While some golfers are perfectly content to play the same golf course all the time, many of us are excited to see, play, and experience something different and new.
When you stop to think about it, courses are like snowflakes. Golf isn’t like basketball, football, or soccer, where the playing field is uniform. Golf courses have their own personality—often with very distinct looks and feels depending on design, setting, terrain, and overall ethos. That’s why, for many golfers, there’s immense thrill in discovering something new.
As the recreational game enjoys renewed appreciation in recent years, new course development is at its highest level in more than a decade, according to the National Golf Foundation. There are over 140 new courses actively in the pipeline, with dozens set to open this year. And, because of demand—or perceived demand—there is a much higher concentration of short courses and private clubs in development than currently exist in the U.S. golf market.
Here’s a look at 26 noteworthy courses set to debut in 2026.
PUBLIC
Streamsong (5th Course)—Bowling Green, Fla.
The resort’s fifth full-length course, designed by David McLay Kidd, joins the Red, Blue, and Black courses as well as the 19-hole short course called The Chain on one of the most diverse sandy sites in U.S. golf, with dramatic elevation and exposed dunes rarely seen in Florida.
Sand Valley (The Commons)—Nekoosa, Wis.
After a soft opening in 2025, this creative 12-hole layout is set to fully join the central Wisconsin resort’s deep offerings in the spring. The first solo design from Jim Craig, The Commons is a nod to UK courses built on public (or common) land and provides a shorter, family-friendly mix of seven par-four holes, four par threes, and one par five.
Rodeo Dunes—Roggen, Colo.
The first of as many as six public courses at this resort project northeast of Denver will open for Founder and private preview play in 2026, with a 2027 grand opening to the public. This Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw-designed layout delivers true links-style sandhills golf on a massive scale in the Colorado chop hills. It’s the latest can’t-miss destination golf project from the family that brought us Bandon Dunes and Sand Valley.
Wild Spring Dunes—Nagadoches, Texas
Yet another new golf getaway from Michael Keiser Jr. (the son of Bandon Dunes founder Mike Keiser), Wild Spring Dunes is opening the first of its two planned courses—a Tom Doak design—on a remote 2,400-acre retreat located between Dallas and Houston.
Island Resort & Casino (Cedar Course)—Bark River, Mich.
The state with more public golf courses than any other is getting a new 9-hole layout at the Island Resort & Casino on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Architect Paul Albanese, who also designed the property’s Sweetgrass and Sage Run courses, has incorporated popular template green complexes inspired by Golden Age courses.
PUBLIC SHORT COURSES
The Loop at The Patch—Augusta, Ga.
Tiger Woods partnered with Augusta National Golf Club to create this 9-hole par-3 course at a revitalized municipal facility. It’s designed to offer a playful, accessible alternative aimed at juniors, beginners, and short-game practice in golf’s most famous town.
Grand Geneva Resort & Spa (Wee Nip)—Lake Geneva, Wis.
This 10-hole par-3—with a name that comes from the Scottish term for a small drink or quick sip—has holes that average around 90 yards. Designed by Matt Dusenberry, the little layout is a fun and relaxed complement to the resort’s two championship courses: The Brute and The Highlands.
The Club at Lac La Belle (Uncle Henry’s Backyard)—Oconomowoc, Wis.
A “puzzle of clever angles and lakeside breezes,” this 9-hole short course (with holes between 67 and 133 yards) was designed by Craig Haltom, who also oversaw renovation of the property’s 18-hole course that dates to 1896.
Wild Horse Golf Club (The Pony)—Gothenburg, Neb.
A par-3 companion to the highly regarded 18-hole layout at Wild Horse—also from Dave Axland and Dan Proctor—The Pony is part of an effort to expand offerings (especially for junior golfers) at this popular public facility in the sandhills of western Nebraska.
Cobbs Creek (The Q School)—Philadelphia, Pa.
This 9-hole short course designed by Tiger Woods’s TGR Design firm is scheduled to have a fall public opening on the campus of the historic Cobbs Creek Golf Course, which is undergoing a massive reconstruction of its 18-hole Olde Course.
PRIVATE CLUBS
Trout National – The Reserve—Vineland, N.J.
Baseball superstar Mike Trout is behind this high-end golf oasis built on an old silica mine and former farm fields outside his hometown in southern New Jersey. Tiger Woods (and Beau Welling) designed an 18-hole championship course and a lighted, reversible 9-hole short course, The Bullpen, for an exclusive membership that spans every major sport.
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Tepetonka—New London, Minn.
“High-end, Minnesota casual” is the aim of this private club, which will feature an 18-hole championship course from OCM Golf (Geoff Ogilvy, Mike Cocking, and Ashley Mead), as well as an innovative short course (The Prox) co-designed by Jim Nantz, who is a longtime friend and former college teammate of club founder Mark Haugejorde.
Marcella (Skyline)—Heber City, Utah
Woods and Welling are also architects of the first championship course at this private club community in northern Utah developed by the same team behind the state’s Black Desert Resort. The Skyline course features 360-degree views of the Uinta Mountains, Jordanelle Reservoir, Deer Valley Resort, and the Heber Valley.
Palmetto Bluff (Anson Point)—Bluffton, S.C.
Set on 500 acres of preserved maritime forest with upland pines and marsh vistas, this new Coore & Crenshaw design is the third golf course, and second 18-holer, at Palmetto Bluff and reinforces its status as one of the premier Lowcountry golf enclaves.
Bounty Club—Whites Creek, Tenn.
A private, golf-only club about 12 minutes from downtown Nashville is a collaboration between 8AM Golf and Justin Timberlake that features a championship course from King Collins Dormer Golf Course Design draped over picturesque Tennessee farmland.
Firefly—Spring Hill, Tenn.
Also in the Nashville area, this private, gated club community on more than 700 acres features 18-hole championship and 9-hole short courses from architect Andrew Green.
Reynolds Lake Oconee (Fenmoor Golf Club)—Greensboro, Ga.
The eighth course within this sprawling real estate community, designed by Steve Smyers, will be the third at Reynolds Lake Oconee limited exclusively to member play, joining The Creek Club and Richland, which opened in 2024.
Miakka Golf Club—Myakka City, Fla.
About 30 miles southeast of Sarasota, this private club on 1,100 acres along the banks of the Myakka River includes 18-hole championship and short courses designed by Dana Fry and Jason Straka in collaboration with Paul Azinger, who lives in nearby Bradenton.
21 Golf Club (The MacKenzie)—Jackson, S.C.
This invitation-only private club in the South Carolina sandhills, about 15 miles from Augusta, Ga., will include two courses—the first bringing to life the famed “Lost MacKenzie” design inspired by Alister MacKenzie’s original plans of El Boqueron in Argentina.
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The Rose Golf Club—Hull, Ga.
There’s a decided “Bulldogs” flavor to this private club 10 minutes from downtown Athens and the University of Georgia. Tripp Davis is the architect on record for the project, which is the vision of two-time Georgia All-American Nick Cassini, with former Bulldogs and PGA Tour winners Bubba Watson, Chris Kirk, and Brendon Todd all part of the effort at a club named after the state flower of Georgia.
Luling Sport—Luling, Texas
On the southwestern edge of Hill Country, between Austin and San Antonio, this private club’s second 18-hole course—this one from OCM—is set to debut on wide-open Texas ranchland and join the first course designed by Kyle Franz.
Contentment—Hays, N.C.
This private golf retreat in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains features an 18-hole layout from Lester George that blends modern golf innovation with classic design philosophies inspired by C.B. Macdonald and Seth Raynor.
Travis Club—Spicewood, Texas
In the Texas Hill Country, Beau Welling took advantage of dramatic elevation changes and hilltop panoramas to create the golf course that’s the centerpiece of this new private lakeside 1,500-acre community on Lake Travis.
Lazy J Sporting Club—Ideal, S.D.
A true rural America retreat that pairs charming championship golf with hunting and outdoor recreation. The walking-friendly 18-hole layout was designed by architect Colton Craig in collaboration with Tom Coyne, who is better known to many golfers for his wonderful storytelling in books such as A Course Called America and A Course Called Scotland.
Three Bridges—Salem, Utah
In the western foothills of the Wasatch Mountains, this private lifestyle club is scheduled to open the first nine holes of its Robert Trent Jones II championship course as well as a state-of-the-art golf academy.
RENOVATION RETURN
Yale Golf Course—New Haven, Conn.
The Yale Golf Course opened in 1926 in a rolling woodland setting with dramatic elevation changes, deep bunkers, and iconic template holes. One hundred years later, the course is set for one of the game’s most highly anticipated reveals after an extensive $25 million, two-plus-year restoration by Gil Hanse to return it to its original Macdonald and Raynor roots. While it’s not completely new, the depth of changes will be new to you… and many others.
Which new golf course are you most excited about opening in 2026?
