I would be curious to know about NDA’s and potential jobs in the golf architecture world. I have no idea but I’d be surprised if the principle clients—individuals or entities—don’t require some sort of discretion from potential architects.
Occasionally - maybe once a year - I have someone ask me to sign an NDA about a project before they will tell me any of the details. I've found I rarely wind up doing those jobs!
However, I would say the default position for my clients is that they don't want to talk about the project until the permits are in hand, for fear that a bunch of people might show up at a zoning meeting protesting growth, or golf as a rich man's sport, or whatever is a divisive issue in that jurisdiction. And that works right alongside our general preference not to talk about a project until we are sure that we are doing it . . . because for sure some other architects will be all over the client with their own proposals if they find out about it at an early stage.
When you hear a lot about a project before it's really a project, it's usually because the developer is looking for investors. And of course young architects are trying so hard to get people to talk about them, they frequently make the mistake of talking about something that never happens, or that they don't get to do when the project eventually finds its footing. That was true for me at Erin Hills. Or, remember Pacific Gailes?
By contrast, Pinehurst Resort didn't say anything to anyone until they had started clearing trees for the routing.