Gator Trace Golf & Country Club

Gator Trace Golf & Country Club sits in Fort Pierce on Florida's Treasure Coast, designed by Arthur Hills and opened in the late 1980s as part of a residential community development. Hills, known for his work throughout Florida and the Midwest, typically emphasized strategic bunkering and natural landforms in his layouts, and Gator Trace reflects his approach to working within the state's flat terrain and wetland environments. The course routing incorporates the native landscape characteristic of this region—palmetto scrub, pine flatwoods, and wetland areas that provide both visual definition and strategic challenge. Water features appear throughout the layout, typical of South Florida golf design, where lakes and retention ponds serve dual purposes of drainage management and hazard placement. Hills shaped greens with modest undulation and positioned bunkers to reward accurate approach play while offering recovery options for mid-handicap players. As a country club facility serving a residential community, Gator Trace functions primarily as a members' course with accompanying amenities typical of Florida golf communities. The layout provides a straightforward test suitable for daily play rather than championship competition, with yardage and challenge scaled to accommodate a range of player abilities. The Fort Pierce location places it within the broader Treasure Coast golf market, an area less densely developed than corridors to the north and south but offering similar climate and playing conditions throughout the year.