Info
Key Colony Beach Golf Course
Public (Municipal) - 9 Holes Executive
460 8th Street
Key Colony Beach, Florida
Monroe County
33051
Website
Logo
Award for Best Picture
VacationRentalsFloridaKeys.com
Notes
The visionary of the Key Colony Beach Golf Course was Phil Sadowski, 1958.
There have been 3 unique layouts for the course.
January, 1959 to 1968: Key Colony Beach Golf Club - 18 holes, par 54, 1293 yds, designed by Phil Sadowski. (estimated)
Around 1968 the golf course was reduced to 9 holes. (estimated)
1968-1980: Key Colony Beach Golf Club - 9 holes, par 27, 680 yds. (estimated)
Around 1980 the golf course was renamed and redesigned by Wayne Spano. (estimated)
Since 1980: Key Colony Beach Golf Course - 9 holes, par 27, 962 yds.
Video
Course Area
Layout and Scorecard
Street View of Clubhouse
Google Maps
Bing Maps
History
In 1957, Phil Sadowski was building Key Colony Beach by hauling, pumping, channeling, building roads, and created motels, apartments, and houses. He began to build a golf course. He had spent $6,500,000 creating Key Colony Beach.
In 1958, it is reported that a 18 hole golf course is still under construction and will be completed and ready for use in January 1959.
In 1959, it is noted the the course is one of the finest par three courses in the nation and that it is a complete 18-hole course. It was reported that the whole project had to dredged, sodded, fertilized, re-sodded, scraped, planted and watered. It was reported as the Key Colony Beach Golf Course. As shown in this April 1959 picture by Johnson, the sign shows it was officially known as Key Colony Beach Golf Club:
Here is another Johnson picture from April 1959 showing the golf course:
In this aerial picture of Key Colony Beach from 1960 you can see the golf course. It is roughly in the same footprint as the current golf course.
Using a large amount of poetic license, here is an estimated layout and scorecard of the Key Colony Beach Golf Club in 1959:
On September 9, 1960, Hurricane Donna destroyed a lot of Key Colony Beach. It is reported in December that the recovery is well on its way.
In 1961, Phil Sadowski places an ad to sell the course. It is described as 18 holes, 3 par, golf course in beautiful shape.
The course is still reported as an 18-hole course up to 1965.
In 1970, it is reported as a 9 hole par 3 course.
So somewhere, between 1965 to 1970, the course's footprint changed from 18 to 9 holes. Hurricane Betsy in 1965 and Hurricane Inez in 1966 may have played a part, or maybe the land was needed for other uses.
Key Colony Beach Golf Club Inc. was incorporated on April 10, 1968.
So I will estimate that the course was reduced to 9 holes in 1968. I will also estimate that is when the City of Key Colony Beach took over ownership of the golf course.
Based on an aerial from 1970, the scorecard and layout of the Key Colony Beach Golf Club in 1968 was:
In 1971, it is reported as the New Key Colony Beach Golf Club.
It was reported that the first full year of business for Key Colony Beach Par-3 is 1974. Along the way it is also called KCB Par-3. It states the course measures 962 yards. 1974 also marks the first year the Spano family manages the course. Wayne Spano has been credited by many as the designer of the course. The company KCB Island Par 3 starts in 1974. KCB Island Par 3 leases the golf course from the City of Key Colony Beach until 2009, upon the death of Mary Spano.
Here is an aerial photo by Tom McLendon from 1977 which shows the golf course on the right side.
This picture from 1977 confirms that the 1968 layout is still in place.
It was reported that the course opened in 1980, and therefore I believe this is when the course was redesigned by Wayne Spano to its current configuration.
On April 20, 1996, a golfer records double holes-in-one on the same day on the same hole - hole 4 - at Key Colony Beach Golf Course.
