GolfClubAtlas.com > Golf Course Architecture Discussion Group
Untapped Areas for National Club Development
Michael Chadwick:
A first-time visit to Desert Forest left me with a couple questions:
1. If Desert Forest is the first true desert golf course, why did so many subsequent developers and designs in Arizona or Palm Springs seemingly not draw any inspiration from what Desert Forest does well? Namely, finding a site where the natural topography lends itself to a course coexisting with it, rather than having the desert function more as a backdrop to a superimposed, artificial golfing landscape?
2. The current boom of new course development in America is primarily occurring in South Carolina, Florida, and Texas. There are obviously some exceptions to this, such as Rodeo Dunes, Brambles, Ladera, etc. But, are there not undeveloped sites of potential golfing merit within two hours of Sky Harbor airport? Or elsewhere in the West and Southwest? What's keeping places like New Mexico, Idaho, or Nevada off the radar (as of now) for possible destination clubs?
2a. Could Apache Stronghold be purchased from the San Carlos Apache tribe and redeveloped with lodging for a national membership?
Part of my geographic questioning is self-serving, since I'm based in Los Angeles, and Aiken takes a bit of effort to get to!
But more seriously, I'd like to hear from others about areas that could feature sites of real interest for developing more golf. I'm not interested in writing off a region or state because of the hurdles these areas might face (for water access, as an example), since I'm not actually a developer, but am more interested in hearing about lovely land where a golf course could harmonize with it, as I imagine Childress Hall will become a new example of west of the Mississippi.
Shane Wright:
Michael - there are seemingly endless new national clubs being built right now. They are going up everywhere. I haven't heard of one in Idaho yet but I'm pretty certain that means that someone there is planning one. Untapped areas could be anywhere.
I can think of all kinds of new ones going in that I don't ever see even mentioned here.
National Clubs and their entrance fees have never been HOTTER.
Ben Sims:
Aiken hits on a superfecta of traits. Sandy soil. Relatively inexpensive. In between several metro areas. Medium size affluent town nearby.
There’s other traits but bottom line is Aiken sort of hits on a number of factors that make it quasi-perfect for places like OB and TTF.
You could build a helluva golf course 10 miles northeast of Logan New Mexico. But if you think Holyoke or Childress is remote…
Blake Conant:
Texas, Florida, and Tennessee already have a lot going for them besides being a no tax state, but other no tax states like Wyoming, South Dakota, Nevada, New Hampshire, and Washington (and Alaska) could be appealing to clients looking to move their money.
There are proper sand hills in Wyoming and South Dakota, albeit short golf seasons. New Hampshire would be very interesting.
Alex_Hunter:
Believe it or not, the sand hills of Saskatchewan is a good untapped area for real golf development
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