"Nearly all golf course infrastructure components are past their useful life cycle and require upgrading/replacing." The National Golf Foundation wrote that sentence in a December 2024 evaluation of the Miami Shores Country Club. The Village quotes it in its own FY27 Adopted Budget, next to a second finding: the clubhouse "has not undergone any major renovations in over 60 years."
That is the course Miami Shores now runs itself. Robert F. "Red" Lawrence and Louis Wilson planned it, and it opened in the fall of 1939, according to the club's own history. This fall it is 87 years old, and for the first time in more than three decades, the Village is the one making the calls about it. The new dues, the new tennis management model and the restarted design process all follow from that change.
A 30-year lease became a management contract
For over 30 years, Miami Shores leased the club to Professional Course Management. Under that deal the Village collected rent and the operator ran everything. The budget describes the trade-off plainly: a lease lets an owner offload "operational responsibility" in exchange for steady income.
When PCM said it would stop operating the club, the Village didn't sign another lease. The May 19, 2026 Council agenda extended PCM through May 31, ended its agreement, and set June 1 as the latest start date for KemperSports Management. Kemper is now paid a fixed management fee to run day-to-day operations. The Village keeps control of branding, policy and strategic direction and shares in both the operating risk and any upside.
The budget treats the club as a new Enterprise Fund and projects about $1,426,017 in net income for FY27. It sets that figure against what the Village took in under the old lease, calling it roughly 70% of the total income it realized in the COVID and post-COVID years. The budget also labels the projection as "yet to be realized."
The 2026–27 price list is now Village policy
New membership categories and rates took effect October 1, the start of a membership year that runs through September 30. The October Village newsletter announced them with a note from the Village and KemperSports thanking members for their "patience, support, and feedback during this transition."
The published schedule sets resident and non-resident annual dues side by side:
| Membership |
Miami Shores resident |
Non-resident |
Tee time window |
| Single Golf |
$3,000 |
$4,500 |
10 days |
| Single Golf Weekday |
$2,700 |
$3,400 |
10 days |
| Family Golf |
$4,200 |
$6,000 |
10 days |
| Executive Golf, under 60 |
$2,000 |
$3,000 |
7 days |
| Junior Golf, under 18 |
$1,100 |
$1,700 |
7 days |
| Seasonal Golf, six months |
Not offered |
$3,600 |
10 days |
| Corporate Golf, four transferable passes |
Not offered |
$18,000 |
10 days |
On a Single Golf membership, a resident pays $1,500 less than a non-resident. On Family Golf the gap is $1,800. The Family category covers two adults and any children under 21 living in the same household. Every tier comes with a 10% discount on food, drinks and retail. Most tiers add a $35 golf fee per round, and Executive members pay $59. Single, Weekday, Family, Junior and Corporate memberships include bag storage, a locker and GHIN handicap fees. All prices are subject to an additional 7% sales tax.
The Executive tier is the cheapest adult option at $2,000, but it trades away storage, the locker and GHIN, and it books three days later than a Single member. Junior golfers under 12 must play with an adult.
Non-members can still play. The club's booking policies let guests reserve online up to five days ahead for groups of up to eight, with no booking fee on web reservations. A member books ten days out, so on a busy Saturday morning a member's tee time can be locked in five days before a guest can try.
Tennis is moving to the same model
The tennis center is following the same logic. Under the old arrangement, PCM privately subcontracted the courts to Professional Tennis Management, LLC. When PCM's agreement ended, the Village replaced that lease-based setup with a management-fee structure overseen by Village staff and issued a Request for Proposals for program management and court maintenance.
Village Manager Esmond Scott recommended awarding the operation to Miami Shores Tennis Management LLC, directed by tennis professional Liburd Germain. The September Village newsletter introduced the change as "a new chapter for tennis in Miami Shores."
The Miami Shores Tennis site currently lists a $600 yearly Single Resident membership. A Non-Resident Family membership is listed at $1,475 a year. For a resident, a full year on the courts costs one-fifth of a Single Golf membership. Pickleball is part of the program too. The Early Bird Pickleball Open Play social runs 9 to 11 a.m. for $10, and the next listed session is this Sunday, November 1.
The clubhouse is open while its future is debated
The bar and restaurant page lists food service daily from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and until 9 p.m. on Fridays, with a Summer 2026 menu posted. The club is also taking reservations for a Thanksgiving buffet on Thursday, November 26, by phone at 305-795-2360 ext. 112. The October newsletter gives the booking line but no seating times.
A Friday dinner here takes place in a building the Village's own consultant describes as "displaying evidence of significant degradation." The NGF benchmarks a building's average life cycle at 40 years.
Thirty years of light investment, and the design process starts over
The budget is blunt about where the backlog came from. "In the past 30 years, the Village has not invested in the club's infrastructure," it reads. PCM's contract required "a mere $100K" a year in capital improvements during its COVID and post-COVID years.
Under a lease, much of that problem sat with the operator. Under a management agreement, it is the Village's to solve, and the process is happening in public. Citizen Portal's coverage of a September Council meeting reported that residents and Country Club Advisory Board members described failed irrigation, drainage problems, bare greens and deteriorating facilities, and urged the Council to move faster on financing and bring in bond counsel.
At that meeting the Council rejected an evaluation committee's rankings of design firms and voted to reissue two separate requests for qualifications, one for golf course architecture and one for the clubhouse. According to Citizen Portal's account, the Village Manager cited the switch to KemperSports and new project information as reasons to restart. No design firm is under contract for either project yet.
Funding is an open question as well. The budget says the Village needs bond advice for the club and leaves the where, when and how of financing to future work.
At the October 19 Council meeting, members flagged the overdue maintenance backlog and pushed for clearer communication with Kemper. Citizen Portal reported that one council member said the Village is now "running a golf enterprise" and warned that a serious renovation would likely require closing the course rather than working in phases: "You can't do 0.5 the golf course." Members also asked staff to set up a special meeting with Kemper, the Village Manager and residents, Citizen Portal reported separately.
A joint session of the Council and the Country Club Advisory Board with KemperSports was set for October 26 at 6 p.m. at the club itself, to discuss current management of the club and golf operation. It appeared on the Village calendar.
The dates on the club calendar
- Sunday, November 1, 9 to 11 a.m. Early Bird Pickleball Open Play, $10.
- Thursday, November 26. Thanksgiving buffet at the clubhouse, by reservation only.
- Through September 30, 2027. The current golf membership year. Seasonal memberships run six months from activation and end no later than that date.
- Still ahead. The reissued design solicitations for the course and clubhouse, the financing plan, and any decision about closing the course for construction.
Until those items are settled, a 2026–27 membership pays for a full season on an 87-year-old layout. The season runs under an operator that started in June, and the clubhouse that hosts the post-round lunch is the one the Village's own budget describes as in need of investment.
If you're looking at a home near the fairways, or you own one and want a clear read on how the club's next phase could affect it, CASA Collection Group tracks these Council decisions closely. Schedule a free consultation.
