Shortly after his pending departure was made public in a letter to membership, friends made over the course of three decades at Winged Foot began checking in with longtime general manager Colin Burns.
The first phone call was from CBS sports anchor Jim Nantz, who insisted on being a vocal part of whatever sendoff the club was planning at season’s end. The second was from Michael Pascucci, who developed and owns Sebonack Golf Club in Southampton and wanted to know how the 63-year-old Connecticut resident might be spending his days after the season.
“In that very distinct voice of his, Mr. Pascucci was like, ‘Hey, Col, what’re you going to do next?’” Burns said. “I told him, ‘Mr. P, I’m not sure. This is all kind of new to me.’ He says, ‘We should talk.’”
The conversation picked up over the weeks and months that followed.
Last week, Burns was named Chief Operating Officer at The Apogee Club, an exclusive private facility under construction in Hobe Sound, Florida, between Port St. Lucie and Palm Beach.
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“Logically, this was the next step,” Burns said. “I truly loved my 31 years at Winged Foot. It’s really the ideal time and the ideal project. I can step back a little from worrying about the day-to-day operations and hopefully contribute to the overall atmosphere of the club.”
Winged Foot sent him off in October with Nantz on the mic and 400 members in attendance.
“It was a lot of fun,” said Burns, who was feted in a video that opened with Ben Crenshaw and closed with a message from Billy Collins, a friend and former Poet Laureate of the U.S. “It was really very, very touching. It was a beautiful and generous sendoff from my friends at Winged Foot.”
Pascucci and Miami Dolphins owner Steve Ross are funding The Apogee Club.
“It was a lot to digest, so by the end of the year we had sort of figured out a role,” Burns said. “After the new year I came down to Florida and met with Mr. Ross, who’s a very impressive man and like Mr. Pascucci is really inspirational in terms of his energy. And here we are.”
Construction is being overseen by Tommy Fazio, the nephew of course designer Tom Fazio, and Mike Davis, the former CEO of the USGA.
The current plans cover 1,200 acres two miles west of I-95 and include three signature courses, a golf performance center, a 360-degree practice area and up to 40 club-owned villas for overnight stays by members and guests.
A pool, fitness center, spa, tennis and pickleball courts are on the drawing board, as well.
Mike Davis (right) and Tom Fazio II on the grounds of what will become Apogee Golf Club. (Courtesy Davis-Fazio)
“There is no one with better experience in the golf industry to handle the broad scale of this project than Colin Burns,” Pascucci said. “His career reflects excellence in all phases of golf hospitality.”
Gil Hanse is currently working on the first course, which is scheduled to open by year’s end. The others are expected to be completed in 2024 and 2025.
“I was on the property and Gil was on the dozer shaping,” Burns said of a Jan. 14 site visit. “Tommy Fazio and Mike Davis are designing the second course and the third will be done by Kyle Phillips. Hart Howerton is doing the design on all of the vertical builds and each one is just spectacular. They are beautifully modern and yet very elegant.
“There will be a 360-degree practice facility that’s being designed by Rory McIlroy. It will have every imaginable piece of technology once it comes out of the ground. There is no real estate being sold. We’re going to potentially have 40 villas that will be built as needed. It’s going to be a pretty special project. I think nationally it will be recognized as something unique.”
The New Jersey native whose first job in the hospitality industry was peeling shrimp at the family restaurant is no stranger to grand plans. He ran point for Winged Foot on numerous expansions and renovations and was part of the club’s team that hosted the 2006 and 2020 U.S. Opens and the 1997 PGA Championship.
Burns is used to dealing with lofty expectations, and The Apogee Club is the kind of luxury that comes with multiple zeros on the price tag.
“Mr. Pascucci and Mr. Ross have such a great reach and they have the wherewithal to do this at a pace that is comfortable so new members aren’t just being waved in,” he added. “In the end, I think it’s going to have a fabulous and diverse membership from all over the country. We’d also like to have some international reach to bring in members from London, Dublin and Paris.
“After the first 200 or 300 members are in, we’ll evaluate. It’s hard to judge how people will use a facility, especially brand new, so we’re not rushing to get to a number. We’re hoping to find a mix of people with a love of the game of golf along with a love of the values of the game of golf who plan to enjoy the facility with their families and guests.”
Mike Dougherty covers golf for The Journal News and lohud.com. He can be reached at mdougher@lohud.com or via Twitter @lohudgolf.