Florida turf pro Batson is Soleta GC’s first director of grounds

Soleta Golf Club, the new luxury golf and lifestyle community in the Sarasota, Bradenton, and Lakewood Ranch markets, has hired Clay Batson as director of grounds.

Batson, who has extensive agronomic and horticultural experience with a focus on golf course and residential environmental management, has provided peak golf course conditions at top Florida clubs, most recently The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club and Spa in Jupiter. Batson has also helmed maintenance at Trump National Golf Club, Jupiter, the Ritz-Carlton Members Club, Bradenton, and The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Grand Cayman.

“Soleta Golf Club welcomes Clay to the team as director of grounds,” managing partner Charles Duff said. “He has many years of experience at prominent golf clubs and has earned a well-deserved reputation as a meticulous professional with extensive agronomic knowledge. Clay will ensure that the new Nick Price course and residential grounds at Soleta will be known for superb and pristine conditions.”

The 500-acre site features two scenic miles of the Myakka River, freshwater marshes, stands of mossy oaks, towering pines and native vegetation. The course is expected to be ready for play in late 2024. The course’s name comes from the term used by indigenous Native Americans from the area for sandhill cranes.

Batson has been recognized with the 2016 Marriott Golf Property of the Year at Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman; the 2019 Marriott Golf Superintendent of the Year at Ritz-Carlton Members Club, Bradenton; and the 2021 Marriott Golf Property of the Year at Ritz-Carlton Members Club, Bradenton.

Batson was a scholarship golfer at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Georgia, before transferring to the University of Georgia, where he earned his degree in turfgrass management. 

Off the course, Batson is a passionate bass fishing competitor, competing in almost 90 events over the last couple decades and winning a Major League Fishing Bass Fishing League competition in March 2020. Batson lives in Bradenton with his wife and two sons.

“I’m just a very competitive person by nature,” Batson said earlier this year. “I like to win at anything I do. I take that same mentality every day I come to the office — we want to try to improve every day and be the best we can be.”