WUFT | News and public media for north central Florida
Alachua County approves land use, zoning change for planned UF golf course
By Rose Schnabel
June 9, 2026 at 6:42 PM EDT
A 36-hole golf course for Gator teams is poised to come to Alachua County following a unanimous vote from county commissioners. The board approved a land use amendment and zoning change for the 580-acre property on Tuesday, the latest in a multi-year process.
England-Thims & Miller, the project’s engineering and planning consultant, will host workshops on the preliminary development plan this summer and will return to board for approval in the fall.
The proposed golf course would sit west of Haile Plantation and south of Tioga, along Parker Road. In addition to the greens themselves, the course will include up to 30 cottages for overnight guests and up to 145,000 square feet of team amenities, clubhouses and maintenance facilities.
Plans for the course began in 2020. Last year, the Lee family donated the 580-acre parcel to the University of Florida when UF bought 2,600 acres of the family’s land across the road. UF spent $37 million of state funds on the purchase, which the Florida Auditor General found violated state law by not obtaining at least two appraisals. It plans to conserve much of that land and use it as a living laboratory for UF/IFAS staff and students.
Parts of the property are within a county-designated “strategic ecosystem” because of their environmental value and sensitivity. Previous environmental studies have documented gopher tortoises and Florida Sandhill Cranes, both threatened, onsite.
Some Alachua County residents worry about the project’s environmental impacts, particularly on water quality and quantity.
“This feels like short-term institutional expansion at the expense of long-term community and environmental health,” a Haile Plantation resident, Nicole Quitco, wrote to the board ahead of Tuesday’s meeting.
Stacie Greco, the county’s water resources program manager, said the project includes “a robust monitoring plan,” including quarterly monitoring for nutrients, pesticides and other contaminants the first three years and every following third year.
“ If we're seeing concerns with that monitoring data then the practices of managing the golf course will have to be reevaluated with the county and with the golf course manager,” she said.
The golf area could use up to an average of 1.34 million gallons of water per day, according to landscape management plans. Lined ponds will collect stormwater throughout the course and store treated wastewater piped in from GRU, said Tyler Matthews, CEO of the England-Thims & Miller.
“ It's our goal that between stormwater and reuse, that that is totally satisfying the irrigation needs,” he said. The site would use potable water only if the reclaimed water system fails or has too many nutrients.
“ I just want to thank UF,” said Alachua County Commission Chair Ken Cornell, noting the university sought the county’s collaboration without a requirement to do so. “You chose to do that and we have been able to, working with our staff, establish some best management practices.”
England-Thims & Miller, the project’s engineering and planning consultant, will host workshops on the preliminary development plan this summer and will return to board for approval in the fall.
The proposed golf course would sit west of Haile Plantation and south of Tioga, along Parker Road. In addition to the greens themselves, the course will include up to 30 cottages for overnight guests and up to 145,000 square feet of team amenities, clubhouses and maintenance facilities.
Plans for the course began in 2020. Last year, the Lee family donated the 580-acre parcel to the University of Florida when UF bought 2,600 acres of the family’s land across the road. UF spent $37 million of state funds on the purchase, which the Florida Auditor General found violated state law by not obtaining at least two appraisals. It plans to conserve much of that land and use it as a living laboratory for UF/IFAS staff and students.
Parts of the property are within a county-designated “strategic ecosystem” because of their environmental value and sensitivity. Previous environmental studies have documented gopher tortoises and Florida Sandhill Cranes, both threatened, onsite.
Some Alachua County residents worry about the project’s environmental impacts, particularly on water quality and quantity.
“This feels like short-term institutional expansion at the expense of long-term community and environmental health,” a Haile Plantation resident, Nicole Quitco, wrote to the board ahead of Tuesday’s meeting.
Stacie Greco, the county’s water resources program manager, said the project includes “a robust monitoring plan,” including quarterly monitoring for nutrients, pesticides and other contaminants the first three years and every following third year.
“ If we're seeing concerns with that monitoring data then the practices of managing the golf course will have to be reevaluated with the county and with the golf course manager,” she said.
The golf area could use up to an average of 1.34 million gallons of water per day, according to landscape management plans. Lined ponds will collect stormwater throughout the course and store treated wastewater piped in from GRU, said Tyler Matthews, CEO of the England-Thims & Miller.
“ It's our goal that between stormwater and reuse, that that is totally satisfying the irrigation needs,” he said. The site would use potable water only if the reclaimed water system fails or has too many nutrients.
“ I just want to thank UF,” said Alachua County Commission Chair Ken Cornell, noting the university sought the county’s collaboration without a requirement to do so. “You chose to do that and we have been able to, working with our staff, establish some best management practices.”