Untapped U.S. locations for great golf courses?

[Matthew Lloyd]

I'm sure there is a previous thread on this but I couldn't locate it.

My question is simple: what parts of the U.S. remain undeveloped with great golf?

This may sound like an idiotic question but consider the sand hills region of Nebraska and eastern Colorado and the coast of Oregon.  Until relatively recently, these landscapes had not been used to their full potential.

When I was in college at UW-Madison, I always felt that Wisconsin was woefully under-developed for golf, but Whistling Straights and Erin Hills and now the Sand Valley courses have solved that problem.

Are there any more obvious locations out there waiting to be "discovered" or are all the low-hanging fruit now gone?

[BCowan]

Great post.  I would have to say Raleigh-Durham area.  Prob 5/12 people at my Southern Pines walking event commute from there for their out of town memberships at Pine Needles/Mid Pines.  Raleigh-Durham is fast growing, just needs more exceptional Golf imo. 

[David_Tepper]

Matthew -

Are you asking if there are sites/locations available to build "great" golf courses or if there are markets/regions that could be well served by having more "great" golf courses?

DT 

[Matthew Lloyd]

Matthew -

Are you asking if there are sites/locations available to build "great" golf courses or if there are markets/regions that could be well served by having more "great" golf courses?

DT 

I was thinking more about previously undeveloped regions that have untapped potential for golf.

[Mark Pavy]

I'm sure there's plenty of great sites. Whether or not you'll find someone willing to fund and build is another question.

[Chris DeToro]

I'm sure there's plenty of great sites. Whether or not you'll find someone willing to fund and build is another question.

It's still amazing to me just how much land we have in the US.  I think there's probably a lot of sites in the lesser traveled states like Montana, Wyoming, etc. that have just amazing property, but not a lot of great business reasons to build

[Rees Milikin]

Pretty much any of the areas on or around the sand ridges in FL.  There are a small amount of decent courses, but not nearly what the area is capable of producing.

[BCowan]

Pretty much any of the areas on or around the sand ridges in FL.  There are a small amount of decent courses, but not nearly what the area is capable of producing.

Agree completely. 

[Tim Leahy]

NorCal coast north of SF to Ore. If Ore can build golf on their coast why not Cali?

[Brett Hochstein]

NorCal coast north of SF to Ore. If Ore can build golf on their coast why not Cali?

The CCC, that's why.  It is sad though because there is so much potential for something special.  The climate is still right too for linksy fescue conditions.  Despite the presence of Cypress in Monterey, I would say the California coast is maybe only 10% of what it could be.  The dunes north of Reyes and just incredible. 

Speaking of "what it could be," I would nominate Northern Michigan for untapped locations for great courses.  Yes, there are hundreds up there, but despite sandy golf-scale hills and nice forestry, only a few are great, and only one is greatly conditioned (Kingsley Club).  I don't mean to slight some fine conditions and native presentations at other places, but Kingsley is in a world of its own and a model for what really could be. 

One more nomination for actually untapped land is the eastern edge of the California Central Valley that I often drive through on CA-4.  I once thought the wide open cattle grazed hills looked like the Sand Hills of the west; that was until I was actually in the Sand Hills.  The right plot out there could make for some golf unlike that in the rest of CA though.  it could be rather rocky and limiting to what can be produced;  I'm pretty sure it is not pure sand at least.  This is why I said "the right plot."  It certainly would be fun to try though, and I would love having a golf course around there that I actually want to play.

[Kyle Harris]

NorCal coast north of SF to Ore. If Ore can build golf on their coast why not Cali?

I would say the California coast is maybe only 10% of what it could be. 

I am not sure what this means. "What it could be" as far as golfers (a subset of the entire population of California) are concerned?

How delightfully myopic.

[Brett Hochstein]

NorCal coast north of SF to Ore. If Ore can build golf on their coast why not Cali?

I would say the California coast is maybe only 10% of what it could be.

I am not sure what this means. "What it could be" as far as golfers (a subset of the entire population of California) are concerned?

How delightfully myopic.

Yes, in reference to golf/quality of golf.  So yes, myopic in that sense. 

The coast is still stunning (understatement of the year), and I am the last person to say develop it all.  For the amount of space though, a little room of it allowing for awesome golf would be nice and still not take away from the majority of the coast's majesty.  Think of the coasts in GB & I in comparison and the amount of golf (golf that is sympathetic to the environment mind you) that exists there.  I don't think there should be anywhere near that sort of density, but it would be nice if there was just a little more.  Or if most of what exists already was made better. 

[Philip Hensley]

Great post.  I would have to say Raleigh-Durham area.  Prob 5/12 people at my Southern Pines walking event commute from there for their out of town memberships at Pine Needles/Mid Pines.  Raleigh-Durham is fast growing, just needs more exceptional Golf imo. 

Agreed. Lots of courses here, but nothing really great, especially in the public/semi-private sphere. Courses are built to service the housing communities developed, and they slap the name of a well-known architect on the course to sell the lots.

[Frank M]

It might not really be an area per se, but on my drive down the 1 from San Francisco through Big Sur to St. Simone for Hearst Castle, once you come off the last bunch of switchbacks and off the mountain at the south end of Big Sur, there's about a 30 minute drive along the coast up to and arriving in San Simeon with flatter land that I thought would make an absolutely spectacular location for a golf course.

[Frank M]

woops double posted

[K. Krahenbuhl]

There are probably many that are currently protected.

[Ryan Taylor]

Petoskey / Harbor Springs / Good Hart, MI area in dire need of great golf. World class golf is 30-115 miles south - Belvedere, Kingsley, Crystal Downs, etc. Summer tourism, sandy soil and stunning / un-developed water front land near Good Hart are reason enough to explore the potential.

[Ben Hollerbach]

I was going to say Texas hill country, but then I saw the post about the new 36 hole complex in planning. Central Texas does seem due for a course explosion.

[Michael Wharton-Palmer]

I was going to say Texas hill country, but then I saw the post about the new 36 hole complex in planning. Central Texas does seem due for a course explosion.

In terms of terrain and the potential for fast running soil beneath, I have to second this response from Ben. If the DeVries project had ever got off the ground perhaps we wouldn't be saying this, as that would have been a wonderful project El Borgeron or something like that

[Jim_Kennedy]

Probably can exclude 1/2 the country, at least for the "fore"seeable future

http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/MapsAndData/MapArchive.aspx

[Bill Brightly]

I've always wondered about the Outer Banks in NC. Seems to be an area with great potential but no great courses.

[Ronald Montesano]

I don't know about the Outer Banks, and not for the protectionist reasons discussed before. OBX reminds me of Chile: not wide enough to do any damage. There simply isn't enough land available to space a golf course. I realize that it could be an out-and-back links, akin to that Old Course in Fife, but it's a tall order. No doubt the dunescape is enticing, but I need to be convinced.

[Ronald Montesano]

Petoskey / Harbor Springs / Good Hart, MI area in dire need of great golf. World class golf is 30-115 miles south - Belvedere, Kingsley, Crystal Downs, etc. Summer tourism, sandy soil and stunning / un-developed water front land near Good Hart are reason enough to explore the potential.

So you don't think much of Bay Harbor, in Petoskey?

[Jim_Kennedy]

This might keep golf away:
 
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/special-features/2014/07/140725-outer-banks-north-carolina-sea-level-rise-climate/


Plus, a google earth flyover shows that there aren't any large parcels of land on the OBX that aren't state parks or preserves.

[Mark Bourgeois]

Pretty much any of the areas on or around the sand ridges in FL.  There are a small amount of decent courses, but not nearly what the area is capable of producing.

http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,28247.0/

I will add the Texas barrier islands, although compared to the potential I saw out there before anything was planned -- so awesomely perfect, I pulled over the car and started taking pictures -- it sounds like Palmilla Beach is a missed opportunity.

There's one more area I think could be really really good but I'm not telling.