StoneyBrook Golf in Bradenton: Hills Design, New Look

The course at 8000 Stone Harbour Loop has gone through more changes in the last few years than most Florida tracks see in a generation. Arthur Hills opened it in 2001 as Stoneybrook Golf Club at Heritage Harbour, and the design earned a loyal following with Bradenton locals and snowbirds before the 2008 downturn started taking a toll on conditioning. New ownership stepped in around 2018, the name shifted to Heritage Harbour Golf Club, and a full renovation in 2022 turned the course over to architect Nick Campanelli of MDLA. The reopening in January 2023 kicked off the next chapter for the property as a destination golf resort in Manatee County.

Arthur Hills bones, Campanelli rework

Hills built more than 200 courses across the country and earned a reputation for layouts that ask you to think before you swing. Stoneybrook fits that mold. The routing weaves through 165 acres of ponds, wetlands, and wooded preserves, and the original holes used water and angles to push players into committing to a side of the fairway. After Hills passed away in May 2021, the rebuild went to Campanelli, a Penn State graduate, MDLA partner, and the winner of Golf Digest's 2010 Armchair Architect contest who spent a four-week internship with Pete Dye in French Lick as part of the prize.

The renovation was not a teardown. Most of the routing remains, but Campanelli pulled the old first and second holes to make room for the lodge and villa development. The former eleventh became two holes (the new third and fourth), and the old eighth flipped direction to form the new eleventh and twelfth. New greens were built at three, eleven, and twelve, with the fourth and sixth greens redesigned. Bunkers were rebuilt across the property, and crushed shell waste areas replaced fairway hazards on at least ten holes, which cuts maintenance time and gives the course a coastal Florida texture you do not see on every track in Manatee County.

What changed around the greens

The biggest playing change is what happens when you miss. Greenside bunkers are fewer and generally smaller, and Campanelli added collection areas around almost every green complex. Miss the surface and you are usually putting from short grass or playing a chip-and-run instead of splashing out of sand. The eighth, a par 3 that played as the fifteenth in the Hills routing, is the clearest example. Six bunkers used to wrap the entire front and left side of the green. Campanelli left one bunker on each side, opened up the front and right with a generous collection area, and added a back tee that forces the long hitter to carry the full pond. New TifEagle and TifGrand grass on the greens and collars has the putting surfaces rolling smoother and faster than they have in years.

The numbers

Stoneybrook is a 72-par layout with five primary tee options plus combo sets for in-between players. The Blue tees stretch to 6,497 yards with a 72.8 course rating and 137 slope, the strongest test on the card. White is the everyday choice at 6,015 yards, 70.5 rating, 125 slope. The Silver moves up to 5,757 yards (69.2/120), Gold plays at 5,303 yards, and the forward Green and Yellow tees come down to 4,860 and 4,467 yards. Walking is allowed, which is rare enough on a Florida resort property to be worth flagging on your tee sheet.

Practice and amenities

Campanelli also rebuilt the practice complex. The driving range and main putting green were both expanded and regrassed, and the short-game area now has a larger green, multiple chipping zones, and a fresh greenside bunker. The old eighth green sits behind the practice tee as a private-instruction surface. The clubhouse keeps a stocked pro shop and an active bar and grill that runs lunch service every day with happy hour from 4 to 6, plus Wednesday cornhole nights and Thursday burger specials. The aqua range, two putting greens, and short-game zone round out the warmup options.

Worth a tee time

The combination of a smart Arthur Hills routing and a careful Campanelli refresh has put Stoneybrook back in the conversation for a Bradenton golf trip. Campanelli's first solo eighteen-hole project leans toward fun without giving up the strategic teeth Hills built into the original. With a 137 slope from the tips, smaller waste areas instead of sprawling sand, and short-grass collection zones surrounding the greens, the course rewards thinking your way around as much as bombing it. View the full StoneyBrook Golf scorecard on Stymie to see hole-by-hole yardages, handicaps, and ratings before you book.