New $100 Million Golf Course to Anchor Sprawling New Gated Community Just Outside Fort Worth — Kelly Ranch Takes Shape

UPDATE: On January 18, 2024, Escalante Golf announced it had officially parted ways with the Kelly Ranch development project in Aledo.

“Kelly Ranch is an amazing piece of property, and we are disappointed that we won’t be able to contribute to its development in bringing a best-in-class golf and residential product to the Parker County and Fort Worth communities,” says David McDonald, president of Escalante Golf in a statement. “While we were unable to find common ground on the project’s direction, we wish Ryan Voorhees and his team every success in realizing the vision for Kelly Ranch.”

In recent years, tales of a future PGA golf course to be located just outside the Fort Worth city limits (off 377 at Kelly Road) in Aledo have had golf fans drooling. It was to be called Avanzada and to be designed by golf course architect Jim Lipe in consultation with former TCU and PGA Tour player J.J. Henry. Now, those plans have changed somewhat along with new ownership and a new branding of the golf course development. While there are no plans for this new project to be an official PGA course now, the new $100 million Kelly Ranch Golf Club still should be a golfing mecca in North Texas.

Fort Worth-based Escalante Golf picked up the bag on this massive 240 acre, $100 million project in September, with plans to see it safely to the 18th hole. Both Black Hawk Country Club (formerly Houstonian Golf & Country Club) and Golf Club of Houston (formerly Redstone Golf Club) are among Escalante’s Texas holdings. Overall, Escalante Golf boasts 22 golf courses and clubs throughout 13 states, ranging from Massachusetts to California.

Kelly Ranch Golf Club will be its most noteworthy golf course project to date. The course itself is retaining some real designer razzle dazzle. It now will be designed by renowned golf course architect Tripp Davis And Associates, headquarters in Norman, Oklahoma. Its ambitious completion schedule calls for it to be open in the spring of 2025.

“Kelly Ranch Golf Club will feature a playable 18-hole championship course staggered throughout rugged rolling hills with 200-foot elevation changes, reminiscent of the Texas Hill Country,” a release teases. “Framed by unique stands of Live Oaks and indigenous Cedar Elm trees, and playing over and around creeks running through the naturalized terrain, the course will preserve the land’s existing wildlife, water, and environment.”

Kelly Ranch is being set up to be a pure golfer’s paradise.

“It is being designed for the golf purist,” Escalante EVP of Clubs & Resorts Jeff Kindred says. “It will be a golf-only environment free of distractions often found at traditional country clubs. When at the golf clubhouse, members will never hear noise from a pickleball court, tennis court, swimming pool, or a social event.

“Kelly Ranch Golf Club will truly be an oasis of sorts, offering golfers challenging play in a serene and natural awe-inspiring setting unlike any other club in the region.”

Kelly Ranch Golf Course Details

― Davis’ design will employ his signature scalloped-edge bunker design, seamlessly integrating with the existing undulating topography and leveraging varying wind conditions.

― On the 7,600-yard course, greens will average 6,000 square feet and golfers will have the option to play from five sets of tees and combo tees.

― TifEagle Bermuda grass has been selected for the greens’ surfaces, while the balance of the course will be sand capped and grassed wall-to-wall with Stadium Zoysia.

― A 26-acre, state-of-the-art golf practice facility will feature a spacious 400-yard driving range, a short game area with practice bunkers and chipping and putting greens and a short course.

― The clubhouse will come complete with a golf shop, restaurant, bar and outdoor terrace with elevated views of the course and surrounding rolling terrain.

— A limited number of Founder Memberships for Kelly Ranch Golf Club have been released, and two other membership types will soon be available, including Resident Golf Memberships and Invitational Golf Memberships.

Of course, Kelly Ranch Golf Club is just one of the major perks being added to the 2,400 acre master-planned community known as Kelly Ranch. The community is currently being developed by Ryan Voorhees of Kelly Ranch Estates LLC. It will incorporate some 1.5 miles of frontage along Highway 377. The development plan includes:

―  A new elementary school, zoned within Aledo Independent School District.

―  2,500 new custom homes priced from the mid $700,000s to more than $10 million for full estates, which will be built across three luxury gated residential communities – Rio Vista, La Dorada and Kelly Ranch.

― The Shops at Kelly Ranch will bring a new 65-acre high-end shopping and dining destination all its own.

―  A 50 acre commercial development will bring new office space as well as medical and health care facilities.

―  An athletics and wellness club, which is also being developed by Escalante Golf. It will feature high-performance fitness, aquatics and court sports offerings.

Kelly Ranch Golf Club and Kelly Ranch Estates will add a luxe new address to Tarrant County in the coming years.