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Boca Raton City Council wants more information before approving Boca National Golf Course design

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Posted at 4:14 PM, Jul 24, 2019
and last updated 2019-07-24 20:04:21-04

BOCA RATON, Fla. — Construction on a new public golf course in Boca Raton won't start anytime soon.

The Greater Boca Raton Beach and Parks District has been working to redevelop the old Ocean Breeze Golf Course.

The district chose pro golfers Nick Price and Tom Fazio to design the new Boca National Golf Course.

Back in February, WPTV showed their plans for the 250-acre course.

The Price/Fazio construction will cost $28 million and the district has asked the city to help pay for the construction.

City Council said on Tuesday that $28 million is too much and asked city staff to put out a request for information to seek cheaper golf course designs.

"I know there is a very anxious and active east Boca population that is waiting for the opening of the golf course," said PGA teaching pro Rick Heard.

Heard teaches at Osprey Park in west Boca Raton and said he was excited to hear about a new public course in east Boca.

"When I saw the Price/Fazio design, I really thought it was a perfect answer," said Heard.

The district wanted to break ground on Boca National this Fall, but Heard said it doesn’t look like that will happen anytime soon.

"It is frustrating to think we might be starting over after two years of progress," Heard said.

Boca Raton City Council will meet at the end of August to go over the responses for the request for information.

The Beach and Parks district will meet on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. to discuss their mileage rate and the golf course. They would raise their mileage by 30 percent, which would be an increase of about $84 per household.