A look behind the failed the pitch to create golf courses in a Florida state park — and what went wrong

Nearly a year before the state revealed its now-shelved Great Outdoors Initiative, a veterans organization met with three Treasure Coast officials to pitch building three golf courses in Jonathan Dickinson State Park.

Florida Rep. John Snyder, R-Stuart, said he thought he would never hear from Folds of Honor again after he met with the nonprofit’s representatives via Zoom in December 2023.

Snyder met with Folds of Honor founder and CEO Lt. Col. Dan Rooney and lobbyist Ryan Mathews, who was a Florida Department of Environmental Protection interim secretary under former Gov. Rick Scott.

Rooney and Mathews proposed building the courses over 1,000 acres of protected scrubland, and they asked Snyder to draft a bill that would permit such development.

“When we met, it was very exploratory — what I gauged as a temperature-taking,” Snyder told TCPalm. “I said this is not something we would be interested in, but hey, let’s keep the conversation open. We can perhaps revisit this in the future, looking at other potential land sites.”

What you missed: Catch up on all the news about Jonathan Dickinson State Park golf course proposal

Martin County Commission Chair Harold Jenkins

Two months earlier, Folds of Honor representatives had pitched their idea to Martin County Commission Chair Harold Jenkins over lunch at Casa Giuseppe’s Italian Grill on Southeast Indian Street. Jenkins said he didn’t recall the names of the representatives he met with in October 2023.

They told Jenkins they wanted to build golf courses on land with “diminished environmental value,” and that there could be better uses for Jonathan Dickinson State Park, he said. Though Jenkins doesn’t have any state legislative power to aid their proposal, they still wanted his support, he said.

“I told them, ‘You’re going to start a war,’ ” Jenkins said. “And guess what? That’s exactly what they did.”

Florida Sen. Gayle Harrell

A month earlier, Folds of Honor had approached Florida Sen. Gayle Harrell, R-Stuart. Mathews and Rooney met with Harrell and her staff in her Stuart office in September 2023.

They played a video presentation from a tablet showcasing their work building another golf course in Michigan called American Dunes Golf Club. Mathews and Rooney also asked Harrell if she would sponsor a bill that would allow similar development in Jonathan Dickinson State Park.

Though Harrell said she was impressed by Folds of Honor and their work, she was forward in her rejection.

“I told them their mission is good, but not in our state parks,” Harrell told TCPalm. “I think they should have rehabilitated an existing park or built somewhere else, but not here.”

Folds of Honor, Tuskegee Dunes Foundation

Snyder said he was surprised when he saw a Facebook post detailing Folds of Honor’s involvement in the Great Outdoors Initiative, which a now-fired DEP employee leaked to raise public awareness in mid-August.

“At the time, I was like, ‘This can’t be right,’ ” Snyder said.

Snyder said he also was surprised to hear the name Tuskegee Dunes Foundation again, which is the mysterious group tied to Mathews that took responsibility for the golf course plan.

“They presented Tuskegee Dunes as the organization and name to honor the Tuskegee Airmen, but I don’t know what happened since we spoke in September,” Snyder said. “Who knows, maybe they did create a whole new foundation.”

Although Gov. Ron DeSantis denied any knowledge of the Great Outdoors Initiative’s recreational development plans for nine Florida state parks, Rooney met with him on April 10, according to a copy of the governor’s schedule.

Folds of Honor did not leave Snyder, Harrell or Jenkins any literature that would be a public record TCPalm would be entitled to under Florida’s Sunshine Laws, officials said.

Neither Rooney nor Mathews have responded to TCPalm’s requests for comment.

Great Outdoors Initiative

After mounting public outcry over the golf course plan, Tuskegee Dunes Foundation created a website that stated, “No golf in Jonathan Dickinson State Park,” and “We have received clear feedback that Jonathan Dickinson State Park is the [sic] not the right location,” and “we did not understand the local community landscape.”

It’s unclear why, given the idea was just as controversial as a similar failed plan under Scott in 2011. A bill that died would have allowed famed pro golfer and course designer Jack Nicklaus to build courses in state parks.

Folds of Honor is associated with American Dunes Golf Club in Grand Haven, Michigan, which also has ties to Nicklaus. American Dunes was used as an example in the presentation to demonstrate the nonprofit’s abilities, remembered both Snyder and Harrell. Snyder said he can’t remember if Nicklaus’ name was mentioned during the Zoom presentation, but he recalls “a variety of potential folks that were named” as sponsors.

Photos: Jack Nicklaus’ American Dunes Golf Club benefits Folds of Honor

DeSantis, an avid golfer, also has ties to Nicklaus. DeSantis appointed Nicklaus’ son, Gary Nicklaus, to the Florida Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in 2022. DeSantis awarded Nicklaus’ wife, Barbara Nicklaus, with the Governor’s Medal of Freedom two years ago, calling her the “First Lady of Golf” in a social media post.

At a news conference in late August, DeSantis disavowed knowledge of the Great Outdoors Initiative, calling the ideas “half-baked” and “not ready for prime time.”

“They’re not going to do anything this year,” DeSantis said of DEP. “They’re going back to the drawing board. … They’re going to go back and basically listen to folks.”

Jack Lemnus is a TCPalm enterprise reporter, part of the USA Today Network. Contact him at jack.lemnus@tcpalm.com or 772-409-1345.