The Nest Golf Club — Gator CourseBonita Springs

The Gator is the longer of the two Tom Fazio eighteens at The Nest, the member-owned Bonita Springs club that spent its first decades as Pelican's Nest. It is the lengthier card of the pair at par 73 and 6,930 yards from the back of seven tee sets, rated 73.7 against a slope of 130. Five par 5s give the round its rhythm, and only one hole all day — the par-3 17th — asks for a forced carry over water. The companion eighteen, the Hurricane, is 187 yards shorter from the tips and carries the steeper slope. Private club; members and their guests only.

Tom Fazio's first eighteen here opened in 1985 as a public course and was named one of Golf Digest's top three new public courses in the country. Nine holes were added in 1988 and nine more by 1993, giving four nines named for Florida's college teams — Gator, Hurricane, Panther and Seminole — which were then recombined into two eighteens. Today's Gator is the original Gator nine, now playing as holes 10 to 18, joined to the Seminole nine as holes 1 to 9. The club bought its land from Westinghouse Communities across the 1990s and became member-owned in 1999 as Pelican's Nest Golf Club, rebranding to The Nest Golf Club more recently. Jan Bel Jan's renovation of both courses earned ASGCA Design Excellence recognition, and the club has been a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary since 2001.

Fazio framed the corridors here with water and native vegetation rather than blocking them with it, and the Gator takes the more open half of that idea: the hazards are visible and lateral, there to be played around rather than over. One forced carry in eighteen holes is unusual for a Southwest Florida course of this era, and it is what gives the Gator its reputation as the fairer of the club's two tests despite being the longer. Jan Bel Jan renovated both eighteens, and the Gator was re-grassed in Bimini Bermuda in 2025.

The club's longest and highest-rated course, and the rare Southwest Florida eighteen that asks for only one forced carry over water. Its "Scoring Tees", introduced in 2015, are built so players with clubhead speeds of 55 to 65 mph can reach greens in regulation — a genuine seventh tee set rather than a forward marker.

How do I get on The Nest Golf Club — Gator Course?

The Nest Golf Club — Gator Course is a private club — play is reserved for members and their guests. The only way on is a membership or a member's invitation; there is no public tee sheet.

Who designed The Nest Golf Club — Gator Course?

The Nest Golf Club — Gator Course was designed by Tom Fazio; renovated by Jan Bel Jan, 2016-2018 and opened in 1985.

What is the par and yardage at The Nest Golf Club — Gator Course?

The Nest Golf Club — Gator Course plays to a par of 73 over 6,930 yards from the championship tees, with a course rating of 73.7 and a slope of 130.

Is The Nest Golf Club — Gator Course public or private?

The Nest Golf Club — Gator Course is a private member club — not open to public play. Access is by membership or a member's invitation; there is no public tee sheet.

Where is The Nest Golf Club — Gator Course located?

The Nest Golf Club — Gator Course is located at 4450 Pelicans Nest Dr, Bonita Springs, FL 34134, in the Naples area of Florida.