Best New Courses in 2004

[Anthony_Nysse]

What are some of the most anticipated course openings for the year 2004.....or, what are some opinions for nominations for Best New Courses in 2004.....

[Jim Sweeney]

One I'll be anticipating is C&C's "Old Sandwich" in Plymouth, Mass. Not only another C&C offering, but in the sandy pine hills of Boston's South shore about 1/2 way to Cape Cod, and very near other recently opened courses including Pine Hills.

[klangone]

I agree with Old Sandwich.....it will be a very special place.  Bulls Bridge in Kent, CT will hopefully be fully grown in during 2004........it is a Fazio creation north of Greenwich.  There is also a new course being built on the grounds of CIGNA in Bloomfield, CT........I've seen the mounding and green structures and it looks impressive.

[SPDB]

KLangone -
Bulls Bridge is well north of Greenwich. Its in Kent, CT in the NW corner of the state. Much different topo. It looked pretty impressive when i saw it early on. Faz spent a great deal of time on site, as it was the first course he designed with his son.

[mark chalfant]

  Greywalls, a scenic course by  Mike  DeVries, in

Michigans  upper peninsula.


Gil Hanse's  new course on very good land in Hingham, Mass.


These are  not new, but  Forse and Nagle's restoration work

at LuLu, Mannies, and  Oakley (early Ross).

[Joel_Stewart]

Morgan Creek Club in Sacramento by Kyle Phillips looks interesting?  I've heard it has some very good cross bunkering and good use of mature trees.  

Its private in an area that has a huge glut of courses.

[larry_munger]

From what I've heard, David Kidd's new course on the big island.

[Scott_Burroughs]

Wintonbury Hills should be a front runner for Best New Affordable, 2004, as it opened this past September.

Perhaps French Creek and Stonewall (North) will be in the running for Best New Private, as they opened in the latter half of 2003.

Others opening in 2004:

The new Shore course at Monterey Peninsula CC

Cape Kidnappers

Barnbougle Dunes

St. Andrews Beach (Gunnamatta)

[Jeff_Stettner]

Joel:
Morgan Creek is really good. We'll see what others think, but I dug the old-school look to the holes and Kyle put in some completely unique shaping that looks like he just kicked the dirt into crumpled knobs. Fun all the way.

[ian]

I'm not certain the course will open in time, but Eagle's Nest in Toronto should get concideration. The course is mostly set in an old abandoned sand pit that needed massive rehabilitation to be recovered. The project involved finding locations for an additional 1.5 million cubic metres from off site as part of the project. The created "dunes" get to 40 feet and the on site cliff is about 75 feet. Almost everything you see in each of the photos is created. The bunkering is sod-walls and sand scars. The greens are velvet bent and the fairways are colonial bent and fescue. The course was planned and grassed to be kept very lean and dry. It will originally be a high-end public, but I think this may end up as private in the near future; the course is very close to the city core.

The 12th, 450 yards approximately


The 13th, short par 3 of 160 yards


Tee shot on hole #16, 520 yard par 5 (cliff in background)

[paul cowley]

...ian
great photos....which means the course should be so much better in person...looks ready to play,but maybe grow-in is lagging on a few?.........construction costs?...

[Anthony_Nysse]

Who designed this gem...honestly, it looks a little like Arcadia Bluffs without the water....can't wait to see more pics!!

[Jim Franklin]

Bayonne GC if it opens in 2004. If not then it will be up for Best New 2005.

[Doug Wright]

An interesting new course by Art Schaupeter will be opening  spring 2004 in Windsor, Colorado near Fort Collins. Brad Swanson and I walked it last summer. A lot of width and options. Should be worth a visit. Its name? Unfortunately I can't recall it right now--Windsor Meadows or something like that

Happy Holidays,

[A_Clay_Man]

Scott- I didn't think Whitten put out the 'best affordable' every year, but I'm no expert on GD.

I believe The Rawls Course should be highest on anybody's list. The simplicity of feature shaping is confusing, cause of the natural flat, but IMHO, this course is the best, if for no other reason than it lacks the unnecessary bells and whistles. Of course I'd need to see them all before being overly confident.

The whisper is The Shore Course will be remarkable, but let's wait for the finished product.

[Jeff_Mingay]

Rod Whitman's Blackhawk Golf Club in suburban Edmonton, Alta. has been nominated for all the Best New Canadian course awards for 2004... and it'll probably be topped by Eagle's Nest, at least in part because of Eagle's Nest's proximity to metropolitan Toronto. We'll see.

Anthony: Eagle's Nest is a Doug Carrick design.

[texsport]

Don't forget Jeff Brauer's The Quarry@Giants Ridge, which opened too late to get a 2003 nomination.

Texsport

[Steve_ Shaffer]

In the Philadelphia area, there are the following are scheduled to open sometime in 2004:

White Clay Creek (Hills) in Delaware
www.whiteclaycreekgolfcourse.com

Makefield Highlands (Jacobson) in Bucks County, PA
www.makefieldhighlands.com

Rivercrest in Oaks, PA
www.rivercrestgolfclub.com

I'm not certain if the following courses will open in 2004 but construction has been in progress:

Renault Winery course( oringinally Hills now Shearon) outside of Atlantic City, New Jersey

Ledge Rock (Rees Jones) near Reading, PA

Steve

[Tyler Kearns]

Although open for a shortish season in 2003, Sutton Bay in Agar, South Dakota should be nominated for best new private course in 2004 (first full season). The course was designed by senior tour player Graham Marsh, and is outstanding!! A middle of nowhere location that is worth the trip.

Tyler Kearns

[cary lichtenstein]

Eagles Nest: very impressive...what other courses has he done of note? Public and Private, please

[Robert Thompson]

Hey all,

Ian's photos of Eagles Nest, while awesome, don't truly give a full indication to just how remarkable the course is. A big budget course (for a Canadian design), it is likely Doug Carrick's best work -- bold, full of interesting quirks and tough as nails. Slopes just under 150 from the tips, though admittedly that is 7,500 yards.
Anyone familiar with Carrick's work at Osprey Valley will recognize some of the look of Eagles Nest -- except this one is full of steriods, bigger and more interesting. Imagine the look of Cruden Bay, just missing the ocean. Significant elevation change in the course too -- including a drop of 100 feet on the third tee shot.

I've toured it twice and can't wait to play it....

Robert

[Steve_ Shaffer]

I just took a tour of Eagles Nest at their website:

www.eaglesnestgolf.com

Very impressive! I'm going to try and squeeze in a weekend trip to Toronto in the summer.

Steve

[Robert Thompson]

Steve -- I'm sure you'll enjoy Eagles Nest -- but it ain't gonna be cheap -- $180 CDN, or about $130 US. But as far as I can tell -- it'll be one of the closest Scottish style experiences you can have without actually buying a $700 plane ticket...

Robert

[Jeff Shelman]

Windsong Farm, the Fought/Lehman design outside of Minneapolis is going to get some love in the private category. As I've written on here before, it's fantastic.

[Craig_Rokke]

Scott Burroughs mentioned French Creek as a possibility
for Best New Private in 04'. The course has some fine attributes, and does deserve consideration. Other than not being the most walkable course around, it offers up a lot
of interesting golf, and a lot of attention to detail with its construction.

Maybe I haven't paid real close attention, but did any of the
publications, other than Golfweek's acknowledgement of Rustic
Canyon, award either Applebrook or Rustic Canyon?  I
don't seem to remember any accolades. If that so, it's unfortunate, and I'd be curious what perceived shortcomings
may have affected the shakeout for those two courses.