by What new project(s) are you most excited about?
This is quite the question. I think since starting this venture nine years ago, 2025 has the most projects of any year. With so many places to choose from, I am going to pick an outside-of-the-box course, Warmouth Sands. Now you are probably wondering, what is Warmouth Sands?
In the first few years after Ohoopee Match Club opened, the leaders in Vidalia, Georgia, noticed the preponderance of private jets and celebrities gracing their small private airport. Over time they began to learn what a tremendous natural resource they had in abundance, maybe the best sandy soil in America, and how great it was for golf. It put the city into action and the Warmouth Sands project was born. Southeast-based golf architect Mike Young was hired to build an affordable public golf course on some of the best soil in America. Young is an accomplished architect who built and owns one of my favorite public courses in the Southeast, The Fields. It’s neat to see a private golf course inspire a community to build one of their own. I hope to make it down to Warmouth in the new year and see good public golf in Vidalia.
What’s a course/area you want to see in 2025?
The vast majority of my exploration efforts in the next few years will be abroad. I am really excited to return to Scotland in April and hit everything in the Fife area. The last time I was there was during the 2022 Open Championship, where I was able to scratch the surface during tournament week. I saw the East Lothian area before and after the tournament but managed to sneak in The Old Course and Elie, maybe my favorite course in the world from the Fife region. I am contemplating adding a few days onto that trip to explore another region of Scotland. I am hoping I can squeeze in another trip to either Ireland or England to continue to see new courses.
Domestically, I am ecstatic to be going to Pittsburgh for the U.S. Open. It’s a big hole in my travels, and one course in particular that I am excited to see (beyond Oakmont) is Alleghany.
The third at Oakmont.
Is there a design trend or thought you want to see bucked in 2025?
The biggest challenge in the design industry right now is cost. As Marlo Stanfield famously remarked after taking over the Baltimore drug trade ring in the iconic HBO series The Wire, “The price of the brick going up.” The cost of renovations, restorations, and new builds has reached astounding levels. It seems like every major project costs upwards of $15 million and many are going north of $30 million. Oddly, this insane cost has become a sort of badge of honor at some high-end clubs, something I will never understand. This cost has to be passed on and guess where it goes? To the golfer.
Where it’s the most depressing is in the public space. The costs are making it more difficult than ever to have a new public facility that is affordable to the masses. In 2025 and beyond, I would love clubs to begin contemplating if that $20 million renovation is actually going to take their course to a new level or if it’s just a nice lipstick that will last for a couple of years. In many cases, these projects feel like clubs spending money to just spend it, with the improvements being marginal.
It’s important to note that a few courses have done low-cost remodels and builds. Superintendent Steven Biehl was able to rebuild all 18 greens, regrass, and build all new bunkers at Wolf River Golf Park for well under $1 million. The result is fantastic and the course touts rates under $50 to walk. Projects such as this one should be donning the cover of magazines but alas, in American golf, spending more money is somehow “cooler.”
What’s a renovation or restoration project you’d like to see happen?
A few years ago, I published a list of restoration projects that I would like to see happen. Since then, High Pointe has returned and others such as TPC Sawgrass have begun discussing potential changes. Other notables are the white whales atop the list, like Augusta National, Riviera, and Pebble Beach, who continue to move in the other direction. The course on this list that I am most excited about potentially being restored is Cleveland’s Sleepy Hollow. Ian Andrew has begun long-range planning, and the Stanley Thompson design could be the best municipal golf course in America. It sounds like the actual work is years off, and I hope this master planning process is not just for practice and the work will be done one day.
If you could sub in one course to the PGA Tour schedule, what would it be, and for what event?
I’m going to assume that I can shoot a course, such as TPC Twin Cities, and launch it into the sun and replace it with any course in the world. After watching Royal County Down at last year’s Irish Open, it would be extraordinary to be able to watch elite-level golf there every year. The design and elements combine for the best type of golf viewing. In general, just give us more links golf!
This piece originally appeared in the Fried Egg Golf newsletter. Subscribe for free and receive golf news and insight every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
