Design Notebook: King-Collins to Build a Second Course at Seven Mile Beach

Welcome back to Design Notebook, where our latest preoccupation is canoe slalom course design. Sounds like the sport has its own version of “hard par, easy bogey”!

This edition of DN is golf-focused, however. First Garrett Morrison chats with Mat Goggin about the recently approved second course at Seven Mile Beach in Tasmania and Goggin’s decision to hire King-Collins Golf Course Design for the project. Then Matt Rouches gives an overview of the Pete Dye Trail in Indiana. Let’s get into it.

Q&A with Mat Goggin About the New King-Collins Project at Seven Mile Beach

By Garrett Morrison

Last week, the developers of Seven Mile Beach, an under-construction public golf complex near Hobart, Tasmania, announced that they had hired U.S.-based firm King-Collins to design the facility’s second 18-hole course. The first course at 7MB, designed by Clayton, DeVries & Pont, is expected to open later this year. Both properties sit on sandy, undulating terrain toward the end of a peninsula jutting into Tiger Head Bay, about four miles from Hobart International Airport.

The second course has been in the planning and approval process for several years. Last week, it received the final go-ahead from Clarence City Council. Until recently, the developers referred to the proposed course as “Five Mile Beach,” but they’re now calling it “Seven Mile Beach North” for the sake of brand unity.

I spoke to Mathew Goggin, the primary visionary behind the project (as well as an accomplished professional golfer), last year on the Fried Egg Golf Podcast. I came away impressed with his understanding of golf architecture and his commitment to making the 7MB facility reasonably affordable and accessible.

When I learned that King-Collins—of Sweetens Cove and Landmand fame—had gotten the 7MB North job, I sent Mat a few questions. Here are his answers, lightly edited for clarity:

Tell me about the property. Where is it, what are its main features, and how does it compare to the Seven Mile Beach site?

Mat Goggin: The site is directly north of Seven Mile Beach. The first hole of 7MB could be a double fairway with the North course—it’s part of the same property.

The main difference is that, while both courses are dominated by a large ridge dune, 7MB plays on top of it and the North course plays below it. The North course has classic contours. There is a lot more organic material in the sand because of the bracken fern life cycle. This creates a much greater variety of natural ground cover—ferns, moss, switch grasses. There are so many textures and colors. 7MB, on the other hand, is dominated by yellow sand and marram grass.

The peninsula that the properties sit on cuts Tiger Head Bay in half, making the back beach feel like it’s on a lake—very little wave movement and a very different vibe from hearing the waves crash against the beach at 7MB.

What went into the decision to hire King-Collins for the project?

Goggin: Quite a lot went into the decision. I wanted a firm that would see the project as a really exciting opportunity. A firm that hadn’t done any work in Tasmania, potentially not in Australia. Someone with artistic flare, bold and not afraid to take a few risks.

King-Collins have done some really interesting work on sites that have required a lot of effort and imagination to bring interest and excitement to the courses. I had this idea that the North course might require some really interesting feature shaping and greens. I felt that KC hadn’t had an opportunity to build on a really good site—sand, on water, with brilliant topography. Every feature they have built has been inspired by nature, never just sitting in nature. Nature is very difficult to replicate and requires a high level of attention to detail. After watching Mike DeVries work over the past 24 months, I’ve really grown to appreciate how important that is.

Rob Collins spent the last few days being blown away by all the crazy little features that are all over the site, just sitting there. I think this will be a very understated golf course for KC and visually their most exciting.

Finally, I thought it was important to continue to build out Tasmania as, dare I say, a Second Golden Age haven. Bringing in KC adds another great firm to a pretty special lineup of modern day architects and courses (Clayton-Doak and Coore & Crenshaw at Barnbougle Dunes, DeVries-Oliver at Cape Wickham, along with Clayton, DeVries & Pont and King-Collins at Seven Mile Beach). This is an island that didn’t have a single course in the top 50 in Australia 20 years ago, and now will potentially have four of the top five.

How, at this early stage, are you thinking about the differences between two courses?

Goggin: I think I covered a few of the differences in my answer to your first question, but the North course feels very traditional, especially when you are playing to the north. There are a few big contours and views out to the bay. When you turn to the south, the sandy cliff face of the large escarpment brings a lot of drama. 7MB is visually stunning, very raw, untamed, and has some of the weirdest features I’ve seen in sand dunes.

They are wildly different.

What’s the timeline for the King-Collins build? And by the way, how is Seven Mile Beach coming along?

Goggin: In a perfect world, the site will be cleared and a restorative burn will be done over the next 12-14 months, and KC would come on site October/November of 2025, and the course would be open 24 months later.

7MB is getting ready to pop. Winter has been mild and we’ve had some rain. We’re looking forward to some preview play over the Aussie summer and a full opening when the main facility is built. CDP absolutely crushed it. I can’t wait for people to come and play.

A Trip Down the Pete Dye Golf Trail

By Matt Rouches

In conjunction with the most recent visit to Crooked Stick, I decided to tour some of Pete and Alice’s other work around Indianapolis. The couple’s work in Indiana was prolific, so much so that the state’s tourism arm created the Pete Dye Golf Trail. I was able to visit four of the seven courses, and offer brief highlights of each below. I hope to complete this trail in the future.

Brickyard Crossing
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Architects: Bill Diddel (original design, 1929; alterations 1965,1971), Pete & Alice Dye (original design, 1993)

The history of Brickyard Crossing goes all the way back to 1929. The original course was built by Bill Diddel, and included nine holes inside Indianapolis Motor Speedway and nine holes adjacent to the racetrack. An additional nine was then added to the outer portion in 1965, and the inner nine holes were altered in 1971 with the addition of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum and Hall of Fame. Then, in 1993, Pete and Alice Dye radically changed what had existed on the site for over 60 years, creating one 18-hole golf course that included four holes within the speedway.

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The greens on this golf course are probably the most heavily contoured and interesting set that I’ve seen from the Dyes. The variety from hole to hole is spectacular considering the blandness of the land they had to work with. Unsurprisingly, Pete moved well over a million cubic yards of dirt to create bold features on (and segregation between) the holes. While I thought the transition into the raceway might feel gimmicky, all four holes inside the track are wonderful, and some of the course’s best.

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After a quick trip under the racing surface itself, the volcano par-3 seventh emerges into view with the track tower in the background.The green is two-tiered, with the back half lying lower and a large kicker slope running along the entire right side of the green. The eighth hole appears bland off the tee, with only a water hazard down the left and an unreachable fairway bunker down the right. The green, though, is a sight to behold. A long spine cuts through the middle on a right-to-left diagonal, and there’s an incredible nook for pins on the right side of the green. I’ve never seen a green like this, or even anything close. The ninth features a minefield of 24 bunkers splattered across the flattish hole, finishing at a domed, Pinehurst No. 2-like green. The final hole inside the raceway is a completely manufactured short par 4. Big fairway movements allow for sweeping right-to-left shots to kick onto the green thanks to contours pitching down towards the putting surface from 50 yards and in. While there are many terrific holes, the course does have a few less impressive moments. There are some fairly basic Pete Dye templates, and the turf was over-watered. Tree management and the addition of a native fescue grass would go a long way towards creating more texture and depth to the design, especially on the 14 holes outside the track.

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Despite some shortcomings, Brickyard Crossing is a must-see for anyone in the area. It’s a strong example of Pete and Alice’s work during the prime of their career, and includes some of their most eccentric green designs.

The Fort Golf Course
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Architects: Pete & Alice Dye (original design, 1997)

Built on the former Fort Benjamin Harrison U.S. Army Post, now Fort Harrison State Park, the Fort takes players through a rolling, forested property. There are several standout holes, including 2, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, and 18, all of which utilize the undulating terrain to create interesting golf. Like all Dye designs, strategy is plugged into each hole, with well-placed hazards and S-curving holes that test a player’s ability to move the ball both ways. You can expect fairly typical Dye putting surfaces, with exterior mounds and rolls that influence the perimeter of the greens paired with some interior movement. This is the type of course I would frequent if I was a local, similar to the way I always find myself playing Pete’s Riverdale Dunes outside of Denver.

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The course won’t bedazzle you in the way that Brickyard Crossing impressed me, but an affordable Pete Dye design is always worth seeing. The peak rate is $100, but it’s quite easy to find tee times at a much more affordable price. I walked for $43, which felt like stealing. You can expect great conditions, fun golf holes, and beautiful scenery inside the state park.

Kampen-Cosler at Purdue University
Location: West Lafayette, IN
Architects: Pete & Alice Dye (original design, 1998)

Purdue University’s North Course was always the weaker 18 of the 36-hole Birck Boilermaker Complex. When the University asked Pete to make improvements to the course due to an upcoming road construction project, he came back with a significantly different idea that included a completely new course designed to test college golf’s best players. Purdue bit on the proposal and gave Pete and Alice free reign, resulting in a stern test of golf that features expansive waste bunkers, large greens, manufactured mounds, and, of course, railroad ties. (Especially fitting for a Purdue project.)

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It would be very hard to not compare the look of Kampen-Cosler to Whistling Straits. Considering both courses were built concurrently, this is likely not a coincidence. Chaotic fairway bunkering, with vast exposed sand littered with grass islands, is a hallmark of the course’s aesthetic. This style of bunkering combined with manufactured mounding gives a little life to the land, which is for the most part a single pitching gradual hillside. The whole course tilts away from the clubhouse, with about 40 feet of fall down towards the large lake in the northwest corner of the property. There are a lot of good holes across the entire course, but none stand out to me as truly great. The subtlety of the greens left me slightly underwhelmed, but this is a terrific university course and compliments the rolling parkland-styled Ackerman-Allen course quite well.

Ackerman-Allen at Purdue University
Location: West Lafayette, IN
Architects: Bill Diddel (original design, 1934), Larry Packard (redesign, 1968), Pete & Alice Dye (original design, 2016)

Originally known as the South Course, Ackerman-Allen occupies the more interesting land at the Birck Boilermaker Complex. In 2016, the Dyes completely reimagined the old Bill Diddel design, creating a new routing and infusing Pete’s trademark bunkering. Fifteen of the holes occupy very undulating terrain that offers very few flat lies, while the stretch of 15-17 plays over the flattest land. A deep ravine cuts through holes 2, 6, 13, and 18, providing some unique tee shots and interesting ground movement to play over. This course is a terrific opportunity to see Pete’s design work on a very interesting natural piece of land. Often his designs were on flat and boring land, requiring that he do some heavy manufacturing in order to create interest at places like TPC Sawgrass, Whistling Straits, Brickyard Crossing, and others.

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During my first visit to the facility, which occurred under stricter COVID protocols, I actually passed up playing the Ackerman-Allen course. That was a mistake. Be sure to set aside time for both courses at Purdue. Each design offers its own flair and appeal, despite coming from the same design team.

Remaining courses to see on the Pete Dye Golf Trail include:

• Maple Creek Golf and CC, Pete’s first original design
• The Pete Dye Course at French Lick
• Tippecanoe Country Club, one of his first projects

Chocolate Drops

By Garrett Morrison

Cabot adds Bordeaux complex to its collection: The Cabot Collection, Ben Cowan-Dewar’s fast-growing resort company, announced last week that it had acquired Golf du Médoc, now renamed Cabot Bordeaux. Located northwest of the city of Bordeaux, France, Cabot Bordeaux has two 18-hole golf courses, “the Chateaux” and “the Vignes,” designed by Bill Coore in 1989 and Rod Whitman in 1991, respectively. The resort also features a hotel, restaurant, spa, and golf training facility, and it will no doubt attract a well-heeled type of traveler with passions for both wine and golf. (That pretty much describes me, minus the “well-heeled” part.) Cabot Bordeaux is the company’s sixth property, joining a portfolio that includes Cabot Cape Breton in Nova Scotia, Cabot Saint Lucia in the Caribbean, Cabot Citrus Farms in Florida, Cabot Revelstoke in eastern British Columbia, and Cabot Highlands in Northern Scotland. If you’re keen to learn more, I recommend Derek Duncan’s write-up for Golf Digest, which includes some fun color from Coore.

CDP bags another Colt gig: The firm Clayton, DeVries & Pont, consisting of partners Mike Clayton, Mike DeVries, and Frank Pont, has been appointed to review the historical fidelity of Whittington Heath Golf Club in Lichfield, England, a 1929 Harry Colt design. Whittington Heath was rerouted a decade ago to make way for a high-speed railway line. Since forming in 2019, CDP has developed a specialty in Colt restorations: the firm has also worked at Royal Dublin, Royal Hague, Hamburger Falkenstein, and Utrecht ‘De Pan’.

Quotable

“Just as the delight of playing golf depends so critically on the quality of the course, so, too… does the excitement of watching the game’s virtuosos in action in the big international events. We all know they can ‘hit the ball a ton’ and play it high, low, left-to-right, right-to-left, straight, soft, hard—the works. What we don’t know is whether they can come through with the shot that is called for when they are confronted with an arresting challenge when the pressure is on. The top courses present these challenges hole after hole, and this is why for just about a century now people who appreciate golf have turned out in large numbers to watch the championships.” –Herbert Warren Wind