Brambles Course ProfileJames Duncan's impressive list of golf courses under the Coore & Crenshaw helm includes the unfussy Austin Golf Club in the plains of Texas, in the shadows of the notable Hamptons clubs at East Hampton, Clear Creek in the Californian mountainside near Lake Tahoe, and the dramatic Shanquin Bay, edged into the dramatic shoreline of the Chinese coast. Quite the résumé! Notably, he led the jobs at both Austin Golf Club and Shanquin Bay.
While living in the Bay Area in the early 2010s, Duncan began to envision a club that captured the spirit of the game from his homeland of Scotland, particularly motivated by North Berwick and St Andrews. Not that the San Francisco area doesn't have great golf, but he wanted something of his own, and Middletown, California seemed like the perfect fit. In 2014, Duncan found the plot of land he felt best-suited for his vision, acquired in 2017, and in 2024, the golf course opened as a Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw golf course.
GCA member Michael Chadwick wrote a course profile above, which you can click on the link and read in detail. I have yet to get to Brambles, but what a superb mission, effort, and aesthetic—certainly unique in California and elsewhere. Congratulations to all involved!
