Tag: Jason Straka

Dana Fry, Jason Straka to design course alongside Irish beach used in ‘Saving Private Ryan’

Used in the opening battle scenes in Saving Private Ryan, an Irish beach will soon be home to golf and a resort.

The American design team of Dana Fry and Jason Straka is headed to Ireland with plans to lay out a new course adjacent to Curracloe Beach in the southeast of the island.

If the beach looks familiar, you might have seen it on a big screen, as it was used in filming the opening landing scenes for Allied troops in the 1998 blockbuster “Saving Private Ryan.”

Named Curracloe Links, the new layout will be part of Ravenport Resort, which is scheduled to open this spring about a two-hour drive south of Dublin Airport, just north of Wexford. Groundbreaking for the golf course takes place in February with an expected full opening in 2026. The resort will include 50 rooms, a spa and a leisure club near what has been called the best beach in the island nation by the Irish Independent.

“The ancient linksland of Curracloe Links, with its rolling hills, long sea views and rugged natural bunkers, will offer a quintessential Irish golf experience and lure people from all over the world to its fairways,” Straka, past president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects, said in a media release announcing the news.

The planned routing for Curracloe Links in Ireland (Courtesy of Neville Hotel Group)

Straka, who plans to spend considerable time at the site, should be getting used to working near the sea: His recent renovation of Belleair Country Club near Tampa has proved especially popular since it opened in 2023.

Ireland-based Neville Hotel Group is developing the project. It will be Neville’s fifth property, joining Royal Marine Hotel in Dun Laoghaire, Druids Glen Hotel and Golf Resort in County Wicklow, the River Court Hotel in Kilkenny and the Tower Hotel in Waterford.

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Photos: Check out the golf courses at Cabo Del Sol in Cabo San Lucas

Come for the golf, stay for the comfort stations in Mexico.

CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico — Jack Nicklaus, designer and builder of golf courses around the world, once declared it “the best golf property I’ve seen.”

He was referring to his golf course, originally called the Ocean Course at Cabo Del Sol, now dubbed Cove Club – the centerpiece to this seaside community on the tip of the Baja California Peninsula.

Cove Club, now fully private, underwent a recent design change which rerouted a few holes and features a spectacular finish at edge of the Sea of Cortez. The club also opened some magnificent beachfront area for the entire membership to enjoy at the Cove Club.

A second 18-hole course, originally called the Desert Course and designed by Tom Weiskopf, runs higher up the hillside and offers views of the blue waters from just about every hole. That course is now called Cabo Del Sol Course and is undergoing a renovation by the team of Dana Fry and Jason Straka.

Check out some photos of the courses at Cabo Del Sol.

Paul Azinger, Fry/Straka Design to build course for new Miakka Golf Club in Florida

Paul Azinger partners with Fry/Straka Design to build course for new private club in Southwest Florida.

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Former PGA Tour star Paul Azinger and the architecture firm of Fry/Straka Global Golf Course Design have partnered to build 18 main holes and more for the new riverside Miakka Golf Club in Myakka City, Florida.

The private club will be built on more than 1,100 acres along the Myakka River about 30 miles southeast of Sarasota/Bradenton International Airport, not far from the Gulf of Mexico between Tampa and Naples. The club shares ownership and is adjacent to the TerraNova Equestrian Center and The Estates at TerraNova, with development led by Florida entrepreneur Steve Herrig.

The club will include a full-length 18-hole course, a 12-hole par-3 course, a 7-acre short-game facility, a lighted putting course and a circular practice range that includes a performance center. Along with a clubhouse, the club plans to build cabins for members and guests. Plans are for the short course to open in 2024 with the main course ready for play in 2025.

“This is one of the best natural sites for golf and one of the best teams we’ve ever been affiliated with,” Jason Straka, principal of Fry/Straka Global Golf Course Design, said in a media release announcing the club. “The property has an incredible two miles of frontage along the Myakka River with hundreds of mature oak hammocks. Just the golf club and its facilities are being built on more than 1,100 acres.

“Miakka is going to be pure golf with no encroachments or distractions of any kind. The course will resemble the celebrated courses of the Australian Sandbelt, with wide turf corridors, no rough, and distinctive bunkers and natural-area hazards jutting into the line of play.”

Azinger, a former Ryder Cup captain, grew up in Florida and lives in nearby Bradenton.

“This is my home, and it’s incredibly important to me,” Azinger said in the media release. “Steve (Herrig) and his team are absolutely committed to making Miakka Golf Club one of the very best private clubs in the world. He’s assembled an all-star team and will do whatever it takes to achieve that goal.”

Dana Fry said his design team is going to great lengths to provide superior playing conditions.

“The entire 7,700-yard golf course will be sand-capped with a proprietary blend of sand and Profile soil conditioner,” Fry said in the media release. “Everything but the greens will be sodded. In addition, the entire course will have substantial underdrains to ensure fast and firm playing conditions year-round. Recently, Miakka secured 1,600 acres of adjacent land and will be the first course in Florida with its own sod farm. This is where they’ll grow the Stadium and Lazer Zoysia grass that will be used on the fairways, tees, and green surrounds.”

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