Gold standard

Its off-the-water setting likely kept the courses from being wrecked when Hurricane Ian came ashore just 42 miles to the north in late September with 150 mph winds. The courses received little damage outside of the uprooting of some 400 trees and rain-created flooding. 

And while the LPGA and PGA Tour events are the main attraction during their respective tournament weeks, the Gold Course gets genuine co-star billing – and deservedly so. 

Tiburon, Spanish for “shark” as a nod to Norman and the nearby waters of the Gulf, is carded at 7,382 yards and plays as  a par-72. It features revetted (stacked sod) bunkers, coquina shell waste bunkers and wide fairways of seashore paspalum turf without conventional rough on an almost dead-flat property. 

Designated as a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary by Audubon International, Tiburon is an example of Norman’s continued attempt to maximize the natural properties of the site with which he is given to work while balancing challenge and playability. 

The Gold Course can be a test but is also very fair, with its tighter holes generally playing shorter in length. There are five tees offered to facilitate all levels of golfers, and its fairways are well protected by the natural palms, pines, and olive trees lining their perimeter. Water comes into play on 13 of the holes and the bunker complexes (48 of them scattered across the track) are often sprawling and hard to avoid, both off the tee box and on the approach. 

The greens complexes can also be penal but there tends to be a bail out option on most shots. The Gold Course is neither overly long nor unduly punishing, and that playability is a hallmark of Norman’s course design work. Success here is attained with course management, execution and accuracy around the greens and with the flat stick. 

Some of the best holes at Tiburon’s Gold Course are its par-3s, which all have water in play. The longest of the quartet is the 225-yard fifth, with a wet penalty area to the left and plenty of sand to the right. The hole’s undulating putting surface is also a challenge in an offering that has a little bit of everything. 

The par-5, 578-yard 14th asks for a drive down the left side for a better chance to go for the green in two shots. From the right the approach is over a lake and three fountains. The green is large, sloped back to front, to accommodate those fairway woods and long irons that will be used on a risk/reward attempt. 

The closing hole plays at 485 yards from the tips and is likely the best two-shotter on the course. Water hugs the left side, but the landing area is wider than it looks. More water guards the green complex and its wide and rolling putting surface. It’s a hole where par is a great score and a big number is always in play – isn’t that the definition of a great finishing hole? 

The Gold Course is not an easily walkable course because of some of the distances from green to tee. But that’s okay for a big-shouldered track that’s played by resort guests for the majority of its rounds. If you are in Naples, Tiburon Golf Club and the Ritz-Carlton should be on your short list of stops for golf and fun.