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Old Shores, a new resort community in the Florida Panhandle, has begun construction on a new golf course laid out by Tom Doak, with preview play expected in late 2026 ahead of a full grand opening in later 2027.
Located about 35 miles north of Panama City and about 35 minutes from its Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport (ECP), Old Shores is the latest resort community development by Michael Keiser, adding to a portfolio of properties that includes Sand Valley Golf Resort in Wisconsin, Rodeo Dunes in Colorado and Wild Spring Dunes in east Texas.
A son of Bandon Dunes developer Mike Keiser, Michael Keiser's projects have followed a similar philosophy, placing walkable, first-rate golf design at the heart of overall plans and letting lodging, dining and other amenities evolve outward, rather than the traditional approach of fitting golf into a broad, baked-in master land plan. Sand Valley, Rodeo Dunes and Wild Spring Dunes all cite a deep focus on respecting the land and creating a strong sense of place, which is part of what has attracted kindred-spirit architects like Doak and Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw to lay out golf courses there. Another key element uniting Old Shores with Keiser's other properties: sandy soil that supports exciting design on reliably firm, bouncy turf.
According to Doak, Old Shores' property should surprise those who have a set vision of what golf in Florida looks like. "There is about forty feet of elevation change from high to low on our site, and even more on the site for the second course, with big sweeping hills providing a variety of stances,” he said. "Then there are the sinkholes, which are unlike anything I’ve seen on a golf course; in some cases there are abrupt banks 30-50 feet deep, and the largest of them, Long Lake, is something like 50 acres in size.”
Doak's proposed routing winds along features with names like Kersey Branch, Sunset Meadow and Long Lake, one of the sinkholes Doak mentioned, which help give the Old Shores property a distinctive feel. The course will start near the heart of the proposed village hub of the community, wandering out before curlicuing back to a meeting point that places the first and 11th greens and second and 12th tee areas all in close proximity to one another. Leading the on-the-ground effort to build the course is Angela Moser, who has worked on various projects for Doak since 2011. She was also the lead associate for Pinehurst No. 10, which opened in the spring of 2024.
As part of the property's current plan, Doak's first golf course is expected to be joined by a par-3 loop, a "precision course" and a second 18-hole course in due time. Old Shores will also have a hotel, multiple dining venues, cottages and an initial set of 21 estate homesites, starting at $1.3 million and enjoying a central location above the aforementioned Long Lake overlooking the closing holes of Doak's course. The built environment of Old Shores is intended to be walkable in the spirit of old villages of England and Scotland.
Old Shores will be Doak's third original golf course design in the state of Florida, following Streamsong Blue (2012) and Sandglass (2026).
