf Services joins the team as the golf course contractor for the entire project.
“Next year’s work intends to address infrastructure and aesthetic upgrades and will be more directed towards the greens and irrigation which have been largely untouched in the course’s 25-year history. As for the rest of the course improvements, we are simply taking advantage of this ideal opportunity to piggy-back on the installation of the new irrigation system and turf to do some fine-tuning to the bunkers and a handful of tees.”