When you’re a major year-round resort, there’s never a good time to shut down your main tournament course for renovations and restoration. Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort in Destin, Fla., is planning to do just that with The Raven Golf Club for the first nine months of 2027.
In part, the work reflects the normal wear and tear associated with a 26-year-old course. But the restoration of The Raven also sheds light on Sandestin’s ambitious plans to bring professional golf back to Northwest Florida.
The Raven previously hosted the PGA Tour Champions and the Korn Ferry Tour, and Rick Hileman, executive director of golf at Sandestin, views the course enhancements as a first step toward landing a professional men’s or women’s tournament.
“We are a perfect
fit and a perfect location for a pro tour,” Hileman said. “We have a 2,400-acre resort with a multiple array of accommodations. We go from the beach to the bay. You have four great golf courses, tennis, shopping, dining. It’s somewhere a family can come, watch some great golf, then have plenty to do in the evenings or when they’re not watching golf.”
In a sign of how seriously Sandestin is taking this project, the resort has called in the original design firm, Robert Trent Jones II Golf Course Architects, to oversee the restoration. The firm’s president and Robert Trent Jones Jr.’s longtime right-hand man, Bruce Charlton, is spearheading the restoration.
“At the end of the day, Bruce and his team are coming in to modernize the infrastructure of the golf course, but the look and the feel that golfers remember from The Raven will remain the same,” Hileman said. “It’s still going to have its signature winding through pine trees and wetland areas. The way the golf course plays will be very similar, but we’ll have new greens, new bunkers with modern drainage, and an irrigation system that’s up to par. But what people remember most about The Raven will still be here when they come back.”
The Raven is a 6,900-yard, par-71 layout and Hileman sees the potential to extend the course north of 7,200 yards with new tournament tees on a half-dozen holes. That could include a new back tee on the most-famous hole on property, the par-3 sixth with its island green. That hole currently tips out at 203 yards.
The biggest design change will be to the par-3 16th, which actually has been two par 3s – 16A and 16B – which have been used on alternate days. Hileman envisions taking that corridor and creating one big-boy par 3 around 250 yards. That would get pros’ attention late on a Sunday afternoon.
Another significant design change will come at No. 2, where the green on the 460-yard dogleg-left par 4 will be moved back roughly 30 yards.
Hileman said the design work will entail a 30-percent decrease in bunkering on the course.
“We just have a lot of bunkers, and a lot of big bunkers, that were very common in the late 1990s and early 2000s in golf course architecture,” Hileman said. “There were a lot of flashing bunkers, a lot of visual bunkers that were not necessary to how the hole was played. So we have a lot of bunkers that are nothing more than aesthetic. It’s bunkers like that that we’re going to eliminate and make some adjustments to greenside and fairway bunkers to make them more strategic.”
In addition, a new 6,500-square-foot clubhouse, complete with a restaurant, bar and event space, is expected to be open at The Raven in 2027.
This is all part of bigger changes coming to Sandestin.
The resort will be closing The Raven’s existing practice facility and building 22 estate-size lots ranging from .33 acres to .49 acres, according to Glen Stegemann, managing director of The Agency of Northwest Florida Beaches. Stegemann expects those lots to start in the mid-$800,000s. A new practice facility at The Raven is planned for 2028.
Stegemann said Sandestin also has plans for a condominium tower called The Cascade at Sandestin. The Cascade will feature three-, four-, and five-bedroom residences ranging from 2,185 to 5,005 square feet. Those residences will be released for sale later this year, with construction estimated to begin in 2027 and expected to be completed in 24 to 30 months.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Sandestin begins restoration of The Raven with eye toward bringing pro golf back to the resort
