ISLX MAGAZINE_FALL2026 | Page 48

The resort currently has 630 rooms and suites and sells residential units ranging from studios to four-bedroom units starting around $ 600,000.

Even before the first golfer teed off at Black Desert, Manning had miraculously secured a PGA tournament at the Tom Weiskopf-designed championship course. Manning recalls taking a PGA official on a course tour before the grass was fully installed and a single round had been played. By the end of the walk, he had a handshake deal.

“ He told me,‘ Patrick, there are spectacular golf courses on the PGA tour, and there are epic holes. But nothing is going to pop on international television like this will,’” Manning proudly recalls.“ From phone call to contract execution, it was their fastest deal.”

The tournament takes place every October. The rest of the year, the course is open for public play.“ I wanted this to be a golf destination,” Manning explains.“ But I also want people to come here for the wellness.”

To date, the resort has nine dedicated wellness suites. These rooms cater to wellness-minded guests with inroom amenities such as circadian lighting, CBD-infused pillows, infrared therapy blankets, and sound-wave meditation speakers.

Meanwhile, the 15,000-squarefoot Plume Spa has treatment rooms focusing on healing and restorative therapies, along with a Longevity Lounge featuring a salt inhalation room, dry cryo float, and a hyperbaric chamber to increase oxygen levels in blood.

“ We have the most cutting-edge stuff,” Manning boasts.“ The spa offers a soothing experience for your mind and body.”

“ I’ ve been as passionate about food as anything here,” Manning says.

Currently, the resort has seven restaurants with plans to add up to 10 more over the next few years as the hotel grows to a planned 2,000 rooms. At the heart of the culinary program is Basalt, an American steakhouse showcasing prime cuts from regional purveyors, and Latitude, a casual, open-air restaurant specializing in California cuisine, seafood and wood-fired selections.

Additional spots include a sports bar with simulated golf bays, a coffee shop, a rooftop Mexican cantina, and a barbeque joint surrounded by fire pits, lawn games and a putting green.

With adults covered, Manning

asked himself,“ What will the kids do?” The answer arrives this May when Black Desert debuts a five-acre water park with a lazy river, wave pool, drop slides and surf simulator.

In addition to the water park, Manning says the resort already has plans to expand the 21-court pickleball complex and add eight new courts including a Championship Court with 4,000 seats so it can host one of the Professional Pickleball Association’ s four major cup events.“ It will undoubtedly be the best facility in the country,” Manning says.

He’ s also planning to construct three new 18-hole golf courses and promises they’ ll be stunning.“ I can’ t share who the designers are, but golfers will lose their minds,” hints Manning.“ It’ ll be the Mount Rushmore of golf course designers.”