Heritage Harbour Golf Club

The Heritage Harbour golf course in Bradenton Florida has been a favorite of both locals and snowbirds for many years. The course opened in 2001 as Stoneybrook Golf Club at Heritage Harbour and changed to its current name in 2018. Since its inception, it has been operated as a public course and a semi-private club.

In the years after the 2008 financial crisis, the condition of the course continued to deteriorate. Different golf course management companies were brought in to make improvements and turn things around, but conditions didn’t improve, and the golf course was put up for sale, something that worried residents who had once upon a time purchased golf course homes.

Local PGA golf professional turned publisher turned real estate broker Mark Bruce put together an investment group and purchased the distressed property, thus adding the title of Golf Course Owner/General Manager to an already crowded business card. His knowledge and expertise in each area have melded together nicely as everything he foresaw for Heritage Harbour is coming to fruition.

By his admission, Bruce says the course was desperately in need of repairs. Bruce and a group of investors purchased the club about 4 years ago. Florida weather, especially summer heat and torrential afternoon rains is hard on golf courses. “The lifespan of core elements like greens, bunkers, and turfgrass is only about 12 to 15 years, so now, after 21 years, it was time for us to do some heavy lifting”, says Bruce. As one of his partners told me, “I came down to visit the property shortly after agreeing to become an investor. As Mark was touring me around the property, I stopped him and asked, “what have you gotten me into?”

Mark Bruce knew exactly what he was doing. After doing his due diligence, he put together a business model that will ultimately pay for the course renovation, clubhouse improvements, and ongoing maintenance of the golf course. Bruce has partnered with ResClub, whose business model brings quality traffic to vacation rental property resorts. Visitors that are in golf vacation mode will provide additional revenue streams for the resort developer. With this new business model, the shift to frame the property as a micro destination golf resort makes perfect sense and will generate sufficient revenue for years to come to properly care for the course and make it a “must play” in Southwest Florida.

The uniqueness of what Bruce and ResClub’s CEO Craig Williamson have created is unparalleled. You can be a visiting vacationer for a short or extended stay, a member that comes every year for two to four weeks, or a seasonal owner that lives in a Villa for up to six months a year. Here’s how membership works. A $99,000 membership will get you four weeks of use for a 30-year term on a vacation home at Heritage Harbour in Bradenton, FL or you can choose from more than 4,500 resort locations and 600,000 hotels in more than 100 countries within an extensive travel exchange network. The biggest difference between this type of ownership and timeshare is that with a timeshare, you still pay maintenance and resort fees. The ResClub membership model has no closing costs, HOA, property management fees, or ongoing utility expenses either. With this type of membership, there is a fixed annual return - they pay you back between 5 – 8% each year. Use your new vacation home for 4 weeks during the year and you’ll get 5% of your investment back; don’t use it at all and you’ll get 8%. So instead of forking out $3 – 5,000 in fees, you are getting a check for $5,000 – $8,000 each year. Looking for a seasonal place to call home? Whole ownership of a villa is available and owners can use it for up to 179 days a year as a “seasonal home” or keep their use limited to four weeks and deploy the villa into the resort rental platform to create income. The whole goal is to create an experience for Members and Owners that creates a net-zero cost of ownership and gives them amazing lifestyle and personal use benefits.

Such a beautiful course with lots of water and pretty views. It's kept up very nice. The added bonus is the very friendly staff! I'm visiting from out of town and can't wait to come back. Highly recommend 👌

Staff are great. Fairways need some attention (4/5), but the greens are fast and true. A good test of golf. Shout out to clubhouse restaurant staff, friendly and helpful, even held the door for me while leaving the clubhouse with my hands full, snacks and beverages. Pricing is reasonable.

What a great way to spend a Monday off from work...

I’m really starting to believe in the new ownership’s plan to return this course to what it used to be, one of the best in the area. (I’m a 15 hcp) The layout has always been fun and challenging, but unfortunately the previous owners let maintenance fall behind. Now the fairways are back and the greens are rolling true again. Bunkers look to be next and this is important, because the bunkering is excellent and really makes the course memorable.

The clubhouse is nice. I haven’t tried the new menu yet. Staff is very friendly. New ownership looks determined to deliver a good golf course and be good neighbors in the process. Lots of small groups, golf and non-golf events for kids and adults.

3/4/19 update. Sand seems to have been replaced in all the bunkers. They need a bit more raking, but it's an excellent improvement. Highly recommend coming out. The course is in great shape.