Naples' Golf Club of the Everglades sold to Orlando company

The Pulte Home Co. has sold the Golf Club of the Everglades to Concert Golf Partners, an Orlando-area company with a portfolio of more than 35 courses across the United States.

The sale price was not disclosed, but according to Collier County records the property belonging to the Naples club sold for $17.15 million.

The 261-acre golf club is at 8835 Vanderbilt Beach Road and is surrounded by Pulte’s Greyhawk community. Rees Jones Inc. designed the course.

Pulte says in a statement that Concert is a “discerning purchaser” that shares in its “commitment to preserve the historical exclusivity of the club” and will work with the community around it.

The Golf Club of the Everglades features a 7,352-yard, par 72 open links-style course that opened in 2000 with a members-only clubhouse, restaurant and an 8-acre practice facility. Unlike most golf courses, the club does not have tee times, allowing members to play at their leisure.

Concert was founded in 2011 and owns 35 golf club in 18 states, nine of those in Florida. Along the Gulf Coast, it owns the Renaissance Golf Club in Fort Myers, the Carrollwood Country Club in Tampa and the Plantation Golf & Country Club in Venice.

A company spokesperson says Concert’s model aims to maintain the traditions of the clubs it buys while making enhancements.

Pulte put the Golf Club of the Everglades up for sale early this year.

In a marketing letter emailed March 19, Pulte set the parameters of how to bid on the club. It also provided a detailed six-step outline on how the process would work.

The letter, signed by Scott Brooks, Pulte’s director of real estate, encouraged anyone interested to submit their best and final offers. But it added that “in addition to price and terms of the offer, consideration will be given to the individual group, or company that we believe will be the best custodian for the preservation of” the club.

PulteGroup, according to the statement issued by Concert, considered multiple investors before deciding the Lake Mary company would be “the best successor to continue to provide its members with a high-level of service and enhance the Golf Club of the Everglades” for the future.