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The History Of Hawk's Nest
The property known today as Hawk’s Nest Golf Club is the result of a purchase of 200 acres in the north part of Indian River County, Vero Beach, Florida by private investors. One of the original investors is current Hawk’s Nest member Sam Bell. The attraction to the site was the natural sand dunes and the variations in elevations. Golf Course Architect Jim Fazio was commissioned to design a golf course that would fit the “natural look” of the land with tall pine and oak trees abundant on the property. Memberships were offered as early as 1986 prior to the golf course opening in October of 1987. As the land was being surveyed and holes mapped out, one of the founding owners noticed a hawk above flying in a familiar circular pattern. The observation was made of the hawk approaching its nest…thus the name Hawk’s Nest.
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Jay R. Rhoads, Jr.
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In 1989, the Club was purchased by Hawk’s Nest members Jay and Nancy Rhoads.
The beautiful “Cape Cod Style” clubhouse was built and opened in January of 1990. In 1993, Jay and Nancy Rhoads donated the entire property known as Hawk’s Nest to the membership. Hawk’s Nest began operations as an equity member owned golf club beginning September 1, 1993. As a result of this “gift”, Hawk’s Nest has conducted business since then with Operating and Capital budgets….and minimum debt service. The membership of Hawk’s Nest has honored the contributions of Jay and Nancy Rhoads by commissioning an oil painting of Jay located in the foyer of the clubhouse (notice the scorecard in his hand). In addition, the Board of Governors has named the most prestigious member-guest event after them: Men's Jay & Nancy Rhoads Invitational.
Jay remains a member of Hawk’s Nest today.
The layout of the golf course is the same today. Rated in the Top 30 Golf Courses in Florida, the greens were converted from “push-up” greens to U.S.G.A. specification greens in 1996. In 2000, holes #3 and #8 were re-routed to provide improved playability of both holes including building a large lake on #8. The fairway on hole #3 was raised 6 feet to give golfers an early look at the rolling terrain of the golf course and to separate its previous association with Hole #8. Plans for the future include the regrassing of the entire golf course beginning April of 2006. The greens will be sprigged with TifEagle Bermuda grass with the fairways, roughs and tees sprigged with 419 Bermuda grass.
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