The Ritz-Carlton Members Golf Club

Overview: The Ritz-Carlton Members Golf Club is a Tom Fazio-designed championship course in Bradenton, presented through the Sarasota resort even though the golf club sits about 13 miles away in Lakewood Ranch. The 18-hole layout is par 72 and is listed at 7,417 yards from the championship tees. Across 315 acres of tropical landscape, the routing uses shaped elevation, broad lake edges, wetlands, flowering shrubs and mature oaks to create a distinctly sculpted Florida setting. Twelve lakes and the changing ground provide the main strategic framework, while six teeing grounds offer different angles and distances for the same course.

History: The Members Golf Club opened in 2006 as a private 18-hole Tom Fazio design associated with The Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota. Fazio’s team moved about 1.9 million cubic yards of earth to create elevation, relief and contouring on a formerly gentle Florida landscape, then threaded the holes among lakes and extensive planting. The opening report described a 7,417-yard, par-72 course with six sets of tees and a two-level practice range. The club’s environmental character has also been part of its identity; contemporary descriptions note wetlands, native planting and Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary recognition.

Did You Know? The closing stretch has its own nickname: The Lion’s Den. The official resort guide groups the 16th, 17th and 18th holes as a demanding final sequence, measuring 231 yards, 472 yards and 473 yards respectively from the back tees. It is a memorable architectural finish because the course’s man-made elevation and water features converge just as the round reaches its most exacting holes.