Glad to hear that the second course at Forest Dunes is moving forward. I'm a big fan of the Weiskopf course ad I look forward to seeing what Tom has planned.
It's a treat to first learn about the news here on GCA. However, as a PR pro, I'm also dumbfounded by FD's decision to not make a bigger announcement of the news. Instead, they have simply a post here and burried in the video posted above. Of course, they have time before the course gets local approvals but if it's a real estate play, there's no reason to wait before they sell some lots.
Howard:
I think that they are waiting (and I am waiting) to say anything about the course because they don't have permits in hand, and we haven't even finalized the design contract yet. They did not intend Golf Club Atlas to be their big announcement ... they were just trying to let their members know what they are planning before the end of the season, and Bob Garvelink posted about it here, causing them to feel the need to respond.
You can't sell lots before you plat them, and you can't plat them before the plan is final, and you can't finalize the plan before you sign the contract. And I was committed to be in Europe when their member meeting was scheduled.
Don't worry, we will get our p.r. act together before the course is ready to open. There's plenty of time for that; the best case is it's ready in the late summer of 2015, but that's assuming the permits don't take any time. However, the p.r. challenge is going to be interesting on a number of levels, because they've bought into my view that we do NOT want too many details of the design leaking out until the course is ready, so that early visitors can explore it for the first time with fresh eyes.
All I can tell you for now is that the intent is to do something really different than what we've been building lately. The property is fairly flat, and sandy, but we intend to keep the bunkering subdued instead of relying on the bunkers for visual interest. We won't move much dirt, but what we do move will be to make some really abrupt features -- deep gullies and mounds and ridges. And the course is probably going to be on the short side, by choice, since the original course is plenty long and we don't feel the need to compete on "resistance to scoring".
Apart from that, I can only tell you that I am particularly excited to be working close to home again for the first time in ages, and that I intend to spend more time on site at Forest Dunes than anything I've worked on in years. I'm really excited that the client, Lew Thompson, has bought into the ideas I've been thinking about for the past few years, and is giving me a chance to bring them to life. And I also want to thank my friends Norm Sinclair and Nick Ficorelli for coming to the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame induction this summer, listening to me say that I wanted to slow down and spend more time on fewer projects closer to home, and promptly mention that to the g.m. at Forest Dunes the next day when he mentioned the possibility of building a second golf course.
For more than that, you'll probably have to wait until I've got a few holes built.