Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw

“When you give the design duo of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw free rein on a spectacular piece of land, it’s almost a slam dunk that a world-class golf course will be the result.” – Andy Johnson

Ben Crenshaw grew up in Austin and at six years old was introduced to the game at Austin Country Club by his father, but his interest in golf course architecture came ten years later when he saw The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts. A three-time national champion at the University of Texas, Crenshaw turned pro in 1973 and went on to win the Masters twice (1984 and 1995), as well as 19 times on the PGA Tour. In 1982, he served as a player consultant at TPC Las Colinas, where he worked with Byron Nelson and architect Jay Morrish. 

Bill Coore grew up in North Carolina and played college golf at nearby Wake Forest University. After graduating in 1968, he began his golf course architecture career with Pete Dye. Coore launched his own design firm in 1982 and built his first solo layout, Rockport Country Club in Texas, which caught Crenshaw’s eye. The Tour pro was so impressed that he approached Coore to start what would turn into one of the most successful design partnerships of the modern era. 

Based on the admiration and respect for the classic Golden Age golf courses and the “shared philosophy that traditional, strategic golf is the most rewarding,” the firm Coore & Crenshaw was established in 1986. The partnership’s first major creation, the Plantation course at Kapalua, opened five years later. Soon, Coore & Crenshaw became known for their skill in blending playability with challenge and matching artificial golf features with the surrounding landscape.

The opening of Coore & Crenshaw’s Sand Hills in 1996 heralded the beginning of a new era of golf architecture. First, it showed that a course built on sandy, undulating terrain in a remote location could attract significant interest. Mike Keiser would soon adapt this model to public resort golf. Second, Coore and Crenshaw’s design established a “minimalist” approach that has since defined the cutting edge of modern golf architecture. Their rigorous respect for the preexisting lay of the land and their crew’s ability to build artificial features that appeared natural set new standards for the industry. 

Other significant Coore & Crenshaw projects include the Plantation Course at Kapalua (1991), Austin Golf Club (2001), Bandon Trails (2005), Streamsong Red (2013), Cabot Cliffs (2016), Sand Valley (2017), the South Course at Te Arai (2022), and Brambles (2024).