The Wanderers Club | Wanderers Golf Course
The Wanderers Club, previously named Wellington Golf & Country Club, is a Private, 18 hole golf course located in Wellington, Florida.
The course first opened in 1985. The course architect was Ted McAnlis. The course was redesigned in 2007 by Peter Jacobsen and Jim Hardy.
The Wanderers Course is a traditional Florida course built on basically flat terrain with some mounding thrown in for good measure. Some of the fairways are tree-lined, and there are several water hazards and sand bunkers incorporated into its design. The average-sized greens are slightly sloped and medium speed.
Black tees: par-72, 7052 yards, 74.0 / 134
Blue tees: par-72, 6585 yards, 71.8 / 131
Green tees: par-72, 6129 yards, 69.8 / 126(M), 75.8 / 135(W)
Gold tees: par-72, 5517 yards, 66.5 / 120(M), 71.8 / 128(W)
Gray tees: par-72, 4739 yards, 67.0 / 120
The article below was published January 2016 in myPalmBeachPost
Developer Mark Bellissimo is snapping up more property in Wellington, this time a golf course owned by imprisoned polo mogul John Goodman.
Bellissimo bought the Wanderers Club on Aero Club Drive for $6,865,000, according to Palm Beach County Clerk property records. Goodman paid $9 million for the property in 2005 and put millions into improvements.
The purchase gives Bellissimo more property near the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center. The Wanderers Club is an 18-hole golf course that also has tennis, fitness, and restaurants.
“The Wanderers Club is a special facility and property in Wellington,” Bellissimo said in a news release.
He plans to run shuttles from the equestrian venue to Wanderers, located on Aero Club Drive, to increase the reach of his budding equestrian empire.
Bellissimo plans to keep the club largely untouched and continue with the services that it currently offers. He also wants to meet with the members next week.
Meanwhile, the sale represents a significant financial loss for the private trust affiliated with Goodman, who owned the Wanderers Club and still has control of the International Polo Club.
After the initial $9 million purchase of the then Wellington Golf & Country Club, Goodman invested millions into upgrades. He re-branded the property as the Wanderers Club in 2007, which was named after the first U.S. Open Polo champion.
The idea was to add polo to the club to marry the two interests and attract some equestrians into the golf world.
Goodman is in prison after being twice convicted and sentenced to 16 years after the 2010 DUI manslaughter death of Scott Patrick Wilson.
The property also features a second golf course that was not part of the sale to Bellissimo.
Wellington’s village council tussled with the idea of buying the 18-hole executive course in 2014 before balking at the $1 million final offer. The council offered $700,000, which was the number of the lowest appraisal of the course. It planned to turn the land into additional park space for the village.
The Wanderers Club is just another property for Bellissimo, who also owns the 59-acre Equestrian Village, site of the Global Dressage Festival.
The Boston native, who moved to Wellington 10 years ago, has also gobbled up equestrian property in other states.
He announced plans in 2014 to develop a $100 million equestrian event center and luxury resort in Tryon, N.C. The 148-acre Colorado Horse Park is the largest equestrian venue in the western United States.