There’s been a slight uptick in new golf course development in recent years, although it remains just a trickle compared to overall supply. But new courses always prompt excitement in the world of golf, where the itinerant golfers among us are always dreaming about where to (potentially) visit next.
In 2024, there are a host of highly anticipated courses set to make debuts, especially on the resort and private side. Following are 11 of the top golf course unveilings to know this year.
PUBLIC
Cabot Citrus Farms (Brooksville, Fla.)
The first U.S.-based property from the Cabot brand makes its debut in 2024 with a big splash: four new courses in Central West Florida primarily created by architects Kyle Franz and Mike Nuzzo. The two 18-hole layouts—known as Karoo and The Roost—are complete overhauls of the former Tom Fazio-designed courses at a once-popular but neglected property known as World Woods. There is also a 9-hole short course known as The Squeeze with holes ranging from 100 to 550 yards, plus an 11-hole par-3 course called The Wedge that’s lighted for play after the sun goes down. While there’s a high-end residential component to Cabot Citrus Farms, all four courses are publicly accessible, whether for day-trippers or those looking to stay at on-property homes that operate as guest accommodations with full resort services.
Doon Brae at The Highlands Resort (Harbor Springs, Mich.)
Doon is the Scottish word for “down” and brae means “hillside.” It’s fitting, as the new par-3 course at The Highlands Resort—the 11th across the Boyne Golf properties in Northern Michigan—is situated on a ski slope on the backside of the main lodge. Scheduled to open in summer 2024, the course has several stacked wall bunkers, template greens inspired by famous putting surfaces from the British Isles, and only one tee marker on each hole to allow guests to (generally) play from where they desire. “There’s a lot of excitement about short courses,” says Bernie Friedrich, Director of Golf Course Renovations and Development at Boyne Resorts. “We want to keep people excited about golf and wanting to play. If playing 18 or 36 holes is not enough on any day, this gives golfers another option.”
The Keep at McLemore (Rising Fawn, Ga.)
McLemore—known for its “Play Above the Clouds” tagline—is opening a second 18-hole mountaintop layout, known as The Keep, in the fall of 2024. The property, which has a growing membership but offers access to those who stay in one of its accommodations, has become famous for its cliffside finishing hole at its Highlands Course designed by Rees Jones and Bill Bergin. The new layout from Jones and Bergin is situated 1,000 feet above the valley floor of McLemore Cove and has dramatic holes along the eastern side of Lookout Mountain. The name was inspired by the cliffside views and majesty of some of Europe’s historic castles, as the course provides what Jones says is a mountain site with a seaside feeling.
Pinehurst No. 10 (Pinehurst, N.C.)
In conjunction with the U.S. Open’s return to the Home of American Golf, Pinehurst is unveiling its first new 18-hole course in almost three decades. Created by Tom Doak and lead design associate Angela Moser, No. 10 is situated just off the main property and built atop the footprint of a long-shuttered course known as The Pit. It’s a dramatic piece of property in the North Carolina Sandhills with about 75 feet of elevation change, as Doak and his team took advantage of rugged dunes carved out by mining operations around the turn of the 20th century, with part of the routing winding through an old quarry. The course is set to open in early April 2024.
Sedge Valley at Sand Valley Resort (Nekoosa, Wis.)
The newest 18-holer at this growing central Wisconsin resort was inspired by the inland heathland and links courses around London and up and down the English coast, situated on an intimate piece of property with sandy soil and native groundcover. The Tom Doak design is expected to play to a par of 68, a more intimate scale that will provide contrast to the more wide-open Sand Valley and Mammoth Dunes courses, the latter in particular. Words like “strategy,” “imagination,” “finesse,” and “decision-making” provide a clue for what’s in store at Sedge Valley, where guests will find they aren’t always going to be able to just swing away with abandon.
Shorty’s at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort (Bandon, Ore.)
Bandon Dunes is taking the resort short course movement to the next level with the addition of Shorty’s, a 19-hole layout that’s located between the first hole of Bandon Trails and the Pacific Ocean to the west. The course on the Oregon coast is named after Shorty Dow, who was the first caretaker of Bandon Dunes and a close friend of the property’s owner, Mike Keiser. Set into a gnarly pocket of rolling natural dunes and scattered shore pines, the design team of Rod Whitman, Dave Axland, and Keith Cutten have created a course with numerous ocean views and holes that range in length from 60 to 160 yards. The course is expected to open in spring 2024.
View this post on Instagram
PRIVATE
Apogee Club (Hobe South, Fla.)
The first of three 18-hole courses from three different architecture teams is being unveiled in 2024 at this exclusive, non-residential club in southeast Florida, just north of Jupiter, founded by Michael Pascucci (owner of Sebonack Golf Club in New York and a founding owner of The Bear’s Club in Florida) and Stephen Ross (owner of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins). Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner designed the property’s kickoff course—the West, which occupies one of the biggest parcels of the sandy, 1,200-acre inland site, with several holes that run along the St. Lucie Canal. Tommy Fazio and former USGA CEO Mike Davis are working on the second course at Apogee, with Kyle Phillips creating the third.
GrayBull (Maxwell, Neb.)
The first brand new course from the Dormie Network will be unveiled in the seemingly endless Sandhills of western Nebraska, where David McLay Kidd—the architect of the original course at Bandon Dunes—has crafted GrayBull amid a sea of rolling sand hills topped by prairie grasses. Cows and windmills are far more prevalent than corn in this remote part of the Cornhusker state, where GrayBull takes inspiration from Sand Hills Golf Club (about 90 minutes north) and is opening as a pure U.S. links-style golf getaway that makes full use of a rare mix of sand, wind, and weather.
View this post on Instagram
Kinsale Golf Club (Naples, Fla.)
On the west side of Florida, Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner teamed to create a private course in north Naples inspired by the template holes and design philosophies of C.B. Macdonald and Seth Raynor. Kinsale is an intimate, golf-only private club—with a membership of 250—founded by Detroit native and longtime southwest Florida businessman Anthony Soave. It will be open from October through May of each year, so a fall 2024 debut is planned.
Windsong Farm (Maple Plain, Minn.)
Minnesota has a lower proportion of private golf than most states but is adding a second John Fought design at this golf-centric club just west of Minneapolis. Fought teamed with Tom Lehman to design the first course at Windsong Farm and, after renovating his previous work in 2015, returned to create something very different on an adjoining 126-acre tract comprised of rolling farmland, forests, and wetlands. The new course will be a par 70, playing over 1,000 yards shorter than its counterpart from the back tees, will feature template greens inspired by Seth Raynor’s work at Shoreacres Golf Club near Chicago, and will have 13 holes that boast lake views.
John Fought is returning to Windsong Farm Golf Club to create another 18-hole layout. Fought created and renovated the other 18-hole course at Windsong Farm Golf Club, with the new course being ready to play in the summer of 2024.#HunterPR #WindsongFarm pic.twitter.com/CxNzLgoWj0
— Hunter PR (@HPRPebbleBeach) March 2, 2023
Wohali Golf Club (Coalville, Utah)
Close to Park City, with panoramic views of mountains, cliffs, and valleys, the modern lifestyle community of Wohali is home to the first solo golf design from architect David Boyden, a Salt Lake City native who’s worked with Tom Fazio and Davis Love III to develop dozens of luxury golf courses and resort projects in the U.S. and Mexico. The Eagle Course at Wohali is routed through canyon land owned by Boyden’s family, a property he hiked, hunted, and explored for decades. Part of that is now home to a 19-hole course that concludes with a dramatic par three on the edge of a lake.
What new golf course are you most excited about opening in 2024?
