An 18-hole course will be built alongside an already existing short course by Tiger Woods.
Nicklaus Design has started construction on an 18-hole course at Jack’s Bay Club in Eleuthera, The Bahamas.
Jack’s Bay Club is a 1,200-acre resort club and community that already features a 10-hole short course named Playground that was designed by Tiger Woods’ TGR Design firm. The Nicklaus Design course will be the 18-hole, full-size counterpart to Woods’ short course.
The new layout is scheduled to open in 2025 and will be branded as the first Jack Nicklaus Heritage course. Jack’s Bay Club also will be the only Nicklaus-branded community in the Bahamas.
Jack Nicklaus himself is not involved in the project. Instead, Chad Goetz, a senior design associate at Nicklaus Design, will oversee the creation of the layout. Doug Maslo, director of development and construction for Jack’s Bay, will oversee the construction.
The course will feature several oceanside holes while interior holes will cover land said to include rolling terrain, lakes and blue holes that connect with the ocean.
“This may be the most spectacular piece of land that I have been blessed to work with in my career – this is the opportunity of a lifetime,” Goetz, who has designed courses around the world for Nicklaus Design over the past 25 years, said in a media release announcing that construction has started. “We want to create a course at Jack’s Bay that harmonizes with the environment and features strategic shot-making opportunities. Most of all, we want to create a course that is fun for all types of players and immerses them in the natural splendor of this remarkable piece of land.”
The routing and site plan by Nicklaus Design for an 18-hole course at Jack’s Bay Club in the Bahamas (Courtesy of Jack’s Bay Club)
Nicklaus Design is part of Nicklaus Companies, which Jack Nicklaus founded but is now controlled by American businessman Howard Milstein, who owns 8AM Golf. That family of companies includes Golf Magazine, Golf.com, Miura Golf and other golf brands.
Jack’s Bay Club is being developed by Eleuthera Properties Ltd. The club includes four miles of oceanfront property and a wide assortment of high-end amenities.
Refreshed greens make this coastal South Carolina layout by Jack Nicklaus play like new.
Pawleys Plantation Golf & Country Club near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, reopened this month after a renovation by Nicklaus Design. The layout on Pawleys Island near the Atlantic Ocean was originally designed by Jack Nicklaus and opened in 1988.
Over the decades, trees had grown to encroach on the resort course, and many of the greens had shrunk dramatically – both those conditions are common at many courses. Working with a plan laid out by Nicklaus during a 2018 visit, associate Troy Vincent set about a renovation that could improve conditions while making the course more playable.
Besides selective tree removal, the work included:
Each green was stripped and restored to its original size, then re-grassed with TifEagle Bermuda grass. The resizing efforts reclaimed nearly 40,000 square feet of putting surface across the course.
The collars of each green also were resurfaced with a variety of Bermuda grass that can withstand mutation and be mowed lower.
Sprawling fairway bunkers on 10 holes were replaced with smaller traps, native areas and expanded fairways.
The club is also undertaking a clubhouse renovation.
“We followed Jack’s ideas from 2018,” Vincent, who has worked alongside Jack Nicklaus for 15 years, said in a media release announcing the reopening. “It was our intention to make the course more playable, to give players more options, and we have carried that out. I think everyone will be happy.”
The club, which features six holes on the back nine along a tidal marsh, is owned by Founders Group International, which owns 21 courses around Myrtle Beach.
Check out several photos of the finished work below.
The Nicklaus Design private course will be at Qiddiya, a new entertainment and residential development about 40 minutes from Riyadh.
Jack Nicklaus has signed on to build his first Signature course in Saudi Arabia, located about 40 minutes from the Saudi capital of Riyadh.
Nicklaus and his eponymous design company are creating the course, which will be framed by the Tuwaiq Mountain range, for a private club within a residential community in the Qiddiya development. Nicklaus said he has been involved in the planning and expects to break ground this year.
Nicklaus Design has built more than 425 courses in more than 45 countries, but this will be the first foray into the Middle East for the 18-time major champion.
“I am excited by this project and my first golf course design in the Middle East,” Nicklaus said in a media release announcing the project. “To be selected as one of the first international designers to work in the Kingdom is a great honor.
“I’ve already spent time looking at the topography of the land, images of the backdrop and terrain, and discussing with our design team a strategy for the course. The design will fully integrate the natural environment and the beautiful Qiddiya landscape, bringing together green spaces and mountainous terrain to form a picturesque canvas for both a beautiful and challenging golf course.”
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The media release said construction on the Qiddiya development began in 2019 and will feature a high-end resort hotel and spa plus homes. Qiddiya – called Saudi Arabia’s capital of entertainment, sports and the arts in the media release – hopes to attract international golf championships to the new course.
“By being involved in this project, we hope to promote the development and enjoyment of the game in the Kingdom,” Nicklaus said in the release. “We not only want to entice Saudi residents to take up the great game of golf, but we also hope this presents employment opportunities for citizens of the Kingdom that are within or related to the golf industry. This mirrors the vision of Qiddiya.”
Qiddiya also plans to build a second course at the development and is seeking designers for that layout.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman announced the plans for the project in 2017, and Qiddiya Investment company was born. The media release states the company has a “dual economic and social purpose: to advance economic diversification and unlock new professional pathways while enriching lives of the youth in the Kingdom.”
“The underlying philosophy behind this entire development is to introduce a new, active lifestyle to the people of Saudi Arabia,” Qiddiya Investment Company CEO Philippe Gas said in the media statement. “This project has been carefully planned to ensure an unmatched resort experience for both golfers and regular guests. We expect the Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course and residential offering to provide the most entertaining challenge for golfers and the most appealing homesteads for residents seeking an extraordinary lifestyle.”
A new Jack Nicklaus-designed 18 holes is planned for the massive resort in Orlando while the popular New Course will remain open until 2023.
Players who want to sample a homage to links-style golf near Orlando should not wait too long to play what was Grand Cypress Resort and its New Course, because the 1,100-acre property is in store for massive changes through 2023 as it is transformed into the Evermore Orlando Resort.
Those changes include a new Jack Nicklaus-designed 18 holes, while each of the previous courses at the massive resort are shuttered or will be by the end of 2023.
Developer Dart Interests announced this week that it is planning a $1 billion renovation of the property just east of Disney World. The Dallas-based Dart Interests acquired a majority stake in Grand Cypress in 2014, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
Until 2019, Grand Cypress was home to the Nicklaus-designed New Course as well as three other nines – the North, South and East – that could be played in various combinations as an 18-hole layout. The nine-hole courses were host to several LPGA tournaments, most recently the 2011 CME Group Titleholders.
The three individual nines were shuttered in 2019, while the New Course remains open for the next several years during construction of the resort’s many amenities.
The New Course, named in honor of the Old Course at St. Andrews, is intended to play as a links-style layout. The parallel first and 18th holes mimic those same holes at the Old Course, with a giant shared fairway as the holes run in opposite directions. Other nods to St. Andrews include a creek that somewhat replicates the Swilcan Burn. Being in Florida, the course rarely played with true, bouncy links conditions, but it has been a fun, almost treeless layout popular with locals and tourists alike since it opened in 1988.
Dart Interests said it plans to maintain the course through completion of resort construction in 2023, then replace it with a new Nicklaus-designed course on part of the site that previously held the nine-hole tracks. Details of the new Nicklaus course have not been announced, but a news release on Evermore’s website says the 18-hole layout will “pay homage to the legacy of golf excellence at Grand Cypress.”
A projection of how Evermore Orlando Resort, which will replace Grand Cypress Resort near Disney World in Central Florida, will look after construction wraps in 2023. (Courtesy of Hilton)
In all, the new resort said in the news release on its website that it will offer more than 10,000 bedrooms in a variety of settings including a 433-room Conrad Orlando at Evermore hotel, 69 rental houses ranging from five to 11 bedrooms each, 76 four-bedroom flats, and 41 two- and four-bedroom villas.
“We are incredibly excited to expand on our strong presence in the Orlando market and introduce the Conrad brand to a new city,” Danny Hughes, Executive Vice President and President of the Americas for Hilton, said in the release. “Conrad Orlando at Evermore will undoubtedly be a sought-after destination for Orlando travelers and will provide guests with outstanding service and impactful experiences when they visit the city.”
One of the more interesting and expansive components of the Evermore will be an 8-acre lagoon-style pool that will feature zero-entry swim areas, bars, cabanas, private fire-pits and an aquatic adventure area with a waterslide, rope swing and watersports.
“With the launch of the Evermore project, Dart is introducing an entirely new hospitality category that will change the landscape of vacation rental homes,” Christopher Kelsey, President of Dart Interests, said in the news release. “We are creating the first-ever wholly owned, large-scale community of purpose-built vacation rental homes and operating them with hotel-quality standards and world-class resort amenities. Our approach solves the No. 1 problem for vacation renters: uncertainty in the quality of the home.
“Almost all vacation rentals are owned by individuals, each with their own unique tastes and willingness to maintain the properties. Our centralized ownership model makes it possible for our guests to be certain that they are getting a first-class home with superior safety standards.”
Jack Nicklaus’ eponymous design firm has laid out more than 425 courses in 45 countries and 40 states.
Jack Nicklaus has done a lot more than win championships in his 80 years.
His eponymous design firm has laid out more than 425 courses in 45 countries and 40 states. Many of those tracks have garnered great acclaim, earning spots on the various Golfweek’s Best lists for course rankings.
Jack Nicklaus and Jack Vickers during planning at Castle Pines in Colorado. (Photo courtesy of Castle Pines)
Following are the 10 highest-rated courses Nicklaus has built, with seven of these on the Golfweek’s Best Modern list for courses built in or after 1960, and three appearing on Golfweek’s Best list for courses in the Caribbean and Mexico.
Golfweek’s Best course ratings are determined by an extensive group of players who judge each course on 10 criteria then provide their total rating from one to 10. Those ratings are then averaged for a final rating, shown with each course listed.
Four Seasons Punta Mita’ Pacifico course (Photo courtesy of Four Seasons)
10. Four Seasons Punta Mita (Pacifico)
Golfweek’s Best average rating: 7.09
Where: Punta Mita, Mexico
Year built: 1999
Status: Resort course
Golfweek’s Best: No. 10 on the list for best courses in the Caribbean and Mexico
