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DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — A sense of place is a precious commodity at resorts.
Sprawling, self-contained retreats have their appeal, but they often feel like they exist in usually pleasant but somewhat generic locales. “You’ll never have to leave the resort” might be alright for a couple of days, but it can also stir visions of The Eagles’ “Hotel California.”
Places like The Seagate, by contrast, exceed expectations by bringing their guests up close and personal with their surrounds. In this case, it’s Delray Beach, a jewel of an oceanside town south of West Palm Beach. The combination of a lovely hotel just a couple of blocks from both downtown shopping and the Atlantic, a gorgeous dedicated beach club nearby and, 15 minutes away, a solid private golf club with a thoughtfully renovated course that eagerly welcomes overnight guests makes for a high-quality weekend trip for golfers and their families.
Golf at The Seagate
In its original state, The Seagate was one of seemingly dozens of solid if unremarkable South Florida golf courses. It was laid out in 1973 by Joe Lee, a prolific architect who learned under Dick Wilson and about whom Jack Nicklaus is known to have said, “Joe Lee has never designed a bad golf course.” In other words, Lee sprinkled functional but ultimately formulaic golf across the state: mid-level courses with large greens and relatively perfunctory bunkering schemes. His courses tend to have good bones, which has made them willing canvases for modernization.
With his renovation work throughout 2023, contemporary architect Drew Rogers took Seagate’s good bones and fleshed them out creatively. Like many other architects who have reimagined run-of-the-mill midcentury Florida golf courses into something more dynamic in recent years, Rogers played with bunkering schemes and green contours in a way that adds much-needed variety to the playing experience. Seagate’s corridors skew toward the narrow side, so Rogers used large fairway bunkers to subtly direct traffic away from boundaries in order to make many holes appear at least slightly roomier than they might have previously.
On and around the greens, Rogers mixed convex and concave features in ways that make most holes play differently one day to the next for members and intrigue one-round guests as well. When water intrudes, it is mostly on the par 3s, where players can all start from flat lies and clean states. Highlight holes include the par-4 7th with its attractively staggered bunkers and the 18th, a superb finishing par 5 where more well-placed and well-shaped bunkers funnel play into a fun green complex.
Hotel guest green fee: $300
SEAGATE GOLF CLUB
— Tim Gavrich (@TimGavrich) April 8, 2025
Delray Beach, Fla.
Joe Lee, 1973
Drew Rogers, 2024
$300
#670
Another solid mid-mod update, with tight corridors mostly mitigated by the positioning of the large bunkers. Some fun early concave greens give way to mellower, mostly convex complexes later on. pic.twitter.com/et0fWnxYs4
Lodging and other activities at The Seagate
I would classify The Seagate more as a resort with golf than a golf resort per se. It’s more geared towards family time than a traditional buddies trip because of the setup of the main resort, which consists of a 157-room hotel just four blocks from the beach, and a dedicated beach club less than a mile away (shuttles run between them) at which sun worshipers can easily spend all day, bopping between the beach, a bustling pool complex and scenic Mr. Seas restaurant.
If The Seagate has a secret weapon, though, it occupies about a third of the lobby level of the hotel. That space is home to the newest outpost of chef Michael Mina's Bourbon Steak restaurants. An arrival-evening dinner there wowed me, and as great as the food was (black truffle agnolotti, lobster pot pie and, good lord, the Delmonico ribeye!), what will make the meal stand out a long time in my memory was the warm and welcoming staff, who were tremendously gracious and accommodating to my wife and our sweet and high-energy 3-year-old in addition to myself.
Final notes on The Seagate:
- Poolgoers will love The Seagate. The beach club's pool goes from quiet in the morning to more of a party atmosphere in the afternoon, while the skinny, shady pool complex beside the hotel stays quiet, seemingly hidden in plain sight, with cabanas where a family can spread out and lounge for hours.
- As mentioned at the top of this review, The Seagate's location is a massive advantage. It sits in the heart of one of South Florida's best towns: Delray Beach. Atlantic Avenue, Delray's downtown district, is less than a 10-minute walk east of the hotel, and the beach is a similar distance west. Wandering down the street for breakfast or brunch and mixing in a dinner in town along with the worthy splurge of Bourbon Steak is the best way to live it up while staying here.
- Seagate staff are unfailingly friendly and helpful. The shuttles that run between the hotel and beach club are prompt and plentiful.
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