By Coral Gables Gazette staff
The Coral Gables City Commission has approved a broad restructuring of the Granada Golf Course, raising greens fees by up to 40 percent, hiring a national maintenance contractor for nearly $970,000, and capping annual play at 50,000 rounds in a coordinated effort to restore the quality of one of Florida’s oldest public golf courses.
The commission voted unanimously on March 10 to approve two resolutions: one amending the city’s community recreation fee schedule and establishing a new veterans discount at Granada, and a second authorizing a bid waiver to contract with BrightView Holdings LLC for golf course maintenance services at an estimated cost of $969,478 for a one-year pilot period. Both measures take effect next month.
Community Recreation Director Fred Couceyro told the commission that the course, which opened in 1923 and is the oldest operating nine-hole public course in Florida, has been playing more than 67,000 rounds annually — an average of more than 183 rounds per day — well beyond what the nine-hole golf course can sustain without significant turf degradation. “We are seeing a decline in the quality of the course,” he said, “and we need to address the capacity.”
A course under stress
The Granada Golf Course is not simply a golf course. Couceyro described it as a community hub anchored by the adjacent Birdie Bistro restaurant, the country club, and La Park Cafe — a walking and gathering space as much as a sporting facility. That popularity, however, has taken a toll. The nine-hole course, which has a small physical footprint, cannot rotate its fairways the way an 18-hole course can. Every hole absorbs the full volume of daily play with no rest.
Mayor Vince Lago drew a plain analogy at the commission meeting. “An athlete doesn’t go out every single day and run sprints,” he said. “They run sprints, they rest. This course doesn’t have rest days.” The last comprehensive course renovation was completed in 2014. By contrast, the city-owned Biltmore Golf Course — located nearby and already maintained by BrightView — underwent renovations in 2008-09 and again in 2018-19.
Commissioner Ariel Fernandez added another variable: the course serves as a natural water reservoir for the city, absorbing floodwater during major rainstorms. “That is by design,” he said, noting that the flooding takes a toll on turf conditions that must be factored into any maintenance plan.
Outsourcing maintenance
The commission approved a bid waiver — bypassing the city’s standard competitive procurement process — to contract directly with BrightView for the one-year pilot. The total authorized contract value is $969,478, which includes approximately $818,000 for daily maintenance services and a $150,000 tee renovation program to rebuild all tee boxes before the heavy rain season. The arrangement will increase the annual maintenance budget by approximately $250,000.
City staff cited BrightView’s existing presence on the Biltmore as a key factor in the direct award. The proximity allows BrightView to share equipment and staff resources between the two courses, a logistical advantage that staff said would be difficult to replicate through a competitive process on the same timeline. BrightView is the largest landscape construction and maintenance company in the United States, with more than 270 branches and 22,000 employees. The company also maintains Palm Beach National Golf Course, which has been recognized as the top public course in America.
The bid waiver covers the pilot year only. City staff said they will issue a formal request for proposals for a long-term maintenance contract before the pilot period concludes.
Fees rise sharply to manage demand
The fee increases approved by the commission are substantially larger than the city’s standard recreation fee adjustment, which raises most fees by 5 percent every other year. Granada’s greens fees are increasing by 36 to 40 percent, effective April 2026, ahead of all other city recreation fee changes, which take effect in Fiscal Year 2027.
Couceyro told the commission that the course’s fees had not been meaningfully updated in years and that the new rates, while higher, remain competitive for a public nine-hole course in South Florida. Commissioner Fernandez agreed. “I think we’re not going crazy with the new rates,” he said. “They are still very reasonable.”
The increases are also explicitly designed to moderate demand. City staff have proposed reducing annual play from more than 67,000 rounds to a ceiling of 50,000 — a reduction of roughly 25 percent — to allow the turf adequate recovery time. Higher prices are one mechanism for achieving that reduction.
PROPOSED FEE CHANGES
| Category | Current | Proposed |
| Tee Time – Resident | $22.00 | $30.00 |
| Tee Time – Non-Resident | $28.00 | $39.00 |
| Twilight – Resident | $19.00 | $27.00 |
| Twilight – Non-Resident | $26.00 | $35.00 |
| Ride & Save – Resident | $38.00 | $45.00 |
| Ride & Save – Non-Resident | $45.00 | $59.00 |
| Green Replay – Resident | $19.00 | $27.00 |
| Green Replay – Non-Resident | $26.00 | $35.00 |
| Junior – Resident | $11.00 | $13.00 |
| Junior – Non-Resident | $15.00 | $17.00 |
| Golf Cart | $17.00 | $18.00 |
Membership restructured with new country club tier
The commission also approved a restructuring of golf course membership. The existing unlimited-rounds membership, priced at $931 for residents, will be replaced by a new Golf and Country Club membership capped at 100 members. The new membership integrates golf access with country club amenities, provides 30 free annual rounds, a $5 discount on additional rounds, and priority tee time booking seven days in advance.
Pricing for the new membership tier is $2,100 for resident singles and $3,434 for resident couples. Non-resident singles will pay $2,730 and non-resident couples $4,465. The cap of 100 members is designed to limit the volume of member play, which accounted for 21 percent of total rounds played last year.
Veterans and military receive 50 percent discount
As part of the fee schedule amendments, the commission established a new 50 percent discount on greens fees for veterans and active military personnel. The discount applies to both resident and non-resident rate categories and will be issued at the time of purchase with proper identification. The program applies exclusively to the Granada Golf Course.
For a course that has operated continuously since 1923, the restructuring represents the most significant operational overhaul in more than a decade. City officials framed the changes not as a departure from Granada’s public character but as the investment required to preserve it. “It’s a community meeting spot,” Couceyro told the commission. “It’s almost like a campus.” The question now is whether the combination of higher fees, professional maintenance, and reduced play volume can restore a course that Coral Gables has relied on for more than a century.
This Post Has 18 Comments
Why does the city ruin an already beautiful thing.
So a public golf course becomes less “public”? Great job. Also, why do veterans get a discount? Why not first responders? Why not handicapped people? Why not midgets? They are smaller, and they cause less damage to the course with their little feet. You’re giving a discount to kids, and they are smaller; why not midgets? What the heck does being a veteran have to do with this? Seems like pandering to me. Also, why a no-bid contract? That does not seem very smart. Sure the course needs to be better maintained, but capping rounds per year while jacking up fees and giving a near-$1,000,000 no-bid contract for maintenance, even if for just a year? Seems like the city is trying to get the same amount of juice from less of a squeeze and the insiders are all lining their pockets with our tax dollars in the process. That is not good for residents.
This is all made-up B.S. by a commission that is not serious.
Finally!!! This course needs lots of love!!! It’s in terrible shape! Even with the new prices it will still be very inexpensive.
Granada Golf Course was originally George Merrick’s family vegetable plot, and he intentionally incorporated it as a central feature of his planned City Beautiful. For more than 100 years it has been the very heart of Coral Gables, the village green. With its mysterious ‘cathedral of trees’ on the back half of the course, the stately homes ringing the perimeter, and its central location within walking distance of City Hall – Granada is as unique as it is magical.
I am pleased that the Commissioners appear to be finally taking steps to preserve one of the City’s most unique and treasured features after years of neglect, and I understand that the fee increases are a necessary part of this; however, I think Gables residents should be given a more significant discount compared to non-residents. Also, as I have argued before, the continuing lack of rain shelters during fierce South Florida lightning storms leaves the City vulnerable to serious legal financial exposure.
Instead of wasting resources in useless roundabouts, street speed barriers and horrible sculptures, that money can be perfectly used to properly maintain the Granada golf course. The fees for non-residents have to be substantially higher.
In addition, there should be a walking track or path built around the golf course to help prevent folks walking along the course from getting hit by a vehicle. I live on North Greenway and it’s getting worse by the week with the number of walkers in the area, especially at night. The risk of getting hit by a golf ball while walking on a track is no greater than walking on the grass or edge of the golf course.
There is a walking track. It’s called a sidewalk. Use it.
Arnold Palmer is right about the privileges for veterans. What about the City employees? They all play now for free.
It’s about time they put money and resources in the Gables money machine that course brings in a lot of revenue for the city and it’s been neglected for too long. Agree with everything they’re doing except how can you charge membership over $2000 and give them 30 free play that’s a joke.
I totally agree with Julio. Somebody told me that the revenues from the course are more than 9 million a year. Where is that money? In the City’s blackhole? Benefiting what or …?
The former Superintendent, Troy Hall had done such a wonderful job with the course. No This. Shame.
The former Superintendent, Troy Hall had done such a wonderful job with the course. Now This. Shame.
Beautiful Granada Golf Course should offer free greens fees (9 holes per day) for all students with valid student ID.
Julio, you are right. The City has eliminated the golf membership altogether. Unconscionable. The $2100 annual fee for 30 rounds turns the Country Club into a mere social club. The City has purposely shut out those of us who want to play more than twice a week.
Winter Park has a nearly identical course of nine holes in the middle of the town and they have an annual fee for $1350 for unlimited rounds and that has worked out superbly. The Parks Dept has no idea what it is doing.
Call me if you want the inside scoop on this disaster. 305-588-3005. We can overturn this mistake.
The new fee restructure is a disaster. The city completely removed the option to purchase an annual pure golf membership, which it has always had.
Members are furious. This is what happens when a bunch of bureaucrats who don’t play golf run a golf course. What would happen if a bureaucracy ran the Sahara desert? In 5 years there would be a shortage of sand.
I’m sure members will pay 3,000 a year with unlimited walking and cart fee only if they decide to ride members will be more than happy to pay ( golf only you can keep the country club ) and cap membership at 100 members gables resident only
I contacted the editor of the Gazette and told him that the City Manager and Commission and the Recreation Directorvcompletely wiped out golf memberships. Completely eliminated them. So now 86 people—former members—have no place affordable. And they were promised this would never happen.
The Gazette is only interested in printing what the Mayor wants printed. And by the way, the outside maintenance company was brought in because the City was grossly negligent. What a shame the Gazette couldn’t care less. It’s like Trump runs things.
As a regular Granada golfer and member of the Granada Golf Association, I’m stunned by the City’s decision to hike green fees and cart fees by roughly 40 percent in one shot. This is a neighborhood course that has always been an affordable, welcoming place for residents, seniors, and working people who can’t afford private club prices. Overnight, the City is treating it like a luxury product and ignoring the everyday players who actually keep the place alive.
What’s especially frustrating is that these increases are being pushed through while there’s still uncertainty about the future of our Association’s weekend block times. Those tee times are the backbone of our group and a big part of Granada’s community culture. To talk about “improving” the course while pricing regulars off the tee sheet and potentially taking away the very times that keep our organization together is completely backwards.
If the City wants a healthy, vibrant Granada Golf Course, it needs to respect the people who play there week in and week out. That means a fair, phased‑in fee structure and clear protection of the Association’s weekend tee times—not sudden price shocks and threats to the groups that give Granada its character. Robert Reid