Cash and demand

We encountered a social media post touting a new private golf course in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and received a news release about Georgia juggernaut Reynolds Lake Oconee creating a new 18-hole course on consecutive days last month.

Mapleton Golf Club is Sioux Falls’ first new private golf course project since the 1960s; the addition at Reynolds Lake Oconee will incorporate the existing Bluff nine into the layout and give the club seven courses. Neither announcement surprised us. Sioux Falls and Greensboro, Georgia, are fast-growing communities with expanding demand for private golf.

Both clubs dropped the news the week following the Masters. Reynolds Lake Oconee is 70 miles from Augusta. No new courses are currently under construction in Augusta. But Old Barnwell and The Tree Farm, both in Aiken County, South Carolina, are 20 and 45 miles, respectively, from Augusta. The 18-hole and kids courses at Old Barnwell are scheduled to fully open later this year, with a third course debuting in 2027, according to the club’s website. The Tree Farm is under construction. A new, 9-hole short course, cleverly called the Chalk Mine, opened last year in Aiken County.

New courses are also being built in Utah. I had the opportunity in mid-March to tour the nine completed holes at Black Desert Resort with superintendent Ken Yates and general manager Brenton Rice. The second 10 holes — yes, Black Desert has 19 holes — are opening this summer. Black Desert Resort occupies a dream site (think colorful mountains in every direction) in the fast-growing Greater Zion region of southern Utah. Nearly every Utah community is rapidly growing, as the state has added nearly 1 million residents since 2000. Earlier this year, Tiger Woods and his TGR Design firm announced they are designing a new private course in Park City. The Marcella Club is debuting in 2025.

Announcements involving new TGR Design projects are a 2023 trend. The firm also announced a partnership with baseball star Mike Trout to design Trout National-The Reserve in southern New Jersey.

The National Golf Foundation reported in late 2022 that it was tracking 54 courses under construction, a 55 percent increase compared to the three-year pre-pandemic average. Another 38 courses are in planning phases, according to the NGF.

Florida is the epicenter of new golf construction. An architect whose firm is designing a new upscale Florida course recently texted: “Florida is the hottest golf market now. There is A LOT to see.” Details of numerous elaborate Sunshine State projects are being kept private, because neither publicity nor social media buzz are currently needed to sell memberships and lots.

What does an uptick in new construction mean for golf maintenance professionals?

For starters, a few of your peers are receiving opportunities to fulfill career dreams by helping build and establish a new course. Those opportunities were nearly non-existent for a decade. New courses create openings for advancement at all levels of the industry. When a superintendent leaves an existing course for a new project, it opens a top turf position at what is likely a solid club. If you’re open to relocating, keep your résumé updated and networking skills sharp. Things are happening fast and at unlikely times.

It also helps to view new projects with some skepticism. Former Idaho superintendent Ben D. Wilmarth (page 28) writes candidly about grand projects of the late 1990s and early 2000s that turned into maintenance hassles. Study the finances of owners and developers. Become more than a novice in golf course architecture. Is the design too elaborate for the projected maintenance budget? Is it being constructed by a reputable builder? Is a maintenance facility part of the plans or will the crew be using trailers for the foreseeable future?

If a project becomes unsustainable in five, 10 or 15 years, correcting design and construction gaffes will fall on the superintendent. A bold project can methodically become a bad situation for a maintenance professional.

What does the uptick in new construction mean for Golf Course Industry?

We’re expecting more intriguing content about new projects inside our pages, newsletters, website, social media feeds and podcasts in 2023.

PS: We received a news release one day after this column was completed about a Colorado project that will support up to … six … courses!