By Ed Schmidt
Golfers are always seeking the Holy Grail of that next great golf course. If you are looking for a reason to grab your travel bag to find your next golfing adventure, here are 10 NEW courses that help you explore new golf frontiers?
- 1. Te Arai Resort North Course, Tomarata, New Zealand
It’s one helluva long flight to New Zealand. My gosh, it takes countless mini-bags of pretzels, brewskis and movies just to survive the 14-hour journey from West Coast U.S.A. If you’re a golfer who seeks to play some of the world’s most spectacular golf courses, Te Arai is well worth the arduous trip. Slated to open late this year (2023), this classic, drop dead gorgeous beauty set along the sea incorporates spacious fairways, expansive greens and wind-shaped sandscapes. Designed by Tom Doak, the North is the perfect combination of a great piece of land, imaginative earth moving and shaping and design artistry. Better still, you can also play the Te Arai Resort South Course, a Bill Coore/Ben Crenshaw layout that debuted last year (2022). Situated 90 minutes north of Auckland on New Zealand’s North Island, Te Arai was developed by American Ric Kayne.
- Cabot Citrus Farms, Brooksville, Florida
I loved this place when it was known as World Woods. Unfortunately, it diminished in quality in recent years and was acquired by Canadian based developer Cabot, which is performing a stunning makeover that would make any Hollywood starlet proud. Some of the enhancements for the overall project include the addition of cottages and villas, a new clubhouse and nature paths. In total, upon completion, the complex will include two 18-hole courses, plus an 11-hole par-3 course and a 10-hole regulation-length course. Cabot Citrus Farms will also feature retail, restaurants, fitness and spa amenities, communal gathering spots, and a farmer’s market. Kyle Franz is the architect of record on both 18-hole redesigns (Pine Barrens and Rolling Oaks) and Mike Nuzzo is co-designing Rolling Oaks with Franz and also overseeing the build of the other two shorter courses. The target date for the debut of Cabot Citrus Farms is late 2023.
- Cabot Saint Lucia Point Hardy Golf Club, Saint Lucia, Caribbean
Mention the word “Cabot” and you immediately think stunningly beautiful and wonderfully designed golf courses. After all, these are the same people who brought us Cape Breton in Nova Scotia (Cabot Links and Cabot Cliffs). I can’t wait for their newest masterpiece, the Point Hardy Golf Club in Saint Lucia in the Caribbean, a jaw dropper situated on a 375-acre peninsula on the island of Saint Lucia in the Caribbean. The highly-respected team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw had 1.5 miles of coastline to work with and they took full advantage of their good fortune. Perched above the Atlantic Ocean, the course weaves through verdant terrain, over rocky outcrops and along tropical bays and sandy beaches. “.. it is going to be one of the most visually dramatic courses in all of the world,” said Bill Coore in a recent interview with Golf Monthly. Point Hardy is slated to debut in the next few months (2023).
- Landmand Golf Club, Homer Nebraska
Who would’ve thunk Nebraska would be some kind golf mecca on the plains? Landmand, which debuted late last year in the northeast corner of the state, joins amazing layouts like Sandhills, Dismal River and The Prairie Club if you visit the land of the Cornhusker. You’ll be blown away by the size and scope of Landmand, which spans 580 acres, about three times the size of an average course. Designed by Tad King and Rob Collins of Sweetens Cove (Tennessee) fame, Landmand is a 7,200-yard, par-73 layout with super wide fairways, some up to 100 yards in width, and gargantuan greens. If you wanna grip it and rip and actually hit some greens (they’re really spacious so you can beef up your GIR stats) this is the place to do it.
- RainDance National Resort & Golf Club, Windsor, Colorado
From the back tees this behemoth plays to 7,845 yards and can be set up to play a whopping 8,485 yards. You’d expect the RainDance designer to be somebody like John Daly or even Tiger or Jack, who loved the long ball during their primes. No, no, no, the designer is none other than short hitter Fred Funk, who averaged 273 yards off the tee during his PGA Tour career. Funk teamed with Harrison Minchew, who spent nearly three decades as an in-house architect with Arnold Palmer, to fashion this long and winding course. Set in high desert at nearly 5,000 feet above sea level 55 miles north of Denver, the course features 250 feet of elevation changes and 20 to 30-foot deep arroyos.
- Fields Ranch, Frisco, Texas
Two of my favorite designers, Gil Hanse and Beau Welling, were selected to design the two 18-hole courses at the Omni PGA Frisco Resort adjacent to the new PGA of America headquarters about 35 miles north of Dallas. The East Course, designed by Hanse, is a wonderland of rolling terrain, dry washes, a meandering creek and prairie grasses that surround the holes. Welling’s West Course features more than 75 feet of elevation change, wide fairways averaging 75 feet wide, native field grasses, wetlands, live oaks and mesquite trees. There’s also a lighted 10-hole, par-3 short course (“The Swing”) at Fields Ranch. The Frisco PGA headquarters will host the 2027 PGA Championship. NOTE: {The East and West will start booking tee times early this year (2023) for resort guests; the Omni PGA Frisco Resort hotel will open May 2023 – Registered guests will be notified via email of tee time booking details 120 days in advance of stay.}
- Dunas Course at Terras da Comporta, Comporta, Portugal
Playing golf in Portugal is an extreme delight and this new layout by David McLay Kidd will make it even better. Here’s a toast of a chilled Vinho Verde to this magnificent design set to debut this summer (2023). Situated on the Alentejo coast about an hour south of Lisbon, the Dunas course is remindful of a north Florida coastal course with constant sea breezes, white sugar sand dunes and scrub pine. The complex also includes a golf academy designed by Jose Maria Olazabal and Sergio Garcia.
- The Lido Golf Club, Rome, Wisconsin
I’m not sure what to think of this new Tom Doak design. It’s either a tribute course, a replica, a clone or a combination of all three. In a wildly ambitious, daring and creative project, Doak was recruited to reproduce C.B. MacDonald’s legendary, long-lost masterpiece, The Lido.
The new Lido in Central Wisconsin is a bold idea by the Keiser Brothers, Michael and Chris. The Lido will operate as a semi-private club with reportedly some tee times available to Sand Valley Resort guests. The original Lido opened on Long Island in 1914 and at the time of its opening was compared in shot making to Pine Valley and National Golf Links. Unfortunately, the course was demolished by the U.S. Navy after the Navy purchased the property for use as a military base during World War II.
The new Lido is slated to open in 2023 although a definite opening date has not been set. Click to their website for the latest updates.
- London Airlinks Golf Course, London, England
Due to open in Summer 2023, the London Airlinks Course in West London is set in the lush, picturesque Middlesex countryside. Measuring just under 6,000 yards, playing to par 71, the parkland course has several links style features including dramatic dunes and burns. Added bonuses are the incredible views of London golfers receive when standing on the elevated tees on the 14th hole, the unique Toptracer Range, economically priced greens fees and the convenient location just moments from junction 3 on the M4.
- St Patrick’s Links, County Donegal, Ireland
It’s not the newest kid in town since it has been open for more than a year, but St. Patrick’s at Rosapenna Hotel & Golf Resort should be on your must play short list for 2023. St Patrick’s is a Tom Doak masterpiece that adheres to his mantra of “Great land produces great courses.”
St Patrick’s is ranked No. 55 in The World’s Top 100 Golf Courses by Golf Magazine. The superb routing takes golfers through a constantly changing links landscape that encompasses huge dunes, elevated tees with stunning views of Sheephaven Bay and lush undulating fairways. Doak has fashioned 18 distinct and unforgettable holes to create one of the world’s best links golf experiences.
