Hibiscus Golf Club is becoming The Lantern Club

If you are looking at a home on or near Hibiscus Drive in Naples, there is something happening to the golf course behind it that is worth understanding before you write an offer.

Hibiscus Golf Club has been a daily-fee public course since 1969 — an 18-hole, par-72 David Wallace design cut from a pine forest, with a signature 203-yard par-3 17th played over water. Anyone can book a tee time. There is no membership.

That is planned to change. The site is slated to reopen as The Lantern Club, a private club with an 18-hole championship course designed by Fry Straka Global Golf Course Design, expected to be operational by late 2028. Plans include new practice facilities, a clubhouse, and six cottages.

Why we are publishing this now

We reached out to Hibiscus Golf Club directly in August 2026 as part of a project to verify membership information for every golf community in Collier and Lee County. Mike Smuniewski, PGA, the club's Director of Golf, confirmed the current public status, confirmed our information about the conversion, and cleared us to publish it. His reason is the part worth repeating:

“You do have up to date information about The Lantern Club including the correct street number, so you can publish if you want to, as I think that knowledge is affecting real estate around Hibiscus Golf Club.” Mike Smuniewski, PGA · Director of Golf, Hibiscus Golf Club · August 6, 2026

In other words: the person running golf operations at the course believes buyers and sellers nearby are already transacting with this in the background — and not everyone at the table knows it. That is precisely the kind of gap this site exists to close.

What is actually confirmed

• Hibiscus is still public today. Daily-fee, no membership, confirmed by the club in August 2026. Nothing has closed.
• The conversion is real and on. Confirmed by the club, not inferred from rumor.
• The Lantern Club is planned as private, with a Fry/Straka 18-hole course, practice facilities, a clubhouse and six cottages, targeted to be operational by late 2028.
• The addresses differ. Hibiscus Golf Club is 5375 Hibiscus Drive; The Lantern Club is listed at 5735 Hibiscus Drive. We asked whether that was a typo on our end. It is not — both are correct as published.

What is not known — and matters more

Several of the questions a buyer would most want answered simply do not have public answers yet. We would rather say that plainly than fill the gap with speculation.

• When public play ends. No closing date has been announced.
• What membership will cost. No initiation fee, dues, or membership categories have been published.
• Whether nearby homeowners get any access or priority. The homes around this course are not part of the club — there is no bundled membership here, and none has been announced. Living next to a private course does not give you the right to play it.
• Who will run it. Mr. Smuniewski told us he does not yet know whether he will be part of The Lantern Club team, so nothing here should be read as the future club's position.

What to ask before you buy nearby

A course going private changes the day-to-day experience of living beside it, in both directions. Access you may have assumed can go away; on the other hand, a private club typically means fewer daily visitors and different traffic patterns. Neither outcome is guaranteed, and anyone who tells you exactly what it will do to your home's value is guessing.

What you can do is ask better questions:

1. Am I paying for golf access I will not have? If a listing markets proximity to the course as a lifestyle benefit, ask whether that access survives the conversion. Get the answer from the club, in writing.
2. Is there any residents' arrangement at all? Ask the club directly rather than relying on a listing description or a neighbor's recollection.
3. What happens during construction? A course rebuild is a construction project next door — ask about timelines, hours and access routes.
4. Does my HOA have any relationship with the club? Read the governing documents rather than assuming; the answer here is frequently “none.”

We will update this page as the club publishes more. If you are weighing a purchase in this pocket of Naples and want the current picture — including what comparable golf-adjacent homes have actually sold for — ask us for a report. We publish what the clubs tell us, sourced and dated, whether or not it helps a sale.

Sources: Hibiscus Golf Club (Mike Smuniewski, PGA, Director of Golf), correspondence dated August 3 and August 6, 2026; club and course details as published by Hibiscus Golf Club and Fry Straka Global Golf Course Design. Figures and plans current as of August 6, 2026 and subject to change — confirm directly with the club. This page will be reviewed in February 2027. General education only — not legal, tax, financial or insurance advice, and not a prediction of property values.