My Sit Down with Matt Doyle, Head of Golf at Tesoro Club, Home of the Cognizant Classic Monday Qualifier
The newly renovated Tesoro Club in Port St Lucie, Florida.
Editors Note: Robert Garrigus (Medalist), Chris Crawford, Jeff Overton, and Michael Gligic advanced from the Monday Qualifier at Tesoro Club on Monday, February 26.
Tesoro Club, located in Port St Lucie Florida re-opened last year after undergoing an extensive 18-month renovation to restore and refurbish its Palmer Course. Since then it has hosted the Cognizant (formerly Honda) Classic Monday Qualifier twice, both in 2023 and 2024.
For the 2024 edition I was invited out to watch some of the Monday Q and chat with Tesoro Club’s Head Golf Pro Matthew Doyle. We talked about the recent renovations, what it’s been like hosting a PGA Tour Monday Qualifier, and what the future looks like both for the golf club and the community as a whole.
Dan: You guys recently underwent a remodel.
Matthew: We started restoring the course at the end of 2020 when the new owners bought the property. We put together a cultural plan to restore the Palmer Course. In the first year we started with the greens, drainage, and bunker repair and bringing everything up to speed. Then this past summer we really focused on the fairways and created the best playing conditions that we could with our fairways and greens.
Dan: Are you still tinkering with the course or is it done?
Matthew: It’s a constant thing.
Dan: Ok, so what’s next?
Matthew: Next summer we will be addressing the rough and some more drainage in the bunkers where we’ve seen areas that we can improve. We are always trying to improve the facility and it will all be done during the summer time.
Dan: So today you have some of the top golfers in the world who are not already qualified for the Cognizant Classic but the other 364 days a year it’s a member’s community golf course. What’s been some of the feedback from the day-to-day members?
Matthew: The fabulous playing conditions, number one. Really though, the natural beauty of the course and the property really shines through every day. It’s not your typical Florida course. The first time I went around the golf course there were 9 spots where I stood and was like “Woah this is really cool.”
Dan: You often see these communities where a golf course was basically shoved into the housing development but that’s not the case here. Driving in it was about 2 miles from the entrance to the clubhouse and there are golf holes everywhere. Everything is very spread out. What has that allowed you all to do not just with the remodel but also with providing an experience for the members that’s different?
Matthew: It’s very difficult to hit a house playing at Tesoro Club. I would say it’s more difficult than any golf community in South Florida. It was laid out so you have your house and in your backyard, you have a body of water or a preserve that is probably 40-50 yards wide, and then on the other side of that is the golf hole. So the golf is in your backyard but not in your cup of coffee when you’re reading the paper. Not only is that attractive for the homebuyer but also the golfer because you get up on the hole and you see the hole and the houses are so far out you don’t get that fear of “Am I going to hit someone’s house?” So it’s really nice for both parties.
The scene from the Cognizant Monday qualifier at Tesoro Club.
Dan: What has been your favorite part of this renovation project?
Matthew: Working for the owners. They’re great guys. Also restoring the property to how it was intended to be for the homeowners, especially the ones that have been here from the beginning. To see their faces as we’ve brought back the property and improved many of the areas, to see their appreciation is my favorite thing.
Dan: This is year 2 now of hosting the Cognizant/Honda Monday Qualifier. What’s the biggest difference from last year to this year in terms of the course itself?
Matthew: The greens are rolling about 2ft faster this year. Last year we overseeded the greens and this year we did not because we had the whole summer and really had a strong cultural practice that restored our Bermuda grass and the grass is just tiger and faster on the greens so they are seeing a lot more speed on the greens.
Dan: Typically this qualifier has been held in Palm Beach County. This is year 2 of you all having it. For both you and the area, what does it mean to you to host this event?
Matthew: It’s a great badge of honor. I’m hearing it from the pros when they come in and they’re telling me how much they love the facility and how great the conditions are and it just lets everyone know that Tesoro Club is back. We are hosting this tournament not once but twice. So it not only says that we are back but that we are back on a world-class level.
Dan: A lot of attention is given to the Jupiter area but there is some great golf to be played up here if you drive 20 minutes north.
Matthew: Yeah not only is the Palmer course a great golf course but our Watson course might be even better once that is restored. It’s a fantastic layout and when we restore that golf course you are going to have two of the best layouts in the area right here inside the gates at Tesoro which is going to elevate this property to a whole new level and that’s something that I really can’t wait to do because for those that have been here from the beginning, the Watson course was the most popular of the courses.
Dan: With the transition golf has gone through these past few years post-COVID, have you seen a transition with your membership getting younger?
Matthew: Yeah, we are starting to see more families come in. We’re still growing but this community has so many amenities. There are 907 homesites and there are a little over 200 homes built. So this community is going to continue to evolve and if I were a family I’d love living in here. To be able to send my kids to school and then they can come home and play tennis or pickleball or swim at the pool or go play golf.