WEBVTT - 2026 Golf Course Openings We're Excited About 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:03.880 Twenty twenty six is here, So in this episode we 0:00:03.960 --> 0:00:07.800 are looking ahead. First, I'm going to address the question 0:00:08.360 --> 0:00:12.280 where are all the new ideas in golf architecture. Then 0:00:12.320 --> 0:00:15.680 I'll bring on my colleague Matt Ruschius to discuss the 0:00:15.920 --> 0:00:20.320 twenty twenty six course openings we're excited about. I'm Garrett Morrison, 0:00:20.720 --> 0:00:29.840 and this is designing Golf all right. Since it's a 0:00:29.840 --> 0:00:32.639 new year, I figure it's a good time to kind 0:00:32.640 --> 0:00:35.760 of refresh the format of Designing Golf a little bit. 0:00:36.200 --> 0:00:39.080 We're not going to change much about the podcast. I'm 0:00:39.159 --> 0:00:42.000 just going to add a couple of segments to the mix. Now. 0:00:42.120 --> 0:00:45.640 Usually the core of Designing Golf is an interview, and 0:00:46.080 --> 0:00:47.800 that's not going to change. We're still going to have 0:00:47.880 --> 0:00:52.200 conversations and interviews at the middle portion of the podcast, 0:00:52.720 --> 0:00:55.560 but I'd like to start each episode with a segment 0:00:55.600 --> 0:01:00.200 where I address some big questions about golf architecture. You 0:01:00.280 --> 0:01:03.920 have a big question about golf course design. I'm talking 0:01:03.960 --> 0:01:07.600 about one oh one level questions, right, questions that you 0:01:07.760 --> 0:01:10.240 might have been afraid to ask because you think they're 0:01:10.280 --> 0:01:14.720 too basic. Send those questions to me, and my topic 0:01:14.800 --> 0:01:18.440 choices for designing golf will in part be determined by 0:01:18.480 --> 0:01:22.440 the questions I get from all of you. So that's 0:01:22.440 --> 0:01:25.400 what I'm thinking for the first segment of each episode, 0:01:25.400 --> 0:01:29.399 the Big Question, and then for the closing segment, I'm 0:01:29.400 --> 0:01:33.560 thinking we'll do some takeaways, right, just reflections on the 0:01:33.600 --> 0:01:37.880 conversation or interview that you've just heard. So that's the 0:01:37.880 --> 0:01:44.840 basic idea. Three segments, Big Question, interview takeaways. Pretty simple, 0:01:44.920 --> 0:01:47.320 but I think it'll give the podcast a kind of 0:01:47.400 --> 0:01:51.160 structure that you can rely on. So today, the big 0:01:51.240 --> 0:01:56.240 question is where are all the new ideas in golf architecture. 0:01:57.000 --> 0:01:59.200 I think there's a sense out there right now among 0:01:59.240 --> 0:02:02.160 a lot of golfers is that modern golf course design 0:02:02.480 --> 0:02:06.760 is kind of stuck, that new courses look pretty similar 0:02:06.800 --> 0:02:11.200 to each other, and there's just not much innovation happening 0:02:11.440 --> 0:02:16.200 or artistic risk taking. And specifically, many people feel that 0:02:16.240 --> 0:02:20.560 today's golf architects are just rehashing ideas that were established 0:02:20.840 --> 0:02:24.680 in the early nineteen hundreds during the so called golden 0:02:24.720 --> 0:02:29.200 age of golf architecture. That's the basic argument that I've seen, 0:02:29.760 --> 0:02:32.640 and what I want to get into in this segment 0:02:33.200 --> 0:02:35.760 is whether I think it's correct, right? Is it true 0:02:36.360 --> 0:02:41.640 that today's golf architects don't have any new ideas. I 0:02:41.680 --> 0:02:44.480 don't really think so, or at least I don't think 0:02:44.520 --> 0:02:49.799 that characterization is completely fair. So you know, just look 0:02:49.840 --> 0:02:53.480 at Tom Doak's recent projects, for example. And Doak is 0:02:53.520 --> 0:02:56.880 a good example here because he is an industry leader. 0:02:57.200 --> 0:02:59.520 I think Doak is one of the architects that people 0:02:59.560 --> 0:03:03.079 are taught about when they expressed frustration about the lack 0:03:03.120 --> 0:03:07.160 of innovation in golf architecture. So consider what Doak has 0:03:07.200 --> 0:03:10.720 done in the past fifteen years or so. First, you 0:03:10.800 --> 0:03:15.799 have Old McDonald. This is a collection of CB McDonald 0:03:15.840 --> 0:03:18.440 templates done in the style of the old course at 0:03:18.440 --> 0:03:23.239 Saint Andrews. This is something that you really hadn't seen before. Yes, 0:03:23.280 --> 0:03:27.760 it's based on old sources, but it's executed in a 0:03:27.760 --> 0:03:31.560 fresh way. Doak also built the Loop, which is a 0:03:31.600 --> 0:03:36.280 fully reversible course. He built Saint Patrick's Lynx, an Irish 0:03:36.400 --> 0:03:39.800 Lynks course. He built the Lido, which is a recreation 0:03:40.160 --> 0:03:44.320 of a CB McDonald design using lid ar technology and 0:03:44.440 --> 0:03:50.840 GPS bulldozers, basically a completely novel workflow for golf architecture. 0:03:51.400 --> 0:03:54.440 He built Sedge Valley, which is a PAR sixty eight 0:03:54.760 --> 0:03:57.440 kind of sporting golf course, the type of course that 0:03:57.480 --> 0:04:01.040 you just don't see that often anymore. Very recently he 0:04:01.120 --> 0:04:05.400 built sand Glass, which is another lightar assistant golf course 0:04:05.880 --> 0:04:09.200 where the machines, as far as I understand it, were 0:04:09.320 --> 0:04:13.280 used to kind of create replicas of certain greens and 0:04:13.320 --> 0:04:17.800 features from other courses, and then Doak's shapers went in 0:04:17.920 --> 0:04:21.520 and kind of adapted those designs to the ground that 0:04:21.560 --> 0:04:24.960 they were on, remixed them so that they became something 0:04:25.040 --> 0:04:28.240 new again. This is not really something that I've seen 0:04:28.320 --> 0:04:32.560 done before, So I don't think you can look at 0:04:32.560 --> 0:04:36.080 that roster of designs by Tom Doak and say that 0:04:36.160 --> 0:04:40.760 he is resting on his laurels or hasn't innovated in 0:04:40.839 --> 0:04:44.400 recent years. And then you know, when you step outside 0:04:44.520 --> 0:04:47.880 of the usual architects that everybody talks about Doak, Corn Crenshaw, 0:04:48.360 --> 0:04:51.760 Gil Hans, David Kidd, there's a whole world of golf 0:04:51.880 --> 0:04:55.160 architecture that I think is a lot more varied than 0:04:55.240 --> 0:04:58.159 people give it credit for. So you've got firms like 0:04:58.400 --> 0:05:02.760 Jackson Kahn and King ko Alan's Dormer to derive influences 0:05:02.800 --> 0:05:07.520 from just different sources than the usual ones, and they 0:05:07.520 --> 0:05:11.360 are actually trying to do something new. They are earnestly 0:05:11.880 --> 0:05:16.680 attempting to move golf architecture forward. So I just don't 0:05:16.680 --> 0:05:20.040 think it's accurate to say that today's golf architects in 0:05:20.120 --> 0:05:26.680 general are complacent. However, all of that said, I do 0:05:26.800 --> 0:05:29.560 see where people are coming from when they say that 0:05:29.640 --> 0:05:34.080 a lot of high profile new courses look roughly similar 0:05:34.080 --> 0:05:37.400 to each other. There's a lot of courses set on 0:05:37.760 --> 0:05:42.760 rolling sandy land, a lot of freight edge bunkers, a 0:05:42.760 --> 0:05:47.480 lot of intricate, undulating greens, and so on and so forth. 0:05:47.520 --> 0:05:49.080 I think, you know the type of course that I'm 0:05:49.120 --> 0:05:51.719 talking about. It's a really cool type of course, but 0:05:51.800 --> 0:05:54.920 we've seen quite a few of them in recent years, 0:05:55.440 --> 0:05:59.200 and more broadly, I don't think there's really a sense 0:06:00.200 --> 0:06:03.480 that the current crop of up and coming golf architects 0:06:03.960 --> 0:06:08.279 even wants to break decisively from the past. You know, 0:06:08.320 --> 0:06:11.680 it's hard to find a young architect right now who 0:06:11.680 --> 0:06:15.560 doesn't genuinely look up to Bill Core and Tom Doak. 0:06:16.560 --> 0:06:20.320 So I do get where the critics of modern golf 0:06:20.720 --> 0:06:24.520 course design are coming from. I see what they are seeing. 0:06:25.560 --> 0:06:30.280 So why is it that innovation seems to be slow 0:06:30.560 --> 0:06:33.240 in golf architecture right now. And notice that I'm saying 0:06:33.279 --> 0:06:36.720 innovation is slow and not non existent, because I really 0:06:36.800 --> 0:06:40.359 don't think that there is no innovation, but the process 0:06:40.680 --> 0:06:46.560 is deliberate. Let me address this question by just running 0:06:46.600 --> 0:06:50.760 through a few theories. So theory number one is that 0:06:51.560 --> 0:06:56.680 maybe innovation has never been particularly fast in golf architecture. 0:06:57.200 --> 0:07:02.120 The business of golf course development is pretty risk averse overall, 0:07:02.480 --> 0:07:06.160 and that's because it's very expensive to build and maintain 0:07:06.240 --> 0:07:09.840 a golf course. So naturally, clients are going to want 0:07:09.880 --> 0:07:13.080 to stick with what they know will work. They're going 0:07:13.120 --> 0:07:16.280 to want to stick with what's been proven, and that 0:07:16.480 --> 0:07:20.320 is I think, you know, the main reason that we've 0:07:20.360 --> 0:07:26.040 never seen a full fledged avant garde or postmodern movement 0:07:26.160 --> 0:07:29.880 in golf course design. It's because there aren't many clients 0:07:29.960 --> 0:07:35.000 who want to support that kind of experimentation. All right. 0:07:35.720 --> 0:07:40.000 Theory number two, and this is related not that many 0:07:40.000 --> 0:07:44.440 golf courses get built period, Compared to how many albums 0:07:44.480 --> 0:07:47.120 get released, or how many novels get written, or how 0:07:47.120 --> 0:07:50.280 many movies get made, there just isn't that much room 0:07:50.840 --> 0:07:54.640 for true experimentation. And maybe there's not much appetite for 0:07:54.760 --> 0:07:59.720 novelty when the supply of golf courses is relatively speaking 0:07:59.800 --> 0:08:05.160 so small. Okay, theory number three, and this is speaking 0:08:05.200 --> 0:08:10.640 to the current period specifically, the dominant golf architects of 0:08:10.680 --> 0:08:14.600 the past thirty to forty years have had a great 0:08:14.640 --> 0:08:17.840 deal of longevity and they're still getting the best jobs, right. 0:08:17.880 --> 0:08:22.000 I'm talking about obviously Corn Crunchhaw Dough Hanson, Kid, but 0:08:22.120 --> 0:08:27.280 also Tom Fazio, Jack Nicholas. Internationally, you know, Nick Faldo, 0:08:27.400 --> 0:08:31.160 Greg Norman. These guys have been around for a long 0:08:31.200 --> 0:08:34.720 time and they're still here. They're still driving the status 0:08:34.800 --> 0:08:37.760 quo of the industry. And that brings me to my 0:08:37.960 --> 0:08:41.800 fourth and final point about the slowness of innovation in 0:08:41.880 --> 0:08:46.280 modern golf architecture, and that is that I'm not sure 0:08:46.320 --> 0:08:49.360 that the primary job of the golf architect is to 0:08:49.440 --> 0:08:53.360 be completely original. And that's because golf architecture is not 0:08:53.600 --> 0:08:58.400 a pure art, right. It's not like poetry or music. 0:08:59.040 --> 0:09:02.800 The intention is not just to create something beautiful. It's 0:09:03.120 --> 0:09:07.200 also to prepare a piece of land for playing golf. 0:09:07.720 --> 0:09:11.559 And preparing a piece of land for playing golf doesn't 0:09:11.600 --> 0:09:16.680 have to be an act of extreme stylistic originality, and 0:09:16.800 --> 0:09:20.280 maybe in most cases golfers prefer it not to be right. 0:09:20.720 --> 0:09:23.720 You know, preparing a piece of ground for a game 0:09:24.800 --> 0:09:29.160 may often rely on a lot of conventions that are 0:09:29.200 --> 0:09:34.520 determined by that game. There's not complete freedom to create 0:09:34.800 --> 0:09:39.120 whatever in golf architecture, and so really talking about golf 0:09:39.200 --> 0:09:43.160 architecture as an art form might be missing part of 0:09:43.600 --> 0:09:49.160 the point, part of the true purpose of what a 0:09:49.200 --> 0:09:54.560 golf architect is trying to achieve. All right, So all 0:09:54.640 --> 0:09:57.320 that is just food for thought, some theories as to why, 0:09:58.040 --> 0:10:01.800 you know, innovative golf er chitecture might seem pretty rare 0:10:02.280 --> 0:10:06.520 right now, and why that might not be totally disastrous. 0:10:07.280 --> 0:10:11.160 But I do absolutely think there are ways for golf 0:10:11.240 --> 0:10:15.360 architects to think outside the box and do things that 0:10:15.480 --> 0:10:20.280 feel fresh and exciting. So what are some new ideas 0:10:20.320 --> 0:10:23.320 that we're currently seeing or that I would like to 0:10:23.320 --> 0:10:26.600 see in golf architecture. This is going to be a 0:10:26.720 --> 0:10:30.640 very incomplete list, but first off, I'd love to see 0:10:30.640 --> 0:10:34.840 an architect or two or three actually take the idea 0:10:35.040 --> 0:10:40.560 of minimalism seriously. Minimalism meaning the notion of altering the 0:10:40.679 --> 0:10:43.440 land just as much as you need to in order 0:10:43.480 --> 0:10:47.360 to create compelling golf. So Minimalism has been a buzzword 0:10:47.440 --> 0:10:50.400 in golf course design for a long time. I do 0:10:50.520 --> 0:10:54.040 think there are some architects who earnestly practiced it in 0:10:54.120 --> 0:10:57.960 the nineties and early two thousands, But these days it's 0:10:58.040 --> 0:11:01.880 just really hard to find anyone who is actually devoted 0:11:01.920 --> 0:11:07.319 to anything resembling minimalism. You know, wall to wall reshaping 0:11:07.520 --> 0:11:11.040 of a site has become the standard and the expectation. 0:11:11.760 --> 0:11:15.000 So I would love to see someone, maybe a young architect, 0:11:15.640 --> 0:11:19.160 actually explore how little they can do to a site. 0:11:19.440 --> 0:11:22.360 You know, I love golf holes that just have one 0:11:22.400 --> 0:11:27.640 bunker or one green contour and that feature does everything 0:11:27.679 --> 0:11:32.040 that is necessary to create interesting golf and you know, 0:11:32.080 --> 0:11:35.120 so what, you know, what I think we're seeing today 0:11:35.280 --> 0:11:38.839 is a lot of overcrowding of bunkers and contours in 0:11:38.880 --> 0:11:42.480 an effort to grab the player's interest. So there might 0:11:42.559 --> 0:11:45.960 be some room for an architect to stand out by 0:11:46.160 --> 0:11:50.479 just doing less. And sometimes that might involve embracing aspects 0:11:50.559 --> 0:11:54.440 of a property that some would consider not ideal or 0:11:54.480 --> 0:11:58.960 even ugly, right, I think, you know, genuine originality can 0:11:59.080 --> 0:12:02.480 come from that sort of non judgmental approach to a 0:12:02.520 --> 0:12:05.800 piece of land and to you know, a lot of 0:12:06.040 --> 0:12:09.880 originality can come from embracing parts of a site that 0:12:09.960 --> 0:12:13.319 other architects might reject. That's probably the best way to 0:12:13.360 --> 0:12:18.720 put it, Okay, Another idea, can we rethink the notion 0:12:18.960 --> 0:12:22.120 of a bunker? Does a bunker need to be filled 0:12:22.120 --> 0:12:25.240 with sand? I don't think so, right, And one thing 0:12:25.280 --> 0:12:28.640 that I find really interesting about pre Golden Age golf 0:12:28.720 --> 0:12:33.679 architecture is that hazards were often just whatever the site offered. 0:12:34.080 --> 0:12:37.040 Maybe they were gravel pits, maybe they were, you know, 0:12:37.320 --> 0:12:41.439 an old fence or a wall or a carriage path. Right, 0:12:41.480 --> 0:12:45.040 I'd love to see more site specific hazards and less 0:12:45.080 --> 0:12:50.320 reliance on you know, conventionally sized and presented sand bunkers. 0:12:51.280 --> 0:12:54.320 All Right. A third area of innovation that I'm interested in, 0:12:54.679 --> 0:12:56.800 and this is actually something that we're seeing a fair 0:12:56.840 --> 0:13:01.680 amount of right now, is experimentation with routing a golf course. 0:13:02.200 --> 0:13:06.240 So this can mean a non regulation number of holes 0:13:06.520 --> 0:13:09.599 or non regulation types of holes. You could have a 0:13:09.640 --> 0:13:12.560 twelve hole golf course, you could have courses with a 0:13:12.640 --> 0:13:15.640 few par fours and a bunch of par threes. So 0:13:15.760 --> 0:13:18.360 for projects opening in twenty twenty six, look at Old 0:13:18.440 --> 0:13:22.280 Dane in Nebraska and the Commons at Sand Valley for 0:13:22.720 --> 0:13:25.640 examples of this kind of work. Then you can have 0:13:25.720 --> 0:13:30.760 courses that contain alternate routings, right courses within a course, 0:13:31.280 --> 0:13:37.120 reversible options. We've seen a pretty good amount of these 0:13:37.160 --> 0:13:39.960 projects in recent years as well. So we have Sylvie's 0:13:40.000 --> 0:13:44.240 Valley in Oregon, we have the Loop in Michigan. King 0:13:44.280 --> 0:13:48.360 Colin's Dormer is very interested in alternate routings, So there 0:13:48.400 --> 0:13:51.439 are definitely some architects who are pursuing this vein a 0:13:51.480 --> 0:13:56.040 little bit now. The difficulty with experimental routings is that 0:13:56.080 --> 0:13:58.959 they're hard to make a business case for. If you're 0:13:59.000 --> 0:14:02.960 competing against, you know, regulation nine and eighteen hole golf 0:14:03.000 --> 0:14:05.719 courses in a certain region, a lot of golfers are 0:14:05.720 --> 0:14:08.640 going to choose the regulation course so that they can 0:14:09.120 --> 0:14:12.480 maintain a handicap and feel like they're playing a quote 0:14:12.520 --> 0:14:16.040 unquote real golf course. So there is some work to 0:14:16.080 --> 0:14:20.120 do in convincing the general public that you know, courses 0:14:20.160 --> 0:14:23.200 with weird routings are actually a lot of fun. But 0:14:23.360 --> 0:14:26.400 I think it's worth pursuing because it could have great 0:14:26.440 --> 0:14:30.600 benefits for the game. So finally, I think a good 0:14:30.640 --> 0:14:35.760 way to approach innovation in golf architecture is to actually 0:14:35.800 --> 0:14:40.680 address the common frustrations that golfers have, and two of 0:14:40.680 --> 0:14:44.480 the biggest frustrations right now are the cost of playing 0:14:44.520 --> 0:14:48.480 golf and the amount of time it takes. So why 0:14:48.480 --> 0:14:52.000 haven't we seen more innovation from golf architects in first 0:14:52.000 --> 0:14:57.400 of all, economy of construction making courses cheaper to build, maintain, 0:14:57.840 --> 0:15:00.880 and ultimately play. I don't think no effort has been 0:15:00.920 --> 0:15:05.120 expended on that problem in the modern period of golf 0:15:05.120 --> 0:15:10.240 course development. And then second, are there architectural characteristics that 0:15:10.320 --> 0:15:13.600 can actually help pace of play? Are there ways of 0:15:13.640 --> 0:15:18.080 designing courses that allow groups to get around fast? I 0:15:18.120 --> 0:15:22.240 don't really know. I haven't investigated this problem very thoroughly myself, 0:15:22.720 --> 0:15:24.520 but I would like to find out because it would 0:15:24.520 --> 0:15:27.280 stand to reason that if golfers don't like how long 0:15:27.320 --> 0:15:30.640 it takes to play nine or eighteen holes, that we 0:15:30.680 --> 0:15:34.840 would figure out ways to get them around faster. So 0:15:35.240 --> 0:15:39.400 those are my basic initial thoughts about new ways forward 0:15:39.480 --> 0:15:43.120 for golf architecture. But I would really like to hear 0:15:43.160 --> 0:15:46.400 from all of you. Do you think modern golf course 0:15:46.440 --> 0:15:51.400 design is lacking in originality? If so, why and what 0:15:51.480 --> 0:15:54.680 kinds of experiments would you like to see golf architects 0:15:54.680 --> 0:15:57.080 take on all. Right, now, before we get to my 0:15:57.160 --> 0:16:01.520 conversation with Matt ruschis about up in course openings that 0:16:01.560 --> 0:16:05.760 we're looking at. A word from our sponsor, Goodwalk Coffee. 0:16:06.320 --> 0:16:10.320 Goodwalk is a big part of my daily routine. My 0:16:10.400 --> 0:16:13.720 preferred blend is the fried Egg Golf Blend, which is 0:16:13.760 --> 0:16:17.400 a medium light roast, absolutely delicious. My wife and I 0:16:17.480 --> 0:16:20.560 have kind of come to rely on it, and whenever 0:16:20.600 --> 0:16:23.200 we have to use a different set of beans, we 0:16:23.720 --> 0:16:26.240 kind of revolt against it. It's no fun at all. 0:16:26.320 --> 0:16:29.360 So you two can have Goodwalk Coffee in your life. 0:16:29.680 --> 0:16:33.520 You can get special blends delivered to you either every week, 0:16:33.840 --> 0:16:38.240 two weeks, or monthly. I personally love not having to 0:16:38.280 --> 0:16:41.720 think about reordering my favorite blends and just knowing that 0:16:41.880 --> 0:16:45.080 the house is filled with beans for my next cup. 0:16:45.600 --> 0:16:50.280 So head to Goodwokcoffee dot com, forward slash fried Egg 0:16:50.480 --> 0:16:53.880 to subscribe and make sure to use the code fried 0:16:53.880 --> 0:16:57.920 Egg at checkout to save twenty percent on your entire order. 0:16:58.360 --> 0:17:01.000 If you order a subscription, you'll say thirty percent off 0:17:01.000 --> 0:17:04.359 your first order, then ten percent on all future shipments. 0:17:04.680 --> 0:17:08.920 So that's code Frida Egg All one word at Goodwockcoffee 0:17:08.960 --> 0:17:19.400 dot com forward slash Friday Egg check it out all right, 0:17:19.440 --> 0:17:22.640 I am joined by my Frida Egg golf colleague Matt Ruschius, 0:17:23.080 --> 0:17:25.880 to talk about some golf course openings that we're excited 0:17:25.920 --> 0:17:29.199 about in twenty twenty six. Matt, I'll start with you, 0:17:29.320 --> 0:17:32.840 what's the first golf course opening that you're excited about 0:17:32.880 --> 0:17:33.800 for this year. 0:17:35.000 --> 0:17:38.520 Well, there's certainly a lot of cool courses coming online 0:17:38.640 --> 0:17:42.679 this upcoming year, but the one that has kind of 0:17:42.680 --> 0:17:46.600 had my attention for quite some time now is Yale 0:17:46.640 --> 0:17:52.360 Golf Club's restoration slash renovation. I'm not sure what they're 0:17:52.400 --> 0:17:55.120 exactly calling it. I would assume restoration. 0:17:56.040 --> 0:17:58.080 I would assume that Gil Hans would call it a 0:17:58.240 --> 0:18:02.480 historical renovation. But looking at the plans, it does seem 0:18:02.600 --> 0:18:06.320 like there is a lot of faithfulness to the original design. 0:18:06.960 --> 0:18:09.879 I think it can probably be called a restoration, but 0:18:10.480 --> 0:18:12.240 it's always somewhere in the middle with Gil. 0:18:12.960 --> 0:18:15.240 Yeah, I know they're probably planning on it in a 0:18:15.280 --> 0:18:18.080 lot of back teas and trying to lengthen it for 0:18:18.200 --> 0:18:21.840 college events and stuff like that, but I think, without 0:18:21.880 --> 0:18:25.400 a doubt their golf course will be better once it reopens. 0:18:25.960 --> 0:18:28.560 It's just I kind of have that lingering fear that 0:18:28.600 --> 0:18:31.159 it's going to kind of lose some of that patina 0:18:31.440 --> 0:18:34.760 and that kind of special sots that I experienced my 0:18:34.840 --> 0:18:37.320 first time visiting it. I mean, when I was there, 0:18:37.359 --> 0:18:41.200 I walked thirty six holes and it was an absolute 0:18:41.280 --> 0:18:43.720 brute of a walk, but it was so worth it, 0:18:43.800 --> 0:18:47.200 and it was so enchanting and exciting just to walk 0:18:47.240 --> 0:18:51.200 those fairways and know that people a hundred years ago 0:18:51.320 --> 0:18:53.960 were making that walk and playing this golf course with 0:18:54.680 --> 0:18:57.359 likely Hickory golf clubs, and it just kind of had 0:18:57.400 --> 0:19:01.440 this certain aura to it, and I just don't want 0:19:01.480 --> 0:19:04.480 that to fade away because it's such a unique and 0:19:04.560 --> 0:19:07.680 cool property. So I'm really looking forward to it, but 0:19:07.920 --> 0:19:09.840 also slightly apprehensive. 0:19:10.200 --> 0:19:13.879 Apprehensive there is a danger when you do a modern 0:19:13.920 --> 0:19:17.119 renovation to a course like that that you lose a 0:19:17.160 --> 0:19:23.920 little bit of that magic. But I'm hopeful that the 0:19:24.000 --> 0:19:28.560 work will turn out well as long as the as 0:19:28.600 --> 0:19:32.439 long as the support that is necessary is provided for it. 0:19:33.080 --> 0:19:37.320 So we'll see. Cautiously optimistic, I guess probably we both 0:19:37.359 --> 0:19:40.440 are about that about that project at Yale. All Right, 0:19:40.560 --> 0:19:42.920 So the next project I'd like to talk about here 0:19:43.000 --> 0:19:47.560 Matt is wild Spring Dunes. So the first golf course 0:19:47.680 --> 0:19:52.879 at wild Spring Dunes is going to fully open in 0:19:52.960 --> 0:19:56.119 twenty twenty six. Grand opening is expected, I believe in 0:19:56.160 --> 0:20:00.280 October twenty twenty six. This is a new Dream golf 0:20:00.320 --> 0:20:05.639 resort in East Texas, near the town of Nagadosius, about 0:20:05.680 --> 0:20:09.320 two and a half hours from both Dallas and Houston. 0:20:10.200 --> 0:20:13.560 So this first course is a Tom Doake golf course, 0:20:14.080 --> 0:20:16.440 and the lead associate for the project I believe is 0:20:16.680 --> 0:20:17.480 Brian Slanik. 0:20:17.480 --> 0:20:22.000 Do I have that right, Matt, I can't remember exactly. 0:20:22.400 --> 0:20:24.720 I know he was there a lot in Eric Iverson. 0:20:24.920 --> 0:20:26.720 Eric Iverson's heavily influenced. 0:20:26.840 --> 0:20:29.440 I don't know. I can't remember exactly which one it was. 0:20:29.440 --> 0:20:31.800 Though I know Iverson did a lot of work at 0:20:31.880 --> 0:20:38.879 at Childer's Hall Upper Course, which just opened late twenty 0:20:38.920 --> 0:20:42.600 twenty four. In any case, an eight hole loop at 0:20:42.640 --> 0:20:46.440 the new course at wild Spring Dunes opened on November twelfth. 0:20:46.880 --> 0:20:48.640 You have been to that eight whole loop, so we'll 0:20:48.640 --> 0:20:51.639 talk about that in a second. There's a second course 0:20:51.720 --> 0:20:57.720 designed by Corn Crenshaw where clearing is currently underway. That's 0:20:57.920 --> 0:21:02.199 expected to open in twenty twenty seven, pending all the 0:21:02.400 --> 0:21:05.280 all the usual potential delays that happened in the golf 0:21:05.359 --> 0:21:09.879 course construction, The construction of the clubhouse and the lodge, 0:21:09.920 --> 0:21:12.320 and and maybe some of the real estate that's that's 0:21:12.359 --> 0:21:16.359 involved in this development will begin this year in twenty 0:21:16.440 --> 0:21:19.520 twenty six. There are plans for a short course, a 0:21:19.640 --> 0:21:22.119 hunting course, a practice facility, all the all the usual 0:21:22.160 --> 0:21:24.680 stuff that you get with a resort like this. So 0:21:24.920 --> 0:21:30.200 that's wild Spring Dunes new Dream Golf resort course coming 0:21:30.280 --> 0:21:33.920 online very soon. So you've been to this place, you 0:21:34.200 --> 0:21:38.240 played that they hold loop, what's the land like, what? What? 0:21:38.240 --> 0:21:40.000 What do you think makes it different from other dream 0:21:40.040 --> 0:21:43.760 golf resorts? Just any any general impressions from from your visit. 0:21:44.880 --> 0:21:47.919 Yeah, so we actually got to see all eighteen holes. 0:21:48.440 --> 0:21:52.520 Everything's been grassed, they sotted it. So the course came 0:21:52.560 --> 0:21:58.080 alive pretty fairly quickly since they sotted everything. But I'd say, 0:21:58.240 --> 0:22:01.000 like initially, right when we got there, it felt very 0:22:01.119 --> 0:22:04.760 kind of pinehursty I think. I mean, it's hard not 0:22:04.800 --> 0:22:07.480 to compare him to other dope courses, but it's almost 0:22:07.560 --> 0:22:10.520 like a mixture of Sedge Valley and Pinehurst Number ten. 0:22:11.040 --> 0:22:14.040 If you wanted to put together two of his kind 0:22:14.080 --> 0:22:16.920 of most recent designs, but at the same time, it 0:22:17.320 --> 0:22:20.399 feels very different because he's done such a good job. 0:22:21.080 --> 0:22:22.720 Him and his team have done a really good job 0:22:22.720 --> 0:22:27.040 of just utilizing the natural kind of Texas terrain. It 0:22:27.640 --> 0:22:30.119 really is like a product of that region, kind of 0:22:30.160 --> 0:22:35.400 this scrubby like open prairie areas, these tall pine trees, 0:22:36.480 --> 0:22:39.160 and it really has a nice routing where you're moving 0:22:39.200 --> 0:22:41.480 through the trees and then you kind of come up 0:22:41.640 --> 0:22:44.560 out open to these open areas, and then once you 0:22:44.600 --> 0:22:48.760 get to the back nine, there's these pretty dramatic ravines 0:22:49.119 --> 0:22:53.240 and kind of spring fed creeks that the routing interacts with, 0:22:53.320 --> 0:22:55.440 So then you start to kind of get a little 0:22:55.440 --> 0:22:57.760 bit more adventurous on the back nine where you're going 0:22:57.880 --> 0:23:00.880 up and over these hills and ravines and you almost 0:23:00.960 --> 0:23:05.560 kind of get lost in the forest. But overall, it's 0:23:05.600 --> 0:23:09.320 a spectacular golf course. One thing that I'm really keen 0:23:09.400 --> 0:23:13.160 to see develop and mature is the grass. They went 0:23:13.240 --> 0:23:17.919 with a zoiza type grass in the fairways, and I 0:23:18.080 --> 0:23:20.800 just know that once that grass goes dormant and in 0:23:20.960 --> 0:23:24.880 kind of the shoulder seasons in winter, that this golf 0:23:24.920 --> 0:23:27.800 course is going to play extremely firm and fast, and 0:23:27.840 --> 0:23:31.119 I think that's really going to make the design shine 0:23:31.240 --> 0:23:34.320 and also make it really stand out from all the 0:23:34.359 --> 0:23:39.200 other kind of Michael Kaiser dream golf resort properties. It 0:23:39.600 --> 0:23:42.320 certainly has a different feel, but also kind of the 0:23:42.359 --> 0:23:44.840 similarities as a lot of the others, where. 0:23:44.640 --> 0:23:47.119 It just feels really complete. They've done this. 0:23:47.520 --> 0:23:50.080 I mean, this is like their fourth resort that they've opened, 0:23:50.080 --> 0:23:53.159 so they've really nailed down kind of the processes and 0:23:53.840 --> 0:23:56.280 know how to get everything right. So I think that's 0:23:56.359 --> 0:24:00.760 kind of the similar feeling. But then just the architect's 0:24:00.760 --> 0:24:04.640 ability to really adapt the golf course to the natural 0:24:04.720 --> 0:24:09.280 site makes it shine kind of its its own individuality. 0:24:09.880 --> 0:24:12.480 And when we were there, we got to get a 0:24:12.480 --> 0:24:16.240 little bit of peak of the corn crunchaw side, which 0:24:16.280 --> 0:24:19.400 is really cool. The first tee for Bill and Ben's 0:24:19.400 --> 0:24:22.400 course kind of plays off the same hill that they 0:24:22.440 --> 0:24:27.280 call Mount Baldy that Tom's course te's off from, and 0:24:27.320 --> 0:24:30.479 the land over there supposedly a lot more dramatic with 0:24:30.600 --> 0:24:32.879 more of those ravines that I kind of talked about. 0:24:33.000 --> 0:24:36.600 So it'll be a really good complimenting course, I think, 0:24:36.800 --> 0:24:39.360 and it'll be really exciting to see this This whole 0:24:39.400 --> 0:24:42.160 resort kind of come online and fully realize itself. 0:24:43.080 --> 0:24:46.360 Cool. Yeah, I mean you kind of see the Kaiser 0:24:46.400 --> 0:24:52.119 Brothers strategy coming into focus at this resort. Michael and 0:24:52.200 --> 0:24:55.520 Chris Kaiser, the sons of Mike Kaiser, who was the 0:24:55.560 --> 0:25:00.960 developer behind Bandon Dune's. Bandon Dune's established a model of 0:25:01.000 --> 0:25:07.080 a really remote golf resort where the priority was to 0:25:07.160 --> 0:25:11.760 find the most spectacular land possible. You can't get more 0:25:11.800 --> 0:25:15.480 spectacular land than what you found at Bandon Dunes, and 0:25:15.520 --> 0:25:19.119 it almost didn't matter that it was five hours from 0:25:19.200 --> 0:25:22.960 Portland and just like really not within reach of any 0:25:23.520 --> 0:25:27.639 large population centers, that that wasn't part of the strategy 0:25:27.640 --> 0:25:31.080 of the resort. Certainly, Michael and Chris Kaiser have started 0:25:31.080 --> 0:25:34.520 to move in the direction of finding great pieces of 0:25:34.600 --> 0:25:39.119 land that are remote and are in rural areas, but 0:25:39.200 --> 0:25:45.320 are also within striking distance of major metropolitan areas. So 0:25:46.320 --> 0:25:48.719 wild Spring Dunes is just two and a half hours 0:25:48.720 --> 0:25:54.280 from both Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston. I mean, that's 0:25:54.440 --> 0:25:57.800 a lot of people who can use this resort as 0:25:57.920 --> 0:26:02.359 kind of a weekend retreat. And as part of that model, 0:26:02.440 --> 0:26:06.200