Building the 12th Green at The Tree Farm

In April 2022, we stopped by during the construction of PGA Tour player Zac Blair’s The Tree Farm project outside of Aiken, South Carolina. Co-designer and lead shaper Kye Goalby was in the middle of building the 12th green, so we chatted with Kye about his idea for the hole and why its so difficult to build USGA greens.

Based on a William Langford hole Kye played growing up, the 12th travels along the spine of the property up to a flattish fairway and a green that sits at grade. The front-left and back-right sections create a diagonal ridge that bisects the green, not dissimilar to a biarritz. Given the nature of the topography and the length of the hole (about 490 yards), Kye imagined a green that would allow players to run the ball in.

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