Tag: Bluejack National

Tiger Woods announces he will design new course in Texas, Bluejack Ranch

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.

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.

Woods is also working on a course named Trout National in New Jersey in partnership with baseball star Mike Trout, another at Marcella Club in Utah as well as his second 18-hole course at Diamante Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, called The Legacy. His first 18-holer in Cabo was El Cardonal at Diamante. He also did Payne’s Valley at Big Cedar Lodge in Missouri.

Woods’ layout at Bluejack National near Houston is ranked by Golfweek’s Best as the No. 4 private course in Texas and ties for No. 75 among all modern courses in the U.S.

Woods wrote a letter to perspective members of Bluejack Ranch that is included on the club’s website:

Dear Members & Friends of Bluejack,

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.

All the best,

Tiger Woods

Golfweek’s Best 2024: Top 200 residential golf courses in the U.S.

This list focuses on the residential golf courses themselves, not the communities as a whole or other amenities.

Welcome to Golfweek’s Best 2024 ranking of top residential golf courses in the United States.

The hundreds of members of our course-ratings panel continually evaluate courses and rate them based on our 10 criteria. They also file a single, overall rating on each course. Those overall ratings on each course are averaged to produce a final, cumulative rating. Then each course is ranked against other courses in the region.

This list focuses on the residential golf courses themselves, not the communities as a whole or other amenities. Each golf course included is listed with its average rating from 1 to 10, its location, architect(s) and the year it opened.

* New to or returning to the list

Other popular Golfweek’s Best lists include:

Golfweek’s Best 2023: Top 200 residential golf courses in the U.S.

Looking to live where you play? We have you covered with the top 200 residential golf courses in the U.S. for 2023.

Welcome to Golfweek’s Best 2023 list of top residential golf courses in the United States.

The hundreds of members of our course-ratings panel continually evaluate courses and rate them based on our 10 criteria. They also file a single, overall rating on each course. Those overall ratings on each course are averaged to produce a final, cumulative rating. Then each course is ranked against other courses in the region.

This list focuses on the golf courses themselves, not the communities as a whole or other amenities. Each golf course included is listed with its average rating from 1 to 10, its location, architect(s) and the year it opened.

* New to or returning to the list

Other popular Golfweek’s Best lists include:

Golfweek’s Best 2022: Top public and private courses in Texas

“If you’ve never been to this part of Texas, you’re not gonna believe it,” Lanny Wadkins said of the No. 1 course.

Texas has an incredibly diverse mix of landscapes, and its best golf courses likewise serve up a great variety from its desert borders in the west to the farmland in the east.

Golfweek’s Best offers many lists of course rankings, with that of top public-access courses in each state among the most popular. All the courses on this list allow public access in some fashion, be it standard daily green fees, through a resort or by staying at an affiliated hotel. If there’s a will, there’s a tee time.

Also popular are the Golfweek’s Best rankings of top private courses in each state, and that list for Texas’ private offerings is likewise included below.

MORE: Best Modern | Best Classic | Top 200 Resort | Top 200 Residential | Top 100 Best You Can Play

(m): Modern course, built in or after 1960
(c): Classic course, built before 1960

Note: If there is a number in the parenthesis with the m or c, that indicates where that course ranks among Golfweek’s Best top 200 modern or classic courses. 

* New to or returning to list

Tiger Woods building new par-3 course at Pebble Beach

Tiger Woods and TGR Design to build short par-3 course at Pebble Beach Golf Resorts to replace Peter Hay Golf Course

Tiger Woods and his TGR Design firm on Thursday released plans to transform the Peter Hay Golf Course at Pebble Beach Resorts in California.

Woods and his team will build a nine-hole par-3 course with holes ranging in length from 47 to 106 yards. The total length will be 670 yards. They also will build a 20,000-square-foot putting green and plans include a new food and beverage venue with a large outdoor seating area.

The short course will be between the Pebble Beach Pro Shop and the Golf Academy, just a few hundred yards from the famed 18th green of Pebble Beach Golf Links.

The plans for Tiger Woods’ redesign of the Peter Hay Golf Course at Pebble Beach Resorts. Photo courtesy of Pebble Beach Company

Woods said his design philosophy for the short course will focus on playability, creativity and fun for any golfer, including families and those new to the game. The result will feature dramatic movement with the terrain, plus four holes playing directly toward Carmel Bay to capitalize on the long views of the water. Each hole will be distinct from the previous course.

“Everyone who plays this golf course is going to enjoy the playability of it,” Woods said in the press release. “Golfers will have the choice to play nearly any club off most tees and around the greens, which will make them think and channel their creativity. It will also play differently from day to day depending on the tee and hole locations and wind direction. It’s going to be a lot of fun. I can’t wait to play it.”

With one exception, the length of each hole will correspond with a significant year in Pebble Beach’s history, and plaques on tee boxes will tell those stories. The exception will be the second hole, a replica of the stellar, seaside par-3 seventh hole on Pebble Beach Golf Links.

“Pebble Beach is such an iconic golf destination, we want guests to feel the entirety of that spirit when they play this course,” Woods said in the press release. “We also know not everyone who comes to Pebble Beach will have a chance to play the U.S. Open course, so we wanted to create the opportunity for all visitors to experience one of its most famous holes.”

The course is scheduled to open in the spring of 2021.

“We are thrilled to elevate the quality of our short course to a level consistent with our other world-class golf courses,” Bill Perocchi, CEO of Pebble Beach Company, said in the release. “You can see the genius of Tiger Woods and TGR Design come to life when you walk the site, the way it all fits together. I expect all aspects of this new facility will be very popular for junior golf events, resort golfers, outings, resident hang-outs and everything in between.”

Woods and his firm have built several courses including Bluejack National in Texas, which ranks No. 47 on Golfweek’s Best list of modern courses in the United States, and El Cardonal at Diamante in Mexico, which ranks No. 25 on Golfweek’s Best list of courses in Mexico and the Caribbean. He also is building Payne’s Valley at Big Cedar Lodge in Missouri, 13 holes of which are currently open for preview play.

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