Wycliffe Getting Face Lift for Younger Crowd Appeal
2/19/2008

If you saw the destruction that took place recently at theWycliffe Golf and Country Club's clubhouse, you might have thought Hurricane Dean made a detour north.

But the club members are gleeful about the demolition that marks the beginning of renovation at their 25,000-square-foot clubhouse area.

The project's two biggies are the spa and the addition of a second dining area. And both mark a trend in the gated community off LakeWorth Road - residents are getting younger, said Michael Fish, president of Wycliffe Golf and Country Club.

"There are more and more young people moving into the club. They don't particularly like to get dressed up like most of the older people do," he said.

The clubhouse renovations follows a total renovation of the club's west golf course and the replanting of tees and greens on the east course. Members are spending a total of $22 million on their community.

The renovation comes just two years after the developer turned over Wycliffe's 1,045-home community to resident control.

The developer actually allowed members to create a board before turnover, Fish said. "We were able to create a long-range plan," he said.

To accommodate the new, more casual dining space they're calling the Grill Room, they tore down a cabana that held about 75 people. The Grill Room will seat nearly 300 inside and out. It will be a place where members can go for a casual bite, and it will be open long enough for golfers with later tee times to get food afterward, Fish said.

The new fitness center with be four times as large as the old one, he said. The card rooms and conference spaces also will be expanded.