This 90-year-old Florida golf course that hosted Gene Sarazen and Sam Snead expected to be turned into 1,400 homes

April 30, 2022

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LAKELAND, Florida — One of Central Florida’s oldest golf courses, Wedgewood Golf Course, has been sold to possibly make way for a 1,400-home development, according to a report in the Lakeland Ledger, part of the USA Today Network.

Here’s more from the Ledger:

According to the paper, Mulberry-based SJD Development LLC purchased the 117-acre property for $4.5 million in December from Kanes Golf of Florida, owned by Sun Shin, according to records from the Polk County Property Appraiser’s Office.

Former Polk County Commissioner John Hall and Jonathan Hall, a partner with Ronin Assets, filed a request with the City of Lakeland on April 1 to have nearly 111 acres rezoned under a Planned Unit Development for a residential community. The father-son duo hope to mix single-family homes, townhouses, multifamily apartments and a 150-bed assisted living facility in a project dubbed “Gibson Trails.”

“Many golf courses are no longer profitable to operate as golf courses and in many cases, such as Wedgewood, they are actually losing money. Due to changing market conditions, a great number of golf courses are being repurposes into residential communities,” the developer says in the application.

The request is scheduled to go before Lakeland’s Planning and Zoning Board on May 17. If approved, the course could become home to 16 single-family homes, 204 townhomes and 1,028 multifamily units arrayed in three- and four-story buildings.

Wedgewood was originally known as William L. Hutcheson Golf Course when it was built in January 1931. The original 18-hole, par 73 course was the second to open in Lakeland after Cleveland Heights Golf Course, which is owned by the city.

Hutcheson was president of the carpenters union for 36 years starting in 1915. The union, for carpenters age 65 and older with 30 years’ membership, was one of the largest building-trade unions in the nation.

The Carpenters Home Cemetery still remains on the southeast side of the golf course behind the former 10th hole.

The property has changed hands several times over the years. Its name was changed to Wedgewood Golf Club in 1983 after undergoing a redesign by Lakeland course architect Ron Garl. The course has attracted famous golfers including Gene Sarazen and Sam Snead.