Major bunker upgrade completed at Ocean Point Golf Links on barrier island in South Carolina.
Fripp Island Golf and Beach Resort in South Carolina announced this week the completion of a renovation to one of its two courses, Ocean Point Golf Links, which has reopened for play.
The layout – built on a barrier island near Beaufort – originally was designed by George Cobb and opened in 1964 with five holes overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.
The mother-son architect team of Cynthia Dye McGarey and Matt McGarey of Dye Designs Group completed the renovation that touched every hole. More than 50 bunkers were reshaped, and 11 greenside bunkers were added in addition to multiple new fairway traps and 5.5 acres of sandy waste area. Extensive work on the tees also was included, and more than 13,000 native plants will be planted. Golf Course Services Inc. was the construction partner.
“Ocean Point epitomizes the best of the Lowcountry golf, something my family knows well,” Matt McGarey said in a media release announcing completion of the project. “We enjoyed partnering with the Fripp Island Resort to bring about a more modern playing experience that capitalizes on the unique Lowcountry elements – all with an eye toward the intent of Mr. Cobb’s original design.”
The resort is also home to the Davis Love III-designed Ocean Creek course. The resort was named by USA TODAY in 2023 as one of the top island vacation destinations in the U.S.
Check out Tiger’s letter to perspective members of new course near Fort Worth.
This story was updated to include information about Mark Brooks at the new club.
Tiger Woods announced on social media Thursday that his course architecture firm, TGR Design, has signed on to build a course at a new residential community underway near Fort Worth, Texas: Bluejack Ranch.
If that sounds familiar, it’s because the developers behind the project – Andy and Kristin Mitchell – also built Bluejack National north of Houston in 2016. That is the site of Woods’ first course design in the U.S., Bluejack National.
The name Bluejack, by the way, references a bluejack oak, a tree native to Texas with one present at Bluejack National.
Bluejack Ranch in Aledo will be about a 30-minute drive southwest of Fort Worth. It is planned to be a residential club on 914 acres of working cattle ranch, according to the club’s website. Plans call for it to open in 2026.
Over a decade ago, I designed my first U.S. course at Bluejack National. I’m excited to announce that @tgrdesignbytw, @BluejackNation, and the Mitchell family are teaming up again to create @BluejackRanch, an exceptional new golf community in Aledo, Texas.… pic.twitter.com/k2nNCR82nB
Course details were not included in the social post, but Golf.com reported that the plans include a full-size course built by Woods and his design partner, Beau Welling. There also will be a lighted 10-hole, par-3 course.
Fort Worth native Mark Brooks, winner of the 1996 PGA Championship among his seven PGA Tour titles, confirmed to Golfweek that he is a senior advisor to the project and will transition into running the club’s player development programs. The club will include a full golf and fitness performance center.
It’s hard to believe it’s been over ten years since we embarked on my first U.S. course design at Bluejack National in Houston. The response to that golf experience has been truly gratifying, and when I hear how much Bluejack means to people, I feel incredibly proud of the TGR Design team.
Now, we’re bringing that same Bluejack spirit and passion to Fort Worth- a city celebrated not only as Cowtown but also as a golf town. With legends like Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson, the love for the game here is genuine. I’m grateful for the encore opportunity to reteam with Bluejack National and home-towners Andy and Kristin Mitchell to design a course around this incredibly special property and community.
Bluejack National’s success has paved the way for this next chapter at Bluejack Ranch. Our shared vision of creating a space where families can enjoy the game and have fun inspires us all once again at The Ranch.
It’s extremely motivating for me to contribute to the golfing legacy of Fort Worth, and I’m excited to see what we’ll build together. We’ll share more after our next design meeting in Aledo.
David Love III will serve as a consultant to the Harbour Town restoration.
Harbour Town Golf Links at Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, announced it will close for six months in 2025 for a restoration of the Pete Dye-designed layout that opened in 1969.
Part of Sea Pines Resort, Harbour Town is ranked by Golfweek’s Best as the No. 2 public-access layout in South Carolina. It also is the No. 21 resort course in the U.S. and the No. 59 modern course built in the U.S. since 1960. Much of the layout plays tight through trees until reaching Calibogue Sound for its final holes, with the 18th playing along the water toward the famed lighthouse beyond.
The course will close May 5, 2025, and is scheduled to reopen in November.
The work is being done to restore championship-level conditions. The course has been home to the PGA Tour’s RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing (and all the tournament’s previous names) since the year it opened.
All the greens, bunkers and bulkheads will be rebuilt alongside improvements to agronomy and maintenance. The turf will remain as TifEagle Bermuda grass on the greens with Celebration Bermuda on the fairways, tees and rough.
“Everyone at The Sea Pines Resort is committed to honoring the legacy of Pete Dye’s design,” John Farrell, director of sports operations at Harbour Town, said in a media release announcing the restoration. “We will protect the shot values, both long and short, that have come to define Harbour Town Golf Links for nearly six decades.”
Davis Love III and his design company will serve as consultants to the restoration. Love won the RBC Heritage five times, and he designed the Atlantic Dunes course at the resort.
“I’m both honored and excited to be working with The Sea Pines Resort’s Harbour Town Golf Links team on the restoration of Harbour Town,” Love, who spent much of his youth on the island, said in the media release. “Given my success on the course over the years, it is a layout I know and love. We’ve already begun a thoughtful process for protecting the integrity of this Pete Dye masterpiece.”
The Club at Eaglebrooke will resurface its greens with Tifeagle Bermuda.
The Club at Eaglebrooke in Lakeland, Florida – a Ron Garl design that opened in 1996 – will close for a six-month renovation in 2025 focused on rebuilding all 18 greens.
The semi-private facility has never had a large-scale renovation. Mondragon Golf, a Florida-based course construction company, will do the work that is scheduled to begin in April and wrap up in October.
The greens will be resurfaced with Tifeagle Bermuda grass. Other work will include rebuilding bridges and a large bulkhead. The agronomy team also plans to work on select drainage, irrigation, tee boxes and bunker improvements.
“The upcoming renovation will boost our goal of becoming the best semi-private facility in the Lakeland area,” Ryan Roberts, Eaglebrooke’s general manager, said in a media release announcing the renovation. “When the course reopens next fall, non-member/public play will be more restricted. Therefore, if you are interested in joining the Club at Eaglebrooke, now is the best time – before initiation fees increase.”
Eaglebrooke is managed by Indigo Sports, a Troon Company. The Arizona-based Troon is the largest golf and golf-related hospitality management company with more than 900 locations around the world, including responsibility for 575-plus 18-hole-equivalent courses.
Forget about an ace on a par 3. Blasi did one better.
Most golfers dream of scoring a hole-in-one on any par 3. Golf course designer Jay Blasi did one better.
Blasi, who serves on Golfweek’s Best architectural advisory panel and often hosts course-rating events, used driver to ace the short, downhill par-4 14th of Mammoth Dunes at Sand Valley Resort in Wisconsin.
The hole tips out at 325 yards. Blasi was playing the orange tees as he led a group of Golfweek’s Best raters around the David McLay Kidd-designed layout. He said it was playing 272 on a direct line at the flag. As seen in the video below, it took a few seconds to register. (Warning: Some language is as might be expected for such a surprise, and might be NSFW.)
“On a par 3, anytime you hit one towards the hole you have a sliver of hope it will go in,” Blasi told Golfweek. “On a drivable par 4, the hole becomes the green itself and you feel like you accomplished your goal if you knock it on. In this case it landed on the green in line with the flag, rolled at the hole and disappeared. The feeling was more shock and awe than pure joy for me. But for the group it was just bliss.”
Blasi didn’t immediately share details via text about what his bar tab might have been after buying a round for the house to celebrate, but the Golfweek’s Best raters can be a thirsty bunch with high standards.
The hole curves sharply downhill with a feeder slope coming in from the right on a typically firm fairway, allowing players to send the ball out wide of multiple centerline bunkers and still feed it onto the green. It’s not exactly a monster so long as players miss the sand, but still, a hole-in-one? Pretty cool and totally unforgettable for Blasi on a course that ranks No. 3 among all public-access layouts in the state and is No. 36 on Golfweek’s Best ranking of all modern courses in the U.S.
No. 14 of Mammoth Dunes at Sand Valley in Wisconsin (Brandon Carter/Sand Valley)
The Wisconsin-raised, California-based Blasi sports a 2.9 handicap index and previously had made four holes-in-one on par 3s at a strong lineup of courses: The Patriot in Oklahoma (after having helped design the course, he made the first ace on opening day), Stanford Golf Course in California, Pasatiempo in California and Omni PGA Frisco’s short course named the Swing (of course we count them on par-3 courses!) in Texas.
The latest ace comes on the heels of Blasi complaining to this writer about the state of his game. Might that have anything to do with the fact we’re opposing captains in the Ryder Cup-style, Golfweek’s Best rater-based Scratch Cup in October? After the hole-in-one, this writer and his team are accepting thoughts and prayers.
Golf 24 hours a day? It’s possible at Lofoten Links, but that’s only a part of the attraction.
As Cabot has expanded in the past several years from its roots with two courses in Nova Scotia into a global operator with resorts stretching from Europe to western Canada, there have been long summer nights when the sun never sets on the Canadian-based company.
That’s now more true than ever.
Cabot will announce this week that it is investing in Lofoten Links in Gimsøysand, Norway, one of those mind-bending locations for golf with a rugged seaside layout that has earned a spot on plenty of traveling golfers’ bucket lists. The course ties for No. 72 on Golfweek’s Best ranking of international courses.
During the summer, the sun never drops below the horizon at Lofoten Links, which is nearly 100 miles north of the Arctic Circle and flush against the Norwegian Sea. Twilight simply rebounds into morning for golfers with the stamina to keep swinging, and the course is open 24 hours a day in June and July.
“Having played golf there a couple of times, teeing off just before midnight, it’s just one of those experiences that I think every golfer should aspire to have in their lifetime,” said Ben Cowan-Dewar, co-founder and CEO of Cabot. “If you’ve had a taste of it, you’re keen to go back.”
But don’t confuse Lofoten Links as some sunshine gimmick. Originally opened in 1998 as a six-hole layout, the course has been expanded by architect Jeremy Turner, reaching a full 18 in 2015. Built on an old Viking site with two Viking graves on the course, it’s as mind-bending and extreme a golf environment as might be imagined. The coastal holes in particular are lined with rocky outcroppings, the links having been carved into stone.
“I was there five years ago and sort of fell in love with the property and the destination,” Cowan-Dewar said. “I mean, it’s just such a beautiful sight. … It’s a course that has gained a lot of recognition globally and for great reason. I think the chance to be a part of it just felt too good to be true.”
The northern lights shine above Lofoten Links in Norway. (Courtesy of Cabot and Lofoten Links/Jacob Sjoman)
Cowan-Dewar has overseen Cabot’s rapid expansion from its Cape Breton foundations in Nova Scotia to include ownership of courses at several far-flung points. The company’s properties now include Cabot Saint Lucia in the Caribbean, Cabot Citrus Farms (formerly World Woods) in Florida, Cabot Bordeaux (formerly Golf Du Médoc Resort) in France, Cabot Highlands (formerly Castle Stuart) in Scotland and the in-development Cabot Revelstoke in western Canada.
Cowan-Dewar said Cabot will work with Lofoten Links’ current ownership group, led by founder Frode Hov, whose family has owned the land for more than 400 years. Cowan-Dewar and Hov discussed a possible partnership several years ago, but talks ceased during Covid. With global golf travel buzzing these days, Cowan-Dewar said now is the right time to invest in such an off-the-beaten-path location – similar in that regard to Cabot’s courses in Nova Scotia.
“For us now, it’s really about making the investment work with their team and just trying to help them realize the full potential of their amazing asset,” Cowan-Dewar said. “Frode will still be very much involved and will oversee things on a day-to-day basis.”
Lofoten Links will retain its name without Cabot branding at least for the foreseeable future, different than the company’s other owned and operated properties that carry the company’s name. The property currently has several nearby lodges for guests, and Cabot is likely to help expand on accommodations.
Lofoten’s golf season runs from May until the middle of October, and with plenty of hiking and kayaking available plus the frequently brilliant displays of the northern lights a powerful attraction, it won’t be just golf filling the rooms. Golfers who want to see the northern lights must plan accordingly, with the nightly shows beginning in mid-August after the sun begins again to dip below the horizon toward the end of summer.
Could there be more golf in the works at Lofoten? Mike Keiser, the founder of Bandon Dunes Golf Resort and an early investor in Cabot, has said many times about the number of courses available that one plus one equals three when it comes to developing a far-off golf destination.
“To get to that formula, first you need one course, and Lofoten has a great one,” Cowan-Dewar said. “That’s always the hardest part. I think there is a potential for more golf, and I think that’s one of the things we’ll certainly look at. I think there is an opportunity. We really just want to see the first course reach its whole potential and then be able to go from there.
“I think the setting is truly otherworldly. … It’s just about building on top of what is just an extraordinary foundation.”
Check out a selection of images by international golf photographer Jacob Sjoman below:
Cabot proposal to expand Citrus Farms meets significant statewide headwinds.
One of golf’s fastest-growing course developers and owners, Canadian-based Cabot, has found itself in conflict with various environmentalists in Florida.
At stake for the developer is the possible addition of new golf holes at Cabot Citrus Farms north of Tampa. Cabot has proposed swapping 324 acres of the Withlacoochee State Forest land adjacent to the resort in exchange for 800-plus acres of Cabot-supplied timberland several counties north.
But aside from the change in usage and status for the small sandy forest adjacent to Citrus Farms, Cabot’s plan runs counter to the interests of multiple organizations and many individuals who argue that such a deal might be the top of a slippery slope on which more public land would lose protections.
This debate comes on the heels of even greater recent friction between environmental concerns and golf development, heated by a secretive but since-scrapped proposal to build golf courses in a Florida State Park in southeast Florida. Judging by public commentary on social media and in newspaper editorials, the debate about converting public land into golf holes isn’t over.
The Withlacoochee State Forest website describes the breadth of the activities available, including biking, hiking, fishing, boating and much more in a publicly owned amenity that stretches across five counties.
Cabot bought the former World Woods Golf Club in 2022 and quickly set about renovating its two existing courses. With the resort now branded Citrus Farms, architect Kyle Franz has completed the 18-hole, full-sized Karoo course, which has opened while work continues on the second main 18. Citrus Farms also includes two new short courses, and the resort will include homes and upscale cabins that will be part of a rental pool. If the land swap is approved, more golf could be built.
Citrus Farms sits on rolling, sandy terrain near Brooksville, just inland from the Gulf of Mexico. On the resort’s western flank sits the 324 acres of land owned by the Florida Forest Service that is part of the Withlacoochee State Forest, which includes multiple tracts and distinct environments among its total 164,073 acres stretched across five counties. The plot of protected land that Cabot desires is less than a mile wide, with the four-lane Suncoast Parkway directly on its opposite flank.
Cabot has proposed trading for that land, offering the state a much larger parcel in Levy County some 60 miles to the north.
“We pursued whether there was a chance to come up with a win-win, which would be the state getting greater land of significantly greater acreage and preservation value in return for land on which we could build additional golf to the west of Citrus Farms,” said Ben Cowan-Dewar, the Canadian co-founder and CEO of Cabot.
“What we proposed is something we have done in Cape Breton (in Nova Scotia), a property swap to be able to build more golf which will create more economic development, more jobs and a more attractive destination,” said Cowan-Dewar, who estimates Citrus Farms could eventually provide as many as 500 jobs in largely rural Hernando County. “And in return, we give something to the state that I think they feel is of real value to them. That process is one we had done in Nova Scotia with great success.”
The land swap would be unusual in Florida, where state-owned conservation lands have traditionally been granted much greater protection. Opposition to the proposal has been ramping up, including from organizations that monitor Florida’s land and wildlife.
“The underlying thing is the precedent that this would create, the idea that anywhere in the state of Florida you could have a developer in a community that looks at adjacent conservation lands as vacant,” said Julie Wraithmell, the executive director of Florida Audubon and vice president of the National Audubon Society, a 600,000-member conservation organization that strives to protect land and wildlife across the U.S.
Wraithmell said developers might see an open piece of land and think, “Gosh, wouldn’t it be improved with a mini-mall, or with a golf course, or with a car wash?” But she said that such an idea, and the fact the state will contemplate such a land swap, flies in the face of constitutional protections that Florida’s conservation lands have traditionally enjoyed. She also pointed out that environmental tourism combined with Florida’s state parks and forests is a significant economic driver, as is golf.
“If your readers are golf enthusiasts, I’m sure that they do have interest in courses and opportunities” to play, Wraithmell told Golfweek. “I would just say that it’s about the right use in the right place that is the issue here. It’s not an opposition to golf, but it is that these protected places are important to Florida, not just for bunnies and trees but for our quality of life.”
Such objections to Cabot’s proposal have gained steam in recent weeks, especially since the proposal to add golf to Jonathan Dickinson State Park – nearly 200 miles away on the opposite side of the state. That plan was leaked by a state employee who later was fired. The proposal was then formally announced, protested and quickly scrapped in what has become more rare in Florida than a snowball: bipartisan political opposition.
The Cabot proposal had flown under the radar until it was quickly – and without previous announcement or public commentary – sent from the Florida Cabinet and Governor Ron DeSantis to the state’s Acquisition and Restoration Council (ARC), a 10-member group with representatives from various state agencies. Among other duties, the ARC is responsible for evaluating any land swaps involving state-owned conservation properties. The ARC will provide advice to DeSantis and his state cabinet, which then will have final say on approval on Cabot’s proposal.
The ARC next meets Sept. 12 in the state capitol of Tallahassee, but the Citrus Farms proposal is not included on the published agenda for that meeting. There has been no timeline given for when the ARC might make its recommendations, when the group would provide any insight to data and opinions that might be used in making its recommendations, or when there might be a chance for public comment periods.
It’s unlikely Cabot’s proposal would have garnered as much attention if not for the Jonathan Dickinson State Park controversy, which united typically disparate voices. It’s worth noting that while golf is a common thread, the protected lands in question are quite different.
Jonathan Dickinson State Park is a popular respite from nearby and rapidly expanding population centers such as Jupiter, Hobe Sound and West Palm Beach. It’s 11,500 acres include boating and tours, cabins, canoeing, hiking, horse trails, swimming and picnic areas in one of the fastest-growing regions of the United States. The proposed golf courses there would have taken up more than 800 prime acres and forced a reconsideration of the park as it has traditionally been known. That park sees more than 120,000 visitors per year.
The 324 acres of land Cabot has tried to acquire in a land swap sits just west of Citrus Farms and stretches less than a mile wide to the Suncoast Parkway, a major toll road. Highway 98 runs just south of the resort and the patch of Florida State Forest, which provides a wildlife corridor since the toll road was completed. (Map by Google Earth)
By contrast, the state forest land that Cabot wants – part of the Withlacoochee Oak Park South Trailhead – is much less utilized. It includes rough trails and a basic parking area, and there is no official number available as to how many people might hike among its 324 acres. Squeezed between a large highway and Citrus Farms, it is a small part of the much larger Withlacoochee State Forest. Cowan-Dewar pointed out that the land in question was declared part of the state forest only as the Suncoast Parkway was being built beginning in the late 1990s with construction running for decades and still continuing. The environmental groups counter that the parcel is still valuable as a corridor for wildlife that was displaced by the road project, along with other benefits.
Also worth noting is that state parks and state forests are managed separately with different goals. The 10-year plan implemented in 2015 for Withlacoochee State Forest explains the need to preserve land and provide recreation, while also offering the possibility that timber assets can be made available for purchase to lumber companies, with the efficient generation of revenue acceptable. In general, Florida State Parks are managed to much tighter standards of environmental protection than are Florida State Forests.
Still in question is the value of the 861 acres in Levy County that Cabot will provide to the state if the swap goes through. That land has been used for timber production, and multiple studies by state organizations and universities have pointed out that such land and its curated pine trees provide less valuable habitat for wildlife than non-timbered and more natural parcels. It will be up to the ARC to decide officially if the former timberland is worth more to the state and its citizens – in cost, potential revenue and environmental impact – than the acreage next to Cabot.
None of this, of course, is new in Florida. Competing interests long have placed developers and environmentalists into opposing camps. Expect the debate to continue.
“I think it’s heartening to see the way that Floridians are standing up,” Wraithmell said. “I think that everybody is kind of saying that there is no lack of places to play golf in Florida. But it is increasingly rare to find the kinds of places where wildlife is able to thrive and Floridians are able to have these kinds of natural outdoor experiences.
“Both (golf and protected areas) are important parts of the Florida economy. But it’s not a zero-sum game. We don’t have to sacrifice conservation lands in order to also provide golf recreation for our residents and visitors.”
Cowan-Dewar, meanwhile, hopes Floridians don’t confuse Cabot’s proposal with the Jonathan Dickinson State Park conflict.
“I can tell you 100 percent that we had nothing to do with that,” Cowan-Dewar said. “I think they got conflated, although they are very separate and very distinct. …
“For us, this has represented a very meaningful investment into Hernando County and into the state, and I think it’s been an unbelievably welcoming jurisdiction in Hernando. We have been thrilled to be able to grow these jobs and really grow the destination.”
The recently restored home of the Tour Championship will challenge PGA Tour players in new ways.
ATLANTA – Defending FedEx Cup champion Viktor Hovland arrived at East Lake Golf Club on Tuesday, the same course he torched in 9-under 61 to win the Tour Championship a year ago, and expressed shock at the restoration project that was completed in less than one year.
“It looked completely different than it used to,” Hovland said. “It’s almost like you can’t imagine it.”
Xander Schauffele has never shot over par in 28 Tour Championship rounds, including the low 72-hole score at East Lake three times, but he has never won the FedEx Cup. East Lake has become a personal ATM, which is why when he was asked if there was a part of him that wanted to throw himself in front of a bulldozer and stop the construction, he smiled and said, “100 percent. My caddie as well. He probably would have gone first.”
He added: “To me, it’s got the same name; it’s East Lake Golf Club. It’s in the same property, similar square footage. But that’s about it. I think the only thing that’s the same are the directions of the hole.”
Hours after Hovland’s final putt dropped last August to secure the title, Andrew Green, who led renovations at Oak Hill, Inverness and Congressional, spearheaded the course restoration at East Lake, the oldest golf course in the city of Atlanta and where legendary golfers Bobby Jones and Alex Stirling learned the game.
Tom Bendelow laid out the original course at East Lake, back when it was known as Atlanta Athletic Club. Donald Ross built a new course on the same spot in 1915, which remained untouched until changes were made by George Cobb before the club hosted the 1963 Ryder Cup. Thirty years later, Rees Jones completed a renovation in advance of the course becoming the permanent home of the Tour Championship, the culminating event of the playoffs for the FedEx Cup, since 2005.
Green discovered a previously unknown aerial photograph of East Lake in digital archives from 1949 as his restoration inspiration. This photograph showed the original Donald Ross design in surprising detail and provided guidance on green shapes, bunker shapes and overall topography of the original design.
“We paired that with a set of photos we had right before George Cobb did his work, before the Ryder Cup, and now we’ve painted a complete picture of how things sat on the ground,” Green said. “At the heart of everything we’re doing, it’s finding ways to respect that past and legacy.”
Green – who also worked on Wannamoisett, a beloved Ross design in Rhode Island – took the East Lake team on a trip to the club in the summer of 2023 to look at its greens. They dropped a cell phone down as a hole location and rolled balls on every green, the beginning of a collaborative effort in which Green was given the final say.
“Decisions were made in the field with tape measures,” said Chad Parker, general manager and CEO at East Lake Golf Club. “If the ball lands here, it’s going to do this and the player is going to get rewarded and if it doesn’t it may go in the rough.”
The greens are more undulating with the size, shape, contouring and surrounding runoff areas of each green complex enhanced to create a distinct style and variability to the course. The putting surface at the uphill par-3 second, for instance, is over 9,000 square feet, nearly 3,000 square feet larger than previously with a sinister back-left pin placement perched over a swale.
Fairways have been converted to Meyer Zoysia, which plays firmer and will lead to increased roll, allowing the topography to play a greater role in the strategy of each hole. All greens have been converted to TifEagle Bermuda, which is expected to provide putting surfaces that have improved speed, consistency and overall playability. Many of the bunker shapes were inspired by the original Donald Ross design from 1913, with the most notable being the trench bunker on No. 17.
Water was also a particular focus of the restoration. Green’s team reclaimed a stream between the sixth and seventh holes, and the 14th hole, which included tee expansion, fairway recontouring and bunker positioning and led to the hole being converted from a par 4 to a par 5 for the tournament. Overall, the course was lengthened by less than 100 yards for the Tour Championship, which will play as a par 71 at 7,490 yards.
“It’s basically a new golf course from what it was before,” said world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler.
With the last piece of sod finally laid down on June 15, time wasn’t necessarily on Green’s sign, so the greens may be a touch firm. But one of golf’s grand dames is new again, and ready or not the top 30 in the FedEx Cup will attempt to pick her apart as they chase a record bonus pool of $100 million.
“Oh, there’s absolutely anxiety, for sure. But I think it just comes with the territory,” Green said. “For me, it’s about providing a canvas and letting the Tour and the guys who do this week in and week out for these players find the best way to find a test but then also allow them to find success.”
Mysterious group says it was behind plans to add golf to a treasured Florida State Park.
A mysterious foundation called Tuskegee Dunes, whose Florida lobbyists include a former secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection, says it is behind the controversial proposed golf courses at Jonathan Dickinson State Park – and that it is now pulling the plug on the plan.
A spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection confirmed late Sunday that the foundation withdrew its application for the golf course proposal.
The Delaware-registered foundation said in a statement sent to The Palm Beach Post late Friday that the golf courses and other facilities would have told the “inspirational story of the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of African American military pilots and airmen who fought in World War II.”
But facing extreme opposition from park fans, lawmakers and environmental organizations, it backpedaled on the project Sunday, sending a note to media representatives and through political commentator Daniel Bongino that it was no longer pursuing the proposal.
“Serving God and Country is our daily goal,” said the statement, which Bongino posted on Facebook. “That was the spirit for the idea to bring world class public golf to south east Florida … We have received clear feedback that Jonathan Dickinson State Park is not the right location. We did not understand the local community landscape and appreciate the clarity. We will not pursue building in the beloved Jonathan Dickinson State Park.”
It was the latest twist in a saga that began with documents being leaked to environmentalists a week ago showing plans for the installation of three public golf courses at Jonathan Dickinson as part of the state’s 2024-2025 Great Outdoors Initiative.
The fervor of discontent that followed led to the state postponing public meetings that were scheduled for Tuesday, and a multitude of politicians decrying what many said they knew nothing about. U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, R-Palm City, said he couldn’t find anyone with knowledge of the courses and will use Florida’s Sunshine Law to get more information on the “proposed plan to bulldoze Jonathan Dickinson State Park.”
“Our community deserves answers,” Mast said Saturday.
A map released by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection shows the proposed areas of Jonathan Dickinson State Park that were considered for conversion into golf courses. (Florida Department of Environmental Protection)
But Sunday’s statement from Tuskegee Dunes Foundation about pulling out of the project still leaves questions. Mast reposted the statement to his Facebook page, but the lack of comment from any state agency or online footprint by Tuskegee Dunes has left some to question the veracity of the claim and whether the post by Bongino is from a counterfeit account.
Tequesta resident Jessica Namath, who is spearheading the fight against the golf courses, said on social media the opposition must continue until there is confirmation from DEP that the plan is kaput. “If the state agency decides at the last minute to not keep Jonathan Dickinson State Park in the mix we need to pivot to supporting the other Florida State Parks,” Namath said.
“Everyone’s decided we need to see something official,” Namath told The Palm Beach Post on Sunday. “We have a lot of questions. Why is (Bongino) the one sending this out? I think this raises more questions. We are not buying it or believing it until we see something formally issued.”
DEP spokeswoman Alex Kuchta said in a statement late Sunday that the proposal was withdrawn.
“The Florida Department of Environmental Protection appreciates the Tuskegee Dunes Foundation’s good-faith proposal for a public golf course at Jonathan Dickinson State Park,” Kuchta wrote in the statement. “While they are withdrawing their proposal, the foundation worked with the state to pursue a project that would have created a public, world class golf course for all, while supporting veterans, first responders and their families. Their plan to honor the Tuskegee Airmen was noble.”
In Bongino’s personal note, he mentions the nonprofit charity Folds of Honor, which had tried previously to push the golf course plan at Jonathan Dickinson but was rebuffed. Oklahoma-based Folds of Honor, which provides scholarships for the families of fallen or disabled military service members and first responders, had not come forward as having been associated with the current plan.
“My good friends at Folds of Honor have also assured me that they do not plan to move forward on this project,” said Bongino, who lives in Palm City. “They are great people, doing great things. They just didn’t understand the local passion for JD Park. They heard us and did the right thing.”
Because of Delaware’s strict corporate privacy rules, no information about anyone connected to the Tuskegee Dunes Foundation is available. The foundation, which incorporated in August 2021, is listed as having $436 in delinquent taxes, according to the Delaware Division of Corporations.
The Tuskegee Dunes statement also does not give information as to where Tuskegee Dunes is based, whether it is a nonprofit organization, a website address, board members or its history. The website TuskegeeDunesFoundation.com says it is “launching soon.”
In the original note from Tuskegee Dunes when it was still promoting the plan, it says it would donate profits from the courses at Jonathan Dickinson to Folds of Honor.
In Florida lobbyist records, Ryan E. Matthews is named as a representative of Tuskegee Dunes Foundation, which lists the same Owasso, Oklahoma, address as that of Folds of Honor. Matthews, who is now with the law firm of GrayRobinson, was interim secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection under former Gov. Rick Scott. He served for four months in 2017.
Phone and email messages to Matthews were not returned over the weekend.
Folds of Honor is also associated with American Dunes Golf Club in Grand Haven, Michigan.
The creation of American Dunes in 2018 was led by North Palm Beach resident and golf legend Jack Nicklaus, with him donating his $3 million design fee, according to the American Dunes website. The American Dunes motto is “The church that Jack built. God. Country. Golf.”
In 2011, legislators tried to add golf courses to state parks through bills that would have created the “Jack Nicklaus Golf Trail of Florida.” The only park specifically mentioned in the House’s version of the bill was Jonathan Dickinson, which is nearest Nicklaus’s North Palm Beach home.
The bills were quickly withdrawn after public outcry.
Last week, Nicklaus Companies, which is no longer affiliated with founder Jack Nicklaus, said it was not associated with the recent golf course plans. The statement from Nicklaus Companies emphasized that it was from the firms – Nicklaus Companies and Nicklaus Design – alone, not Jack Nicklaus personally.
“We take great pride in the Nicklaus name, our reputation, and the work we do at Nicklaus Design – particularly as it relates to environmental and community stewardship,” the statement from Nicklaus Companies said. “Florida is our company’s home, and many of our employees are frequent patrons of our beautiful state parks. You can be assured that everything we do is in keeping with these principles.”
According to the Tuskegee Dunes, the proposed golf courses would have taken up about 600 acres of Jonathan Dickinson State Park’s 10,500 acres and include 36 holes designed by “world class golf course designers.” The planned design would have included a nine-hole course called Red Tail that would have been fully accessible in accordance with the Americans With Disabilities Act. A practice park would double as an outdoor gathering place for local community events.
Tuskegee Dunes filed for multiple trademarks in June 2023, including for golf course design and development.
Mountain bike and hiking trails would have been incorporated into the plans and “enhancements will be made to the Observation Tower,” according to the statement sent to The Post on Friday.
“Southeast Florida, including the Jupiter area, has limited public golf,” Friday’s statement from Tuskegee Dunes says. “A total of 85% in the Southeast corridor is private golf. This is a dramatic contrast to the national average of 80% public vs. private golf access.”
Eric Draper, who was director of the Florida Park Service for four years through 2021, said he was disappointed that a former DEP secretary may have been involved in trying to “take away our state parks.”
“If it weren’t for everyone expressing their point of view, I think the governor and DEP would have pushed this right through,” Draper said. “So, I am so proud of what everyone has done. This is what the governor doesn’t get: The parks belong to the people.”
Sen. Gayle Harrell, R-Stuart, said Folds of Honor approached her last year and asked if she would sponsor legislation aimed at bringing golf specifically to Jonathan Dickinson State Park. They highlighted the benefits to veterans the golfing venture could mean.
“They had a lovely presentation on what they are doing in Michigan,” Harrell said Saturday. “I told them, ‘It’s a marvelous idea, but you don’t do it in a state park.’
“This is not the appropriate use,” she continued, calling the park “a natural treasure of the Treasure Coast.”
“The state parks are to protect the natural habitat and environment of the area as well as preserve it for future generations,” she said. Harrell said she’s all about helping veterans – her daughter is one and married to another one. But there’s a limit.
“Golf courses are wonderful – somewhere else, not in Jonathan Dickinson State Park.”
Eight other state parks have also been proposed for added amenities including pickleball courts, disc golf and 350-bed lodges.
– Palm Beach Post staff writer Anne Geggis and editor Holly Baltz contributed to this story.
The 2028 Curtis Cup Match is headed to one of the best courses in the world.
Competitive women’s amateur golf has scored another victory, landing one of the top golf courses in the world as host of the 2028 Curtis Cup Match at Royal Dornoch in northern Scotland.
The Championship Course at Royal Dornoch is ranked by Golfweek’s Best as the No. 3 course outside the United States. Opened in 1877 as a nine-hole layout in the Scottish Highlands, the links course was extended to 18 holes in 1886 by Old Tom Morris. Other designers have contributed over the decades to the hilly seaside layout, including John Sutherland, George Duncan and most recently the team of Tom Mackenzie and Martin Ebert.
This year’s Curtis Cup Match, a biennial team event featuring top female amateurs representing the U.S. and Europe, is August 30-Sept. 1 at Sunningdale Golf Club’s Old Course in England, which Golfweek’s Best has tied for No. 9 among courses outside the United States. The 2026 match will be held from June 12-14 at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles, which ties for No. 57 among all classic courses in the U.S.
The dates for the 2028 match are to be determined.
“We look forward to staging the Curtis Cup at such a historic venue in 2028,” Johnnie Cole-Hamilton, executive director of championships for the R&A, said in a media release announcing the selection of Royal Dornoch in the run-up to this year’s staging of the event. “We want to give elite amateur golfers world-class platforms to show us how well they can perform, and that will certainly be the case at Royal Dornoch. The Championship Course has earned worldwide acclaim and it promises to be a wonderful occasion in the rich history of the Curtis Cup.”
Royal Dornoch’s Championship Course in the Scottish Highlands (Courtesy of Royal Dornoch Golf Club)
Royal Dornoch has a track record of hosting top amateur events, including the 1985 British Amateur Championship and four Scottish Men’s Amateur Championships, most recently in 2023.
“The Curtis Cup is also going to be a tremendous occasion for the local area,” Neil Hampton, general manager at Royal Dornoch, said in the media release. “With the Championship Course consistently ranked highly in global standings and the investment in our infrastructure as we build a new clubhouse, a match of this standing and stature will only enhance the reputation of Royal Dornoch, the town and the local area.”
