Lay your eyes on David McLay Kidd’s new layout in Portugal.
David McLay Kidd’s design of the Dunas Course at Terras da Comporta in Portugal has officially opened, with the Scottish-born architect hitting the opening tee shot earlier this month.
Kidd started on the layout in 2010, but years of frustration followed until real estate developer Vanguard Properties took over in 2019. Kidd was then able to finish the course about a 90-minute drive south of capital city Lisbon. The Dunas Course is Kidd’s first layout in mainland Europe after having started his career with the original layout at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Oregon and having gone on to build dozens of other highly rated courses in the U.S. and around the world.
“It’s been a real rollercoaster of a journey full of ups and downs, but we’ve finally made it and I couldn’t be more excited,” Kidd said in a media release announcing the opening of the Dunas Course. “I’m very proud of what we’ve created here and I firmly believe that there is no other golf venue like this in this part of Europe. I’ve been asked how I would characterize the course and I would say that’s easy, it’s a links course.
“The thing that is really great for me is that this is open to the public and being able to build something like this that’s unique, so natural and is open to all at a reasonable price, is great. I’m hoping that the course will fill with golfers quickly and be a showcase for links golf in southern Europe.”
On the edge of the Sado Estuary Nature Reserve, the layout is situated near the coast and plays over naturally sandy terrain. It will be one of two courses at the development, with Sergio Garcia named as the lead designer for a second course named Torre slated to open in 2025.
Alongside the Gulf of Mexico, the course is named for a turtle’s nest.
Laid out by Beau Welling and Chase Webb, a new 12-hole short course named The Clutch is scheduled to open on a to-be-determined date this year at South Seas, a resort on Captiva Island in southwest Florida near Fort Myers.
The name The Clutch is in reference to a turtle’s nest and was chosen to represent the island’s diverse wildlife.
“We are extremely proud of the course that we have created at South Seas and look forward to unveiling The Clutch,” Welling, president and founder of Beau Welling Design, said in a media release announcing the course’s impending opening. “The site is spectacular, and we were able to create a strategic and challenging, yet playable golf course that complements the beautiful surroundings with unobstructed water views on every hole. Working with South Seas, we were also able to create a unique and relaxed golf experience that promotes friends and families coming together through the game of golf to enjoy the stunning setting.”
From the media release:
Featuring interesting and undulating greens, The Clutch will present a challenge for experienced golfers, focusing on precision, preferred angles of play and shot values. The course will also offer a multitude of options for those newer to the game, utilizing short-cut green surrounds and slopes that will allow players to even play with just a putter.
Welling has worked on dozens of highly ranked courses around the world, including Fields Ranch West at the recently opened Omni PGA Frisco Resort in Texas and Bluejack National in Texas in partnership with Tiger Woods. He and Webb, a senior design associate, employed Clark Construction Company at South Seas.
The Clutch was built with a focus on being able to withstand intense rain, and the course features several palm trees that were rescued after Hurricane Ian pummeled the island in September of 2022. The resort has gone through a phased reopening starting in the summer of 2023 as the area continues to recover from the impacts of that category 5 storm.
“We’re thrilled to introduce our guests to this new golf experience,” South Seas general manager Shawn Farrell said in the media release. “Our goal is to offer more than just a game – it’s about enjoying the popular sport in the most beautiful setting imaginable.”
New Shell Bay Club has what might be highest initiation fee in the U.S.
What does a $1-million initiation fee buy you in South Florida these days? Keep scrolling to see the photos of the new Shell Bay Club in Hallandale Beach, Florida, just north of Miami.
Greg Norman designed the very private course for Shell Bay Club, completely renovating the site that formerly held the Joe Lee-designed layout at the Diplomat Golf Resort & Spa. The $220-million project was led by developers Witkoff Group and PPG Development. The property includes the Residences at Shell Bay, which has 108 Auberge-managed condominium and penthouse units with views of the golf course and Intracoastal Waterway.
Among a long slate of amenities at the community are a high-end racquet center and a private yacht club. A 60-room boutique resort is also planned to open soon.
“Shell Bay has the best amenity package of any luxury project in South Florida – there’s nothing like it,” Ari Pearl, founder and president of PPG Development, said in a media release announcing the opening of the golf course. “We feel strongly that the vision for Shell Bay will resonate with today’s luxury buyer.”
Norman’s course design stretches to 7,254 yards with plenty of water in play. The club also features a high-tech, 12-acre practice facility and a nine-hole par-3 course. The main layout is rated as one of the most difficult in the Sunshine State, with a 148 slope rating and a 76.1 course rating. For comparison, the standard slope rating for a course is 113, and slope ratings top out at 155. Slope is an indication of the relative difficulty of a course for a player who does not have a scratch handicap versus one who does have a scratch handicap.
“The course at Shell Bay will be one of the most unique, pure golf experiences I have ever designed,” Norman – the World Golf Hall of Famer who besides designing courses around the world has taken a leadership role in LIV Golf – said in the media release. “Completely isolated from its surroundings, the walkable layout will capture the true essence of the game with immaculately conditioned fairways, sweeping Sandbelt-style bunkers and contoured greens that test every club in your bag. It will be a place where you can totally immerse yourself in the game.”
About that initiation fee: $1 million seems high, because it is. It’s impossible to confirm what might be the highest initiation fees in golf’s often-secretive, private-club markets, but no other club has published $1-million initiation fees in the U.S.
But in many ways, Shell Bay’s initiation fee isn’t really a shocker in a South Florida market that has boomed since the start of COVID-19 as the state has seen an influx of well-heeled residents. Condos at Shell Bay start at $3 million, and the penthouses start at $11 million.
Other high-end private golf clubs in the area also have seen fees soar – for a bit of context, the in-development, three-course Apogee Club just up Interstate 95 in Hobe Sound offers memberships starting north of half a million dollars.
“Golf is the most undersupplied asset in the Miami market, and consequently, Shell Bay is a generational opportunity to create the first new private course in the area in 25 years,” Alex Witkoff, co-CEO of Witkoff Group, said in the media release. “A project like this can’t be replicated.”
David McLay Kidd will build 18 holes along the Pedernales River in Hill Country outside Austin, Texas.
Scottish architect David McLay Kidd, designer of dozens of courses around the world that include the original layout at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Oregon and the highly ranked Gamble Sands in Washington, has signed on to build his first course in the southern United States.
Kidd will design the course for the new, private Loraloma community in the Lake Travis area outside Austin, Texas. The layout is scheduled to open to preview play in late 2024 with a full opening in the spring of 2025. Kidd will break ground on the course this month.
Loraloma will be a 2,200-acre masterplan community in the Hill Country, built with a goal of respecting the land’s natural beauty, as stated in a news release announcing the plans for golf. Areté Collective is the development company in charge, and plans call for premium amenities including fitness, wellness, culinary, equestrian and nature-based experiences along with golf. Turnkey homes will range from two-bedroom to five-bedroom cottages, villas and estates, with a selection of custom homesites.
An artist’s rendering shows how the David McLay Kidd-designed course at Loraloma will look near Austin, Texas. (Courtesy of the Areté Collective)
“The Loraloma landscape is vastly more visually inspiring than most of what exists in the Austin area today,” McLay Kidd said in the news release. “Our goal is to open up this compelling landscape to golfers for a world-class experience, and I will tread very lightly to preserve and protect this land so that it can be enjoyed and embraced for generations to come.”
Several of the holes will play along cliffs above the Pedernales River while others are placed atop peaks offering dramatic elevation changes and views of the Hill Country and Balcones Escarpment. The course is slated to play to a par of 72 at 7,060 yards across 120 acres. The greens will be bent grass, and the fairways will be zoysia.
An artist’s rendering shows how the clubhouse at Loraloma will look near Austin, Texas. (Courtesy of the Areté Collective)
“Areté Collective is thrilled to partner with such an accomplished architect to bring this course to life, and we hope that every member and resident who plays golf at Loraloma feels McLay Kidd’s sense of exploration and adventure while exploring this vibrant landscape,” said Tom Hogan, co-founder and CFO of Areté Collective and a former CFO of Augusta National Golf Club. “The rules of golf require the player to play the ball as it lies, and the beauty of the Loraloma course is the fact that he has designed a sustainable course around the existing lay of the land.”
These photos of the new Tom Doak-designed course at Te Arai Links will leave you dreaming of New Zealand.
Read this story, check out the photos below and then make time to search airfares to New Zealand, because architect Tom Doak’s new North Course at Te Arai Links opened this week.
Doak spent months on the seaside ground about 90 minutes north of Auckland, fashioning a complement to the resort’s highly rated South Course which was designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw and opened in 2022. Doak’s routing features seven holes along the Pacific Ocean, with the others flowing into what had been a pine forest on sand dunes high above the beach.
Doak, famous for layouts such as Pacific Dunes at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Oregon and Ballyneal in Colorado among others, also built the ultra-private Tara Iti Golf Club just up the road. By contrast, Te Arai Links offers public-access play as well as private memberships, with private and public play alternating days on the North and South courses.
Doak was hands-on for this project, climbing onto the equipment to shape many of the greens himself during his two-month stay during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022. Doak worked with shapers Angela Moser, Clyde Johnson and Brian Slawnik.
“I’m still not that great on the dozer, but I do love it,” Doak said in a media release announcing news of the opening. “Some of the results are pretty wild, like the greens at 7 and 4. Maybe too severe at first glance. But in the end, they looked really cool and we all agreed: Let’s keep that.
“To be honest, for this course to be spoken of equally, alongside the South Course, we felt we had to do more with the golf. This is legitimately great inland terrain – pure sand and dunesy, with big undulations. But we couldn’t rely on that. We agreed that if we’re going to produce something different, we should probably be a bit edgier. The overall shaping, greens and fairways, speak to that, I think.”
No. 11 of the North Course at Te Arai Links in New Zealand (Courtesy of Te Arai Links/Ricky Robinson)
The media release pointed out that Doak created several half-par holes on the 6,931-yard layout.
“At one point, we had the potential of five or six par 5s out there,” Doak said. “The course will play to a par of 71, but the routing does affect difficulty. There are some very strong par 4s on this golf course. Good short ones, too – but some real beasts. The reality is, everything on the North Course remains very close to the ocean. On any given day, each of the 18 holes can play completely differently depending on wind direction. That’s what golf by the sea is all about.”
Doak and the construction team also discovered, preserved and showcased a former Māori fort, a defensive fortification known as a pa, between the fifth tee and sixth green. It’s all part of an effort to make the property have as much of a New Zealand feel as possible.
There are further expansions planned for the resort as well. The members-only Bunker Bar, Ocean Restaurant, North Clubhouse and remaining luxury accommodations are on schedule to be completed by October 2024. The Ocean Restaurant at the South Course will open at the same time. Along with the South Course and its clubhouse, the resort’s Ric’s Pizza Barn and the gigantic putting course named The Playground have been open for a year. The property’s luxurious two-bedroom cottages and suites are set well back in the dunes.
International green fees range from $400 to $650 depending on season, as posted on the resort’s website. Second rounds played on the same day have the fee reduced by half. There are discounted fees for New Zealand residents.
“It’s honestly a dream come true, for our entire team to have all 36 holes in play,” Te Arai Links managing partner Jim Rohrstaff said in the media release. “Tom Doak and Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw have each done such incredible jobs designing these two golf courses. Their work has exceeded our expectations. Yet we’re equally proud of the casual, inclusive vibe that prevails here. We wanted Te Arai Links to feel different – to welcome and engage traveling golfers but also non-golfers, spouses and kids. It really does, and that’s rare.”
Check out several photos of the North Course, taken by Ricky Robinson, below.
Rees Jones and Bill Bergin designed the new course at McLemore that is slated to open in 2024 atop Lookout Mountain.
McLemore, already home to one of the most stunning holes in the eastern U.S. atop Lookout Mountain in northwest Georgia, announced this week the name of its new 18 holes that are under construction: The Keep.
Jones and Bergin again have teamed up to design The Keep, scheduled to open in the summer of 2024. Several holes will run along the cliff’s edge with views of McLemore Cove below and Pigeon Mountain in the distance.
No. 18 of The Highlands Course at McLemore in northwest Georgia (Courtesy of McLemore/Dave Sansom)
The name, The Keep, is a nod to imposing European castles and fortresses built atop cliffs. The Keep logo also draws inspiration from history: The back-to-back lower-case ‘k’ is reminiscent of the Chi-Rho, one of the earliest symbols of Christendom formed by the first two letters of the Greek word “Christos.”
“We’ve been looking forward to announcing our plans for The Keep for a while now, and we are excited to invite members to take part in what will be an unparalleled golf experience,” Duane Horton, president of McLemore developer Scenic Land Company, said in a media release announcing the name. “Nowhere else will you find two courses of this caliber with the breathtaking views and scenery as we have here atop Lookout Mountain. We believe the addition of The Keep to our already world-class offerings at The Highlands will make McLemore a truly national golf destination.”
McLemore has announced the logo design for its new course, The Keep. (Courtesy of McLemore)
McLemore will offer various levels of membership, and an upscale resort with a conference center – named Cloudland – is also slated to open in 2024. Cloudland will be a Curio Collection by Hilton property. Guests of the resort will be offered access to both courses after The Keep opens. McLemore also plans more high-end, custom residential development. The resort currently offers stay-and-play packages that include golf at The Highlands Course and accommodation in several luxurious cabins.
Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner sought classic inspiration when building Ballyshear Golf Links near Bangkok.
SAMUT PRAKAN, Thailand – There’s been a lot of Lido talk in recent years in golf architecture circles. A new Lido opened this summer at Sand Valley in Wisconsin, attempting to recreate in great detail the original Lido course that was built in 1915 on Long Island, New York, with a design by C.B. Macdonald – that course was closed during World War II.
But Sand Valley’s rendition isn’t the only one.
Ballyshear Golf Links at Ban Rakat Club just east of Bangkok opened in 2021, and like its cousin in Wisconsin, this Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner design attempts to recreate many of the holes from the original Lido, sometimes in principle and at other times in detail.
At Ballyshear, Hanse and Wagner put into play many of the template holes established by Macdonald at the original Lido and beyond. The Eden, Channel, Alps, Short and Redan – each of those template holes and more are there to be played in Thailand. Such holes present shot values and demands identified by Macdonald that are now in play around the world, many of them borrowed from classic links courses. These holes are immediately recognizable to golf architecture buffs.
The back nine of Ballyshear Golf Links at Ban Rakat Club near Bangkok, Thailand (Jason Lusk/Golfweek)
Ballyshear was built on the site of the former Kiarti Thanee Country Club on a flat piece of land less than half an hour’s drive from Suvarnabhumi International Airport. The former course on the property featured tree-lined fairways and was often wet, as land in this area outside Bangkok is often inundated during heavy rains – the property is surrounded by rice fields.
Hanse and Wagner – the team behind several restorations of top classic courses, including Los Angeles Country Club before the 2023 U.S. Open – removed the trees, shaping the land into an open parcel more reminiscent of a classic links course. Much better drainage was installed, and a fair amount of engineering was necessary to create frequently rolling terrain that would hold up in the area’s climate.
That’s important, because the course needs to play relatively firm and fast to get the most of the template holes, their designs having been established on links ground and the best of them playing across sandy conditions. The ball needs to roll to make the most of such holes.
The private Ballyshear was covered with a local zoysia grass that does, indeed, play relatively firm and fast, especially in comparison to most other courses in Southeast Asia. A well-traveled player won’t confuse the conditions with those found on the links of Scotland or Ireland, but the ball does want to roll out a fair bit at Ballyshear, bringing the ground game into play.
Using the Lido templates was an intriguing idea for the Ballyshear site, as the land was flat to begin with. The original Lido was created by dredging a saltwater expanse and piling up the land until it was dry, then establishing interesting contours. Hanse and Wagner were able to do the same in Thailand. The use of the template holes from the Lido expanded on that theme.
The best part of Ballyshear: the shaping of the greens. Hanse and Wagner built some tremendous swales, valleys and ridges into these greens, many of them utilizing the traditional template greens. The putting speeds of the zoysia greens at Ballyshear will likely never be too fast, allowing the slopes to serve their purposes without getting out of hand. In that regard, they play much more like classic greens would have decades ago before the pursuit of speed rendered some classic slopes unplayable.
In all, Ballyshear (par 71, 6,690 yards) makes for a very different experience than found in much of Thailand, which has rapidly expanded as a golf destination in recent decades. From the low-slung, unobtrusive and perfectly comfortable clubhouse to all the nods at classic design, it’s a beautiful place to spend a day chasing a bouncing golf ball.
Check out a selection of photos from my recent trip to Thailand that included a stop at Ballyshear below.
Tom Doak designed Pinehurst No. 10 on dramatic ground that previously held The Pit.
Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina has picked the official opening date for its new Tom Doak-designed golf course: April 3, 2024.
Doak is building Pinehurst No. 10 on the site formerly occupied by The Pit, a course that opened in 1985 but closed during the 2008 financial crisis. Doak’s layout will be the first new course for the famed Pinehurst Resort in nearly 30 years. No. 10 will open several months before the resort hosts the U.S. Open on its No. 2 course June 13-16.
It’s a busy time around Pinehurst, as the U.S. Golf Association is building a campus that is under construction and is planned to begin to open in 2023. The resort also was selected as an anchor site for U.S. Opens and will host that tournament in 2024 as mentioned, plus 2029, ’35, ’41 and ’47.
Keep reading for the complete announcement from the resort about No. 10’s opening date:
The highly anticipated Tom Doak design, which began construction this January, will be the first original golf course Pinehurst Resort has unveiled in nearly 30 years. Its opening comes just a few months before Pinehurst serves as the site of the U.S. Open for the fourth time.
“Pinehurst Resort has been fortunate to be hailed as the Cradle of American Golf, and we’re grateful for all of the major championships and historic moments that have come before,” says Pinehurst Resort CEO Bob Dedman Jr. “We’re delighted to have a date to begin presenting this incredible design by Tom Doak to our guests. April 3 will not only be another great day in Pinehurst’s history, but for our future as well.”
Pinehurst No. 10 will be unlike any golf course at the resort.
While No. 10 is Pinehurst’s first new course in nearly three decades, it’s been centuries in the making. The landscape underlying Doak’s newest design features all that is natural to golf in the North Carolina Sandhills, including native wiregrass, extensive sandscape, towering longleaf pines and rolling hills. Midway through the course, though, Doak takes advantage of rugged dunes carved out by mining operations around the turn of the 20th century. The result is a spectacular course with more than 75 feet of elevation change that winds its way on a path toward delivering a golf experience like no other.
“No. 10 starts out fairly gentle, then it starts going into the old quarry works where it gets downright crazy for a little bit, then the course gets up on the hill and there’s a beautiful, sweeping view,” Doak says. “All of the holes coming in are challenging, even when you move down into the gentler terrain. It’s a dramatic golf course; more than I originally thought.”
Golfers looking to be among the first to experience playing No. 10 can reserve their stay by calling 1-800-ITS-GOLF. More information on golf packages can be found at Pinehurst.com.
“We’re excited to show off Tom Doak’s masterful interpretation of Pinehurst golf,” says Tom Pashley, President of Pinehurst Resort. “From the initial routing of Pinehurst No. 10 to the shaping and design process, Doak and his associates excelled in all regards. Our very high expectations were exceeded, and we can’t wait for everyone to see it.”
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.
Major League Baseball star Mike Trout has risen to fame with the Los Angeles Angels, but the superstar hails from New Jersey and that’s where he’s building a golf resort with Tiger Woods’ architectural firm.
In a recent episode of Bleacher Report’s “On Base With Mookie Betts,” Trout talked at length about his love for the game and what led him to build his course, Trout National — The Reserve.
The original plan for the 11-time All-Star and three-time American League Most Valuable Player was to purchase an existing course that was for sale, but after COVID hit in 2020, he said things “fell through.”
We promised you all a big announcement and here it is! We are so excited to be able to make a longtime dream of mine a reality, with none other than @tigerwoods and @tgrdesignbytw. We can't wait to share more updates with you as we create Trout National – The Reserve. pic.twitter.com/V8eMGEUYdS
Trout also said that his own experience with golf, which he’s been playing seriously since he was 16, allowed him to figure out just what sort of course he wanted to bring to South Jersey.
During the off-season from his time wowing the crowd as an Angel, Trout says he’s involved a lot with the project and the meetings that are necessary, but it was harder to schedule when he was back out killing it in center field.
Recently, the city’s Planning board OK’d a construction application for more than 27,000 square feet of buildings and facilities, including an administration building, an outpost building and an equipment building.Woods and his architecture firm, TGR Design, is also creating a new short course as part of Cobbs Creek Golf Club in Philadelphia.
The course complex will also have a practice range, short-game area, clubhouse, restaurant, five-star lodging, a wedding chapel and more.
Golf fanatics can look forward to the luxury-style private course’s 2025 opening date.
