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Those of you who read my roundup of hotly anticipated new golf courses for 2025 may have noticed I was already salivating for 2026. Avid golfers - from those who travel to find out what's new and interesting around the architecture scene to those in the market for a new private club to join - are about to find out why.
With 21st-century golf course architecture now well into its third era, the post-pandemic surge in interest in the game feels like it's only getting stronger, at least where new-build golf courses and notable renovations are concerned. Today's name-brand architects have been producing some of the most interesting courses seen in a century. Meanwhile, waves of their collaborators, associates and apprentices are beginning to fan out into the world, hanging their own shingles and producing exciting new work as well, both with new builds and eye-catching renovation work.
For now, let's focus on the new golf courses expected to fully open in 2026. This figures to be a big year for the expansion of the Keiser golf empire, begun by patriarch Mike at Bandon Dunes in the late 1990s and continued by his sons in recent years. While Bandon won't see any new additions to its complement of courses in 2026, three other facilities - Sand Valley in Wisconsin, plus the new Rodeo Dunes project in Colorado and Wild Spring Dunes in Texas - will see new golf open to members and the public. Another exciting resort, Old Shores in the Florida Panhandle, is expected to embark on its first golf course soon, too.
Mexico is another hotbed of new golf course development, with four total courses expected to open in 2026. Three of them will bring the Cabo-area list of total courses above 20, while the fourth, farther up the Baja California peninsula, figures to be one of the most scenic new courses built this decade.
After several years in the late-Oughts and 2010s when it was hard to scrounge up more than a handful of new projects to be excited about, there are dozens of new golf courses in various stages of development in the United States and internationally as well. Finding a representative sampling of 26 of these new projects to match the year in which they should debut was not as hard as determining which courses to leave off the list. If you know of something opening up, let us know in the comments.
10 new public and resort golf courses opening in the United States in 2026
Wild Spring Dunes (Course #1) - Mt. Enterprise, Texas
Tom Doak has managed to lend his keen eye for course routing and strong abilities to marshal talented planners, shapers and builders to help him bring the best out of some of the greatest sites for golf of the last 30 years. His latest course built for the Keiser family of Bandon Dunes and Sand Valley fame will be the first to wander a 2,400-acre site about two and a half hours from both Houston and Dallas and just over an hour from Shreveport. It sounds like the middle of nowhere, but the Keisers have a strong record of turning the middle of nowhere into somewhere you have to play golf. Early looks at some of this course's holes have travelers salivating. Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw are already deep into the process of building the second golf course here.
The Commons at Sand Valley Golf Resort - Nekoosa, Wisc.
We had a chance to preview the sixth golf course at the Midwest's premier golfaholic's retreat in late-summer 2026, but a few holes were still growing in and awaiting their turn to shine. When the 2026 golf season opens, everything should be good to go at what will be architect Jim Craig's first solo design, a 12-holer that will pair perfectly with a round on one of the property's 18-holers. Craig, a longtime Coore & Crenshaw associate, was instrumental in the development of Sand Valley's superb Sandbox short course, but his own take on bunkering and green design will be on display at the Commons, which has several fun half-par holes and the resort's best opening hole: a straightaway but fascinating par 5 to a green backed by a massive dome-like sand dune.
Rodeo Dunes (Course #1) - Roggen, Colo.
Another new outpost in the Keiser empire where some feet walked some fairways in 2025, this Coore & Crenshaw routing should see all 18 holes playable by founding members in 2026, with a full debut to the public on the horizon for 2027. GolfPass managing editor Jason Scott Deegan played 12 of the 18 holes a few months ago; "Touring the other holes still growing has me convinced this is a Top 30-40 U.S. resort/public course right out of the starting gate (rodeo pun intended)," he wrote.
Streamsong Resort (new course) - Bowling Green, Fla.
When it opens sometime in 2026, the yet-to-be-named fourth 18-holer at the groundbreaking Streamsong resort in the Florida hinterlands will become the first property with courses by each of the four most prominent 21st-century architecture firms. Tom Doak's Blue and Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw's Red courses opened simultaneously in 2012, followed by Gil Hanse & Jim Wagner's Black course in 2017. Nine years later, David McLay Kidd gets his shot at routing and shaping holes through part of the resort's almost otherworldly land, formerly used for phosphate mining. The popular debate over which course golfers like best will be rekindled.
Candyroot Lodge - Jefferson, S.C.
Sandy tracts of land are being snapped up all over South Carolina. This planned multi-course public golf facility will sit on 1,250 acres roughly midway between Charlotte and Columbia, and seeks to recruit up-and-coming architects to create its courses. The first one will be laid out by Mike Koprowski, who teamed up with Kyle Franz to fashion the eye-catching Broomsedge Golf Club, which opened in 2024. Play at the first Candyroot Lodge course is expected to start in the fall of 2026.
The Patch - Augusta, Ga.
Augusta National’s influence continues to spread beyond its physical domain. The old, long-neglected municipal golf course for the city of Augusta is set to become the latest significant community-oriented golf space in the South. The 18-hole layout has been totally redesigned by Tom Fazio and Beau Welling, and is expected to reopen in time for the 2026 Masters. Like other significant Munaissance projects, it will also incorporate educational programs aimed at benefiting area youth, including a new TGR Learning Lab.
False River Golf & Country Club - Ventress, La.
There had been a simple nine-hole course on this property from the 1960s, but it has been erased and replaced with a brand-new 6,800-yard 18-holer by architect Nathan Crace. The owner, an 83-year-old local businessman, sees the project as an asset for this community half an hour north of Baton Rouge to enjoy for a long time to come. A directive to honor Golden Age golf design inspired Crace to vamp on some Macdonald/Raynor concepts, including two interpretations of the Biarritz template green at the second and sixth holes.
Esplanade St. Marys - St. Marys, Ga.
In recent years, Michigan-based architect Chris Wilczynski has carved out a niche executing thoughtful designs in master-planned communities in Florida. This represents the former Arthur Hills associate’s first original design in Georgia, at a community laid out by homebuilder Taylor Morrison. In typical fashion, this course will accept daily-fee play for a few years until there are enough residents and members for it to go fully private.
Island Resort (Cedar) - Bark River, Mich.
The Upper Peninsula is not as popular a golf destination as the northern part of the Mitten, but it has plenty of solid courses, headlined by the excellent Greywalls in Marquette. The oddly-named Island Resort and Casino in the town of Harris has a fun 18 called Sweetgrass Golf Club, and in 2017 added Sage Run Golf Club a few miles away. Now, the Sage Run site is set to grow by nine new holes in 2026, with architect Paul Albanese completing a Golden Age-inspired loop that will include an homage to Augusta National's par-3 6th hole.
The Gate Golf Club - Naples, Fla.
With all its prestigious private clubs, Collier County, Florida is actually one of the weakest public golf markets in an otherwise golf-mad state. Practically every course in and around Naples is either private or very expensive. With a 9-hole par-35 course by Peter Jacobsen and Jim Hardy as well as a putting course and a comprehensive practice facility, The Gate should help bridge some of the gap between private and public golfers in greater Naples.
These originally expected 2025 new golf course openings have been pushed to 2026 (or beyond)
Bella Ridge Golf Club - Johnstown, Colo. | A dairy-farming family is repurposing their land into something as rare as an albino calf: a privately-owned daily-fee public golf course, laid out by architect Art Schaupeter, whose TPC Colorado has become one of the Korn Ferry Tour's favorite stops.
Crazy Mountain Ranch - Livingston, Mont. | This Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw design is on hold due to disputes over the developer's water rights.
High Grove Golf Club - Venus, Fla. | This Gil Hanse & Jim Wagner stunner that slashes through orange groves and over sugar-sand dunes has taken a trickle of preview play in the late stages of 2025, but will fully debut to members and their guests in January '26.
Jack's Bay Club (Jack Nicklaus Heritage) - Eleuthera, Bahamas | "Island time" is real when it comes to golf course construction, so it looks like this course may be a 2026 debut.
Marcella Club (Skyline) - Park City, Utah | Tiger Woods' TGR Design firm continues to put the finishing touches on what will be called the Skyline course at this new upscale mountain community. The firm of King Collins Dormer has already been hired to fashion a second course on property, called Ambush.
Miakka Golf Club - Myakka City, Fla. | The enormity of the earthmoving and intricacy of the design work at this course by Dana Fry and Jason Straka has taken time, but early photos that have emerged suggest it should be worth the wait.
Palmetto Bluff (Anson Point) - Bluffton, S.C. | The third course at this 20,000-acre domain is a Coore & Crenshaw design that should be ready for play during the first quarter of 2026. It will be interesting to see how it differs from their acclaimed design at Chechessee Creek Club, less than 20 miles away.
Travis Club - Spicewood, Texas | This Beau Welling design west of Austin is expected to debut in mid-2026.
Warmouth Sands Golf Course - Vidalia, Ga. | Architect Mike Young's persistence in working with local officials and dealing on-the-fly with some needed adjustments to the original proposed routing of this new municipal golf course have pushed the timeline for its debut into 2026.
We missed these notable 2025 new golf course openings
Halbert National Golf Course - Granbury, Texas | What better way to celebrate having become a billionaire than by building your own golf course? Biotech titan David Dean Halbert hired Tom Fazio to build a course for him, his wife and their friends to enjoy along on 170 acres along the Brazos River southwest of Fort Worth. In 2026 it will host a college tournament that will be broadcast on Golf Channel.
The Hills - East Quogue, N.Y. | Part of a swank new Discovery Land property, the first new facility built in the Hamptons since Sebonack Golf Club's 2006 opening began welcoming golfers this past year.
Mapletøn Golf Club - Sioux Falls, S.D. | After an impressive solo design debut with Lost Rail Golf Club, which opened west of Omaha in late 2023, architect Scott Hoffmann's second original design opened in the fall of 2025, becoming the first new private club in the Sioux Falls area in more than 60 years.
Nauka Golf Club - Nayarit, Mexico | This course by Fazio Design's Brian Bowers is part of a 920-acre private club and community north of Puerto Vallarta. Future guests of the on-site hotel Siari, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve, will also be able to play the course.
Shura Links - Shura Island, Saudi Arabia | This Brian Curley design sits on a manmade island that includes real estate and hotels as part of Saudi Arabia's massive recent tourism and lifestyle investment.
9 new private golf courses opening in the United States in 2026
Trout National - Millville, N.J.
What do you get when you combine a golf nut from the sports world with Tiger Woods? The golf world is eager to find out when Trout National, founded by MLB great Mike Trout with a course laid out by Woods' TGR Design, opens in Trout's south Jersey hometown in the spring of 2026.
21 Golf Club - Aiken, S.C.
The latest newcomer to the golf course gold rush happening in the sand hills east of Aiken is ambitious in scope, with its first course built to echo a "lost" Alister MacKenzie golf course in Argentina, El Boqueron, which was planned but never built. The yet-to-be-built second course will be an ode to match play.
Reynolds Lake Oconee (Fenmoor) - Greensboro, Ga.
Steve Smyers has the reputation of being a player's architect, having designed several acclaimed courses known for offering a particularly stern test of golf, like Maridoe Golf Club near Dallas and Indiana University's Pfau Golf Course, both of whose Slope figures soar past 150 from the back tees. His newest golf course, a members-only 18 at one of America's largest golf communities, promises to be a little gentler, although I expect plenty of intrigue nevertheless, with some clever looks at Lake Oconee. Another point in its favor: Fenmoor is expected to be Reynolds' eighth golf course but its first walkable one.
Firefly Golf Club - Spring Hill, Tenn.
Andrew Green, who has become one of the most in-demand architects for existing clubs looking to retro-update their classic courses - especially if they were originally laid out by one Donald Ross - has not had a bona fide from-scratch solo design effort to date. That all changes in summer 2026, when this private club and 407-home residential community opens 30 miles south of Nashville. Green's affinity for and expertise in Golden Age design is well-documented, and it will be interesting to see the ways in which his solo work diverges from that of the old masters.
Bounty Club - Whites Creek, Tenn.
Nashville golfers are expecting not one but two new area golf courses in 2026: Andrew Green's aforementioned Firefly and this King Collins Dormer project owned by 8 AM Golf, the company that owns GOLF Magazine and other brands. Justin Timberlake is also a partner in the venture.
Tepetonka Club - New London, Minn.
Despite its short non-snowy season, Minnesota is home to more golfers per capita than any other state. This new private retreat 115 miles west of the Twin Cities has been laid out by the three-man Aussie firm of OCM - Geoff Ogilvy, Mike Cocking and Ashley Mead - who are gaining in popularity each year. No less a figure than Jim Nantz is among the backers of this project, which will also include a short course where OCM invited Nantz to take part in the design.
Bluejack Ranch Golf Club - Aledo, Texas
Those who follow new golf course developments may already recognize the Bluejack name. Bluejack National was the first American golf course design by Tiger Woods; it opened north of Houston in 2016. A decade later, Bluejack Ranch, developed by the same team and including PGA Tour winner J.J. Henry among its backers, is another TGR Design effort that will combine golf, homesites into an onsite working ranch. They do things a little different in Texas.
Childress Hall Club (Upper) - Childress, Texas
This club has kept a fairly low profile so far - although its clever CH/rocking-chair logo has started popping up on the chests of some golf insiders' shirts lately - but with its first course by Tom Doak opened in 2025 and a second one by Gil Hanse & Jim Wagner expected for 2026, it seems inevitable that the secret tucked just beneath the Texas Panhandle will get out.
Luling Sport (Course #2) - Luling, Texas
Stop me if you've heard this one before: an exclusive, under-the-radar new private golf club in Texas with two golf courses coming online in 2025 and 2026, respectively. Where Childress conscripted Doak and Hanse & Wagner, Luling recruited Kyle Franz for its first course and OCM for its second.
These 2 new short courses will also debut in 2026
The Club at Lac La Belle (Uncle Henry's Backyard) - Oconomowoc, Wisc.
I don't believe I met Uncle Henry when I first played Lac La Belle years ago, but I had a great time playing Craig Haltom's redesign of the original course on a site that dates back to 1896. If Uncle Henry's Backyard is anything like the big course, expect some of the most fun greens you've encountered on your travels.
The Loop at The Patch - Augusta, Ga.
While Tom Fazio and Beau Welling bring the new 18-holer together, Tiger Woods has been overseeing the design of this 9-hole par 3 course that will round out the experience.
5 new international golf courses that will open in 2026
Cap Cana (Las Iguanas) - Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
Cap Cana's first golf course, Punta Espada, is one of the best Jack Nicklaus courses you can play and one of the very best golf courses in the Caribbean. After a very long wait, Nicklaus' follow-up, Las Iguanas, is set to debut in 2026, with more cliff-hugging seaside holes on tap.
Punta Brava Golf & Surf Club - La Bufadora, Mexico
This private club with a course laid out by Tom Doak is already being whispered about as one of the most spectacular sites for golf in recent years, with numerous holes hugging high cliffs above the Pacific Ocean on a peninsula south of the Baja California town of Ensenada.
Diamante Cabo San Lucas (Legacy Club) - Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
The Cabo area continues to churn along with new projects, including this long-whispered-about new private club within the Diamante development, with a course by Tiger Woods that has been compared in scope to Las Vegas' famous Shadow Creek. What all that means is set to be revealed sometime in 2026. The Legacy Club is expected to take over as host of the PGA Tour's World Wide Technology Classic in 2027.
Querencia Los Cabos (Campo Alto) - Los Cabos, Mexico
Tom Fazio, who laid out this club's original course in 2000, has returned to Cabo to oversee its second 18, which will wander higher ground, hence the name Campo Alto, with the original course being renamed Campo Baso.
Oleada Golf Links - Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
This project, which we first reported in 2023, brings four-time major champion Ernie Els to Cabo, where he has laid out a new 18 between the Diamante and Solmar properties as part of the new Oleada Pacific Living and Golf community. This course is expected to open in late 2026.
