25 notable golf course renovations set to be unveiled in 2023

They may not be as sexy as brand-new builds, but golf course renovations are arguably more important. A relatively small handful of brand-new courses open each year, but practically every golfer has a golf course that's in some stage of renovation near him or her.

Renovations come in many shades; even the most seemingly modest ones can have a huge impact on the day-to-day enjoyment of a course. Changing the mowing lines of fairways or greens - almost always by expanding them - can have an immediate positive effect on how higher-handicappers and short hitters navigate a given hole, especially if that expansion enables them to bounce a ball up onto a green that was previously locked away by rough.

Bunker tweaks and other cosmetic enhancements can make courses look refreshed, revealing aesthetic and strategic aspects that may have previously been suppressed.

Then there are the more involved projects, which may not manifest themselves as much on the surface but are crucial to the ongoing maintenance of a course. These include drainage and irrigation system replacements, new grass varieties on certain surfaces and renovations to cart paths or maintenance facilities.

All-in renovations, especially at big-time clubs, can run several million dollars. Yale University's upcoming soup-to-nuts golf course restoration by Gil Hanse and his team has been estimated to ultimately cost more than $20 million by the time the two-year project is finished in the fall of 2025.

Few courses have that type of financial backing. Luckily, they can accomplish a great deal with a small fraction of that financial commitment, thanks to the creative solutions of golf course architects, superintendents and stakeholder golfers.

Hundreds of golf courses will receive some sort of renovation this year. If your favorite course is one of them, please let us know in the comments. For now, here are 25 notable renovations to be aware of in 2023.

Augusta, Ga.
The smallest course on this list is, in many ways, the most consequential, situated as it is at the home of the Masters. Originally laid out by George Cobb in 1958, the course's first four holes are being reconfigured to accommodate the construction of two new cabins on the property. The new first hole will play 90 degrees to the right of its prior direction, and the second hole will play to its current green location, but from a different direction as well. Changes to the tee and green positions on the third and fourth holes will be more subtle, and the fifth through ninth holes should be relatively unchanged.

Fort Worth, Texas
The annual PGA Tour host will close immediately following the 2023 Charles Schwab Challenge for a year-long, $20 million renovation/restoration project led by Gil Hanse. The refreshed John Bredemus/Perry Maxwell classic beloved by Ben Hogan should impress competitors, members and TV viewers when the private course reopens the following May.
(Ed. note: An earlier version of this article misstated the time this project will get underway, and has been corrected above.)

La Quinta, Calif.

It won't be as large-scale (or expensive) as Colonial's renovation, but the piecemeal restoration project at the 37-year-old Pete Dye desert demon will return a great deal of character to a resort course that has shown its age while hosting the PGA Tour's The American Express event the last eight years. Longtime Dye disciple Tim Liddy has been helping to restore the course's original aesthetics via tree removal and landscaping adjustments. This summer will see replacement of the course's aging irrigation system as well as restorations of the bunkering and the original green perimeters. As a result the course pros see for the 2024 tournament should be looking - and playing - better than it has in decades.

Lancaster, Penn.
This William Flynn masterpiece 70 miles west of Philadelphia crosses the Conestoga River multiple times, and has come to national prominence since hosting the U.S. Women's Open in 2015. The biggest championship in women's golf will come calling again, in 2024, and in preparation, architects Ron Forse and Jim Nagle have been fine-tuning the private course, particularly via refreshing the bunkers and culling some trees to open up views across the dramatic property.

Lake Merced was originally laid out by Alister MacKenzie, though it evolved away from its original classic look thanks to latter-day renovation work, including by Rees Jones. Gil Hanse has been working on a comprehensive restoration/renovation meant to bring back the strategy of MacKenzie's original while dealing with some routing changes brought on by various land constraints over the decades. The private course reopened last fall.

Brooksville, Fla.
The former World Woods property is in the midst of a full-scale makeover after having been purchased by Ben Cowan-Dewar's Cabot company. Kyle Franz and Mike Nuzzo are in charge of improving on Tom Fazio's Pine Barrens and Rolling Oaks 18-holers. The resort community will also include a par-3 course and another nine-holer.

Orlando, Fla.
The 52-year-old former PGA Tour host course will fully reopen in the coming weeks after a renovation by architect Ken Baker. Included in the changes are reconfigurations of the 14th through 17th holes.

Vass, N.C.
Originally home to two golf courses, Woodlake fell on hard times and ultimately closed late last decade. Under new ownership, its original Ellis Maples-designed course is being revived by Kris Spence, who is an authority on the work of Donald Ross, Maples' mentor. Spence believes Woodlake to represent the some of Maples' best work, and he terms his renovation of Woodlake a "resurrection." The eponymous 1,200-acre body of water makes a stirring setting for the courses's first few holes before it heads into the hills. When it reopens, Woodlake will be a great semi-private option for Pinehurst-bound golfers.

Gulf Breeze, Fla.

New ownership hired architect Nathan Crace to focus on reviving a course that used to host the PGA Tour in the early 1990s while also making maintenance more efficient. As a result, Crace removed two-thirds of the formal bunkering, converting some of it to sandy waste areas, and naturalized more than 30 acres of previously irrigated but out-of-play rough.

Hollister, Calif.
Gene Bates, who designed the original course here in 1996, has returned to modernize it as neighboring land becomes a 55+ residential community. The public course is expected to reopen this spring.

Wilson, Wyo.
The talented Arnold Palmer Design Company team has been busy renovating its namesake's original designs in recent years, and semi-private Teton Pines has had principal Thad Layton's attention for the better part of two years. After tackling the front nine in 2021, the back nine received its own set of updates in 2022, including striking bunkering that evokes the mountain backdrop.

Many, La.

This Wyndham-flagged resort hotel 85 miles south of Shreveport near the Texas border is undergoing renovations and is slated to reopen in March, while its resort golf course, which borders the Toledo Bend Reservoir, is in the midst of a multi-million-dollar renovation effort by Texas-based architect Jeff Blume, that will re-emerge in the summer.

Chapel Hill, N.C.
Last fall, the firm of Davis Love III, including his brother Mark and associate Scot Sherman, embarked on a significant renovation at the university where Davis dominated for two years before making a splash on the PGA Tour. The nines are being flipped, with parts of the old back nine (now front) being rerouted to free up land for a significant expansion of the UNC golf teams' dedicated practice spaces. A few new holes are being built while the features of the remaining ones receive an overhaul. Finley will reopen in late 2023, as the Love team turns its attention toward another high-profile college course project: a new complex for the University of Alabama.

Hamilton, N.Y.

Colgate's golf course is a Robert Trent Jones, Sr. original on rolling upstate New York terrain. JimForse Golf Design's Jim Nagle has overhauled all of the public course's bunkers, rebuilt parts of several greens, expanded fairways and added new tees to challenge the university's golf team.

Sarasota, Fla.
This municipal facility had suffered from decades of neglect until the city decided to invest. By paring down the amount of golf by 18 holes and devoting dozens of acres to new parkland, the city aims to serve golfers and non-golfers alike. In charge of restoring the best of Donald Ross' original work here is Richard Mandell.

Edmond, Okla.

This muni in the heart of the city is finishing up a $19-million renovation project that addreses not just the golf course, but surrounding infrastructre as well: a new clubhouse and cart barn, to name two of the many projects ongoing. Architect Matt Dusenberry has made some design updates to the 50-year-old course, whose overseers hope to woo a PGA Tour Champions event when all's said and done. The course should reopen this spring.

West Orange, N.J.
This Seth Raynor/Charles Banks course dates back nearly 100 years, and has been owned by Essex County since 1978. On the heels of improvements to fellow county courses Weequahic Park and Hendricks Field, architect Stephen Kay is adjusting bunkering, greens, reconstructing tees and updating drainage and irrigation systems. Kay's work at the popular course is expected to conclude in the spring. Yet another example of municipalities investing in community golf assets (this one to the tune of more than $7 million).

Nashville, Tenn.
Architect Bruce Hepner has been brought in by Metro Nashville Parks to overhaul this nine-holer that, since 1937, has had two putting greens per hole - one for summer play and one for winter play. Hepner's experience working on Donald Ross designs and other classic courses should serve locals well at this course.

Englewood, Colo.

It's unusual for a Pete Dye design to fly under the radar, but Denver's golf scene is so strong that this quiet, private Dye opened in 1985 does just that. Davis Love III, his brother Mark and associate Scot Sherman describe the project as an "upgrade," and the course should reopen in June.

West Hartford, Conn.
Restoring Donald Ross golf courses has become a cottage industry within the field of golf course architecture, and in the last quarter-century several historians and architects have elevated the great Scot's work across North America. At this suburban New England private club, architect Tyler Rae has collaborated with scholar/author/journalist Bradley Klein to revive Ross' brilliance.

Manlius, N.Y.

Dick Wilson laid out some of the mid-20th century's most interesting golf courses, including the likes of Pine Tree in Florida and Deepdale on Long Island. In upstate New York, on the outskirts of Syracuse, architect David Ferris, one half of (John) Sanford Ferris Golf Design, has had the pleasure of working on a private course he grew up playing. Ferris' uncle was a founding member of the club, and his father was an assistant pro there in the 1970s. Ferris' focus has been to rebuild the bunkers to Wilson's original specifications and enlarge the fairways and greens to their proper footprints.

Belleair, Fla.
The oldest private club in the Sunshine State is home to two Donald Ross designs, and its West Course is fresh off a full-scale renovation by Fry/Straka Global Golf Design. Part of the project included restoring a par 3 on the edge of Clearwater Bay.

England
In preparation for its turn hosting the 151st Open Championship in July 2023, Hoylake underwent some targeted changes, including the development of a new par-3 "Championship 17th hole" (it's the 15th in the normal course routing) that runs in the opposite direction of its predecessor. As a result, new tees for the Championship 18th hole stretch it to 607 yards. Architect Martin Ebert helped the club oversee these and select other changes for this year's final major championship.

Barbados

Originally opened in 2009, this resort course never quite found its footing in the wake of the Recession. But it's been revived by architect Ron Kirby, and is set to reopen later this year, with a new short course also planned.

Costa Rica
Arnold Palmer Design Company's Thad Layton has been updating this Palmer resort course original that opened in 2005, with holes overlooking both Culebra Bay to the east and, to the west, the Gulf of Papagayo and the Pacific Ocean beyond.

Architecture

July 27, 2018

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