I have been having the same thoughts for the last 10 years or so as the minimalist genre has had so much success and pulled everyone else in that directly on the margins. However, boundaries do continue to be pushed and most of that is coming from those who are established already. Recent courses that I find to be boundary pushing:
- Tara Iti- it's the closest thing to the wonder of those original photos of Cypress Point. Mackenzie would even be blown away if he could come back for one last 18.
- The Loop and Sedge Valley- only an established architect could get the trust of developers to go for these concepts. And luckily, we have an established architect who is dying to push boundaries... as long as someone will fund the ideas.
- Ohoopee- sand belt like edging on the greenside bunkers, 22 holes, throwing out traditional notions of fairness under the guise of match play spirit, and the architect had the freedom to follow his fancy. It is it's own thing.
- West Palm Beach- Showing what public golf and South Florida golf can be. Reminds me of how exciting and raw the old pics of Flynn's Boca Raton South looked.
- Old Barnwell- Brian and Blake have created an exciting fusion of the funkiness of Travis and Macdonald with their own natural styles. I was blown away by the pics and it plays as good as it looks- very strategic and demanding enough to excite me. The first hole sets the tone that it's something different.
- Tree Farm- I don't think that I've ever seen a modern course with a bigger range of bunker styles and they all somehow make sense. I think that aspect is brilliant. It's purposely forgiving off the tee and difficult on the approaches, which just makes it fun.
- Silvies Ranch- reversible, but in a different method than the Loop. It's an architect trying to do something different and not a project where he was just trying to follow the herd.
- Sheep Ranch- the innovation was in the compact routing and the bunkerless design.
- Red Feather- I haven't played it, but it looks unlike anything that I've ever seen. Whether or not it proves to be a good course, they clearly tried to do something original. It makes me want to travel to see it with high hopes. I wouldn't feel that way if it looked like just another good course.
- The Commons at SV (in process). The Keiser Brothers are actively trying to think about ways to push boundaries- they aren't just stamping out what has already worked. As a side note, their Court Tennis center (aka Royal Tennis/ Real Tennis) further proves that mindset.
Heavy renovations:
- Meadowbrook- I know that the style influence was WP Jr, but Andy had to invent so much of it and it stands out to me as being ambitious and well executed.
- Bellair in Tampa- I really love all of the convex sandy mounds and the wire grass tufts and how wild they took the course. Again, I think that it just proves that FL isn't a bad setting for golf, it's just that the courses were uninspired.
- Sequoyah (plan by Blasi)- I rendered out his renovation plan for the course and it's creative at hell. I really hope that they adopt it without compromise. It makes me realize how much potential some older courses on tight sites have with a little rearranging and a lot of fairway widening.
The modern architects have a lot going for them compared to the prior generation:
They are actually doing the architecture and in many cases, involved in the shaping. They are insanely well traveled and have extensive historical architectural knowledge. They are getting access to more remote sites with more features and sand. Not as many projects have to be routed around residential lots.
So I don't think that the next movement will sweep in quickly because the current kings of the Hill aren't standing pat, but they are pushing boundaries wherever they can. And I also want to raise the point that the architects can only build what the developers will pay for. If each architect won the powerball and could self fund, I think we'd see some pretty wild stuff.