A cotton field in northwest Texas was the blank canvas for King-Collins’s first private course
On a flat, 135-acre plot just south of downtown Lubbock, Texas, Rob Collins and Tad King have developed what they call the “modern day Shadow Creek,” turning a nondescript piece of land into an awe-inspiring golf landscape for Red Feather—a golf and social club that will welcome 350 local and 75 national members.
The site for the course, a dried-out playa lake and former cotton field, required digging some one-and-a-half million cubic yards of dirt to create an 80-foot-deep canyon and a series of barrancas that will collect the water from the region’s infrequent rainstorms to quench the course for a full season.
Now picture a rectangular property with one gigantic, shared fairway. Most of Red Feather’s holes offer 360-degree views across the entire course from any point; others, like the par-five 6th on the property’s eastern edge, feature nooks and crannies that will leave players blind to their approach.
Bunkers of all shapes and sizes are randomly dispersed across the grounds, a trait that reminds Collins of National Golf Links on Long Island. “It’s the total opposite of formulaic architecture, and I think that really helps promote a sense of discovery and wonderment. You could play that golf course for 10 years and not find some of these bunkers until one day you’re like, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe I went there!’”
The culminating stretch has match-play drama written all over it with a drivable par-four 16th, a knee-knocking par-three 17th, and a reachable par-five finisher that dares players to carry the creek angled in front of the green. Ultimately, it’s this variety in length and direction of holes that is the course’s hallmark: When it opens this fall, Red Feather will have both the shortest par three (the 99-yard 17th) and the longest par five (the 721-yard 14th) in a state known for superlatives.
National memberships are available to those living 100 miles or more from Red Feather. National memberships will be extremely limited, if you’re interested in hearing more email madi@redfeathergc.com. We’ll see you soon. pic.twitter.com/5abMOX99rT
— Red Feather Golf and Social Club (@redfeathergc) August 31, 2023
