“I think I’m one of the only guys on the range without a launch monitor.”
If you’re going to be stuck in a car for a two-plus-hour drive, you’d be hard-pressed to enjoy better company than Australian golfer Geoff Ogilvy.
In August, on the drive from Minneapolis to the western corner of the Land of 10,000 Lakes, where he and his design partners Mike Cocking and Ashley Mead are preparing to build Tepetonka, Minnesota’s first private golf destination on 228 acres of gorgeous rolling land with Shakopee Creek cutting through a quarter of the property, Ogilvy and I (and PR man/wheelman Matthew Gibb) talked at length about his shift into the golf-course design business among other things.
I’m probably not the first to say this, and admittedly it’s early days for his venture into the architecture space, but Ogilvy could be his generation’s Ben Crenshaw, who made a smooth transition from Masters champion to one of the most coveted designers in golf. OCM as the next Coore-Crenshaw? We can only hope to be so lucky.
Ogilvy turned pro in 1998, just as Tiger Woods was beginning to rule the game, and Ogilvy did well to win eight times on the PGA Tour (plus another four times on the DP World Tour), including the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot. He was a member of the International Team for the Presidents Cup three times and has been a vice captain on the last three teams. It seems inevitable that he will get his turn at the captaincy (and when he does the U.S. may finally have met its match in that event).
Ogilvy, 46, has reduced his play in recent years, including moving back to his native Australia for a time, and is starting to make a name for himself in the design world with work done at Shady Oaks Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, back home in Melbourne at Peninsula-Kingswood and is in the process of completing a significant re-do of Medinah No. 3 near Chicago, which will host the 2026 Presidents Cup. (He also mentioned a course the firm is building in Georgia but wouldn’t disclose the name.)
A couple hours in the car flew by and the discussion continued over lunch and in between his site visit. Here are some of the highlights.
Tiger Woods and baseball star Mike Trout announced in March they were partnering to build a new private golf course, Trout National – The Reserve, in New Jersey about 45 minutes south of Philadelphia.
The routing, perhaps the most important part of the design puzzle, is now complete. The group released a map of the routing Friday in a media release, timed with a new social media video of Woods and Trout at Trout National. The course – par 72 at 7,455 yards – is slated to open in 2025.
With the course designed by Woods’ TGR Design, the club will also feature a “cutting-edge” practice range, short-game area, clubhouse, restaurant, “five-star” lodging, a wedding chapel and more.
The planned routing for Trout National – The Reserve in Vineland, New Jersey, includes a former silica sand mine and rambling farmland. (Courtesy of Trout National – The Reserve)
Trout recently spoke on Bleacher Report’s “On Base With Mookie Betts,” about what inspired him to build a course and his love of working with Woods.
Here’s the full release on how the routing came together:
The wait is over. Excited to share the latest from Trout National – The Reserve. We've finalized course routing and are continuing to make progress on this unique and exciting project with @TigerWoods and @tgrdesignbytw. pic.twitter.com/rpu2on1KUg
(VINELAND, N.J.) – Trout National – The Reserve, a world-class golf club collaboration between Mike Trout, the three-time American League MVP and 10-time Major League Baseball All-Star, and local partner and businessman John Ruga, announce the course routing by golf icon Tiger Woods’ TGR Design.
The 18-hole, par-72 golf course, which is slated to complete construction in 2025, is routed through two unique natural landscapes giving distinct character to the course. A former silica sand mine and rambling farmland offers ample playable sandy waste areas as well as sprawling fairways offering multiple routes from tee to green. Large and undulating greens with low-cut surrounds emphasize the challenging, yet fun design where risk-reward opportunities create the ideal environment.
“Some of my favorite golf experiences have been ones that have challenged my game while still having fun and that’s what we wanted to create at Trout National – The Reserve,” said Trout. “Tiger, John and I walked hole by hole and this course will do just that. Our vision and his design is creating something special here in my hometown.”
“Mike and John found a site with a lot of character to make some outstanding golf holes,” says Tiger. “The sandy and diverse terrain has so many great natural features that have given us a lot of options on how to create a world-class golf course.”
“The land that is home to Trout National – The Reserve has great history here in the city of Vineland,” said Ruga. “Tiger and his team were able to incorporate the history and let the land shine through in this championship golf course. It will truly be a memorable experience on the course.”
Accompanying the 18-hole championship golf course, the golf offerings at Trout National – The Reserve will also include a flexible short course and expansive putting course along with world-class practice facilities and performance center. Other club highlights include a modern state-of-the-art clubhouse, five-star lodging, innovative amenities, a chapel and more.
That said, a new course has opened in Tsawwassen, British Columbia, Canada. The Hooper family has built a three-hole golf course next to their apartment complex in order to pass the time.
With courses closing left and right, the Hoop Loop might soon be the hottest place in town.
So we made a 3-hole golf course this afternoon. Can t wait to play the heck out of this thing with the kids over the next few weeks! Hole 1: 40-48 yds, risk reward green Hole 2: 37 yds (48 from tips), best green site on the property Hole 3: 50 yds (38 from alternate tee) 🙏🏼 pic.twitter.com/BA16xzqLZp
The idea sprouted in Jason Hooper’s head years ago while walking his dog in a field adjacent to their property.
“I used to take the dog out there all the time and just walking through that field and open area I used to envision golf holes,” said Hooper, a third-generation golf course superintendent who now works as a sales representative for turf products in the golf industry. “The unfortunate circumstances happening in the world right now has kind of just given us a really good reason to go ahead and do it.”
Jason reached out to a friend and was able to get his hands on a cup changer and some extra cups and flags.
“The kids were out there with me and we collectively decided where we were gonna route the golf course, routing it in a little three-hole triangle so you can just keep looping it over and over,” he explained. “As we played it we came up with some alternate tees and things like that to give it different angles and keep it fun.”
11-year-old Bella Hooper plays the Hoop Loop. (Photo: Hooper Family)
Different names were discussed before settling on the aptly-named Hoop Loop. The family lives in Tsatsu Shores, and Jason loves Bandon Dunes, so naturally Tsatsu Dunes came to mind.
“But Hoop Loop just seems to have a nice ring to it,” he said.
It’s certainly a lot more appealing than Quarantine Country Club.
Jason, along with his wife Lori and two kids, Bella (11) and Lincoln (9), played the Hoop Loop about 30 times on Monday. The kids saw immense improvement from start to finish. At first they could barely hit the ball. By the time they were done, they were making pars with ease.
“The last thing I wanted to do was steal their thunder because I had videos of them, they both hit amazing shots just before mine,” said Jason. “Lincoln went first and hit a great shot and Bella had to show him up, so she put it inside him. I said ‘here take a video of your old dad and I’ll take a whack at it’ and it went in the hole.”
Playing at 48 yards, Jason aced the par-3 second hole, which features a “Bandon Dunes-esque green” for his first official hole-in-one.
“My buddies were like ‘I don’t know, it didn’t look like it went in the hole, it looks like it was staged.’ And I’m like, ‘Zoom in on the video, my kids will vouch for me, they’re not going to lie!’”
Nine-year-old Lincoln Hooper plays the Hoop Loop. (Photo: Hooper Family)
The Hoop Loop is quickly becoming Twitter famous, but the Hoopers didn’t build the course for the social media praise. They built it to have fun during a time where not much fun is being had.
“We’ve just kind of run with it and we’ve been overwhelmed by the response to it,” said Jason. “If anybody can watch the videos or look at the photos and smile in these tough times right now, I mean that’s all that matters. It’s a nice little break from the unfortunate reality right now.”
Credit must be given where credit is due. I was asking Davis Love III a question about golf course architecture as we cruised around the Sea Island Resort Plantation Course that he had just renovated and Love gave my question the Heisman stiff-arm. …
Credit must be given where credit is due.
I was asking Davis Love III a question about golf course architecture as we cruised around the Sea Island Resort Plantation Course that he had just renovated and Love gave my question the Heisman stiff-arm. He had a better question in mind.
“What you should really be asking guys is if you were going to build a golf course and start a club, who would you hire? Who would you pay to do the design work? I’d hire Ben Crenshaw,” he said. “I don’t mean that to offend my other friends in the industry, but I love his work. I’d want Ben Crenshaw with a little bit flatter greens.”
I hated to admit it but it didn’t take me long to realize that Love’s question was actually better than the one I proposed and had the potential for some very revealing answers. So, I took Love’s advice and the following answers reveal that PGA Tour pros have more of a reverence for the Golden Age designers than they are given credit for and that minimalist design and the latest trend of wide fairways, expanded greens and tree removal to create more strategic angles and options is in vogue among the play-for-pay ranks too.
Harris English was the first person to ask, “Can I pick a dead guy?” Why not? As a result, there are just as many Alister Mackenzie, Donald Ross and Seth Raynor selections as Coore-Crenshaw, Gil Hanse and Tom Doak.
Hey, Davis, this one’s for you.
Paul Azinger
“I would hire Gil Hanse. He has an incredible feel and sense of what is technically sound and visually pleasing. I love his personality and I think he’d be easy to work with.”
Aaron Baddeley
“I like Coore-Crenshaw. They don’t move too much dirt. They let the ground dictate the design.”
Zac Blair
“King-Collins, who did Sweetens Cove, because they are the best. We’re going to do The Buck Club (in Utah). Can’t wait.”
Scott Brown
“It depends on the land. If it’s an unbelievable canvas, I’d choose Coore-Crenshaw.”
Patrick Cantlay
“Alister Mackenzie would be my dead guy. Coore-Crenshaw among the living.”
The 224 yards par 3, 17th hole at the Castle Stuart Golf Links designed by Mark Parsinen and Gil Hanse in Inverness, Nairnshire, Scotland. (David Cannon/Getty Images)
Brandel Chamblee
“Gil Hanse because his golf courses strike every note. He doesn’t make them too hard or too easy, he just makes them interesting and beautiful. At least in my view, he captures the essence of what architecture is meant to be. Who is going to take a piece of property and give you an incredible array of holes with great elements of strategy and everything you’d ever want in a golf course, getting the most out of a piece of land in the most affable way? I’d probably go with Gil Hanse.”
Harris English
“Seth Raynor. He built fun courses that have stood the test of time.”
Tony Finau
“Alister MacKenzie. All his courses are the real deal.”
Rickie Fowler
“I’d want to be involved in the design because I enjoy golf course architecture. My favorite style is links golf. I love what Coore-Crenshaw are doing and having a duo where one of them has been a player makes for a great combo.”
Jim Furyk
“Coore-Crenshaw. All of their courses are fun to play.”
Links at Perry Cabin by Pete Dye.
Chesson Hadley
“Pete Dye. I’ve always played well on his courses.”
Morgan Hoffmann
“Pete Dye among the living and Donald Ross among the deceased. I grew up on a Ross course and I love them.”
Russell Knox
“Coore and Crenshaw have done a great job. It must be very difficult because there are very few courses that are spot on. All of us pros think we know more than we do, but every course there’s somewhere where I think, ‘What the hell were they thinking?’ I’d love to get into that world as the years go on. I like the new-school of make it wider and angles but at the same time there needs to be narrow holes too. There needs to be variety. That’s what makes Seminole (Golf Club in Juno Beach, Florida) great.”
Matt Kuchar
“Alister MacKenzie. I don’t think I’ve ever played one of his courses that I didn’t like.”
Jagged mountains and the Sea of Crotez line Tom Doak’s first course design in Mexico.
Peter Malnati
“Tom Doak. He’s a minimalist.”
Maverick McNealy
“Gil Hanse. I see his courses really well.”
Francesco Molinari
“Coore-Crenshaw. Their work at Pinehurst No. 2 was really good.”
Patrick Rodgers
“Gil Hanse. I feel like his philosophy is most in alignment with the origins of the game and making it fun.”
Adam Scott
“Coore-Crenshaw because I’ve never played a course they’ve designed that I didn’t like.”
Steve Stricker
“Alister MacKenzie. Pasatiempo was my favorite course I played in college, and I’ve been a MacKenzie fan ever since.”
Chris Stroud
“Seth Raynor. I love his unique design style.”
Bo Van Pelt
“Gil Hanse. He restored Southern Hills, where I play frequently, and did a great job.”
