Cabot Citrus Farms (Roost) [2025]

Ben Cowan-Dewar fell in love with World Woods on his first visit in 1999. The Pine Barrens course was the show pony, one of Tom Fazio’s all-time finest designs and deservedly a World Top 100 course. In the 1990s, you could count on one hand the number of better public access modern courses. Its collection of thrilling ½ par holes highlighted by the reachable, spilt fairway par 5, 4th and the drivable par 4, 15th were tough to beat. Its sandscape was mesmerizing and even its name helped evoke images of Pine Valley.

The second Fazio course at World Woods was aptly called Rolling Oaks and it highlighted what a stellar job the Fazio team did in dividing the property. Pine Barrens was a giant sand box and the parts of Rolling Oaks that abutted it were too. However, as you edged away from Pine Barrens, the land became less sandy, more rolling and live oaks proliferated. Visually, Pine Barrens captured the hearts and minds of golfers world-wide but Rolling Oaks enjoyed its own smaller but devoted following as well.

In addition to those courses, a world-class, state-of-the-art 360-degree practice range existed, as did a short 9-hole course (the sort of which are now popular, but few existed back in 1994). No doubt about it, the opening of World Woods was a boon for public golf in America. Its fame steadily grew during its first fifteen years.

Starting around 2010, conditioning started to slip, and it became evident that lodging, food and beverage commensurate with the quality of the courses were never going to materialize on site. That’s fine but the courses themselves are living things and require constant reinvestment. After all, this is Florida and grasses and vegetation grow and thrive in the warm climate. Trees started to encroach into play, underbrush growth went unchecked, and with less wind and sunlight, the Bermuda playing surfaces started to deteriorate.

Ben Cowan-Dewar first reached out to the Japanese owner in 2014 and a dialogue commenced that ultimately led to the sale of World Woods in the winter of 2021. Ben selected Kyle Franz to bring Pine Barrens back to prominence, having first seen Kyle work for Rod Whitman at Cabot Links in Nova Scotia in 2009. Kyle was in the process of wrapping up a wonderful restoration of Southern Pines Golf Club in North Carolina across another rolling sandy expanse and was in peak form.

The fifth hole at Cabot Citrus Farms (Karoo).

As for Rolling Oaks, Ben and I drove it in a cart a few months before he closed on the property. My Dad and I had played it in 1997 but my memory was much more vivid of Pine Barrens than of Rolling Oaks. All I recalled from Rolling Oaks was the graceful nature of the par 5, 3rd and the oft-photographed downhill, one-shot 8th with its fronting water hazard.

Before Ben and I toured around, he introduced me to Rick Kelso, who had been at World Woods since it opened. Rick had seen the rise—and rise—of World Worlds and then its gradual decline. No one believed in its potential more than he did.

Off Ben and I went around Rolling Oaks. The first couple of holes were okay, not great, and then we reached the 3rd and it brought back happy memories with Dad from 23 years prior. The hole featured nice, rumpled land movement, and it backed up to pastureland. Standing on the green is one of those magically quiet places in golf without a man-made structure anywhere in sight. The next hole didn’t resonate but the 5th shared the same rural, rustic allure of the 3rd. So it went for the front nine with good holes mixed with okay ones. The downhill one-shot 8th was indeed a dramatic moment, but its presentation suffered. A few of the greens, including this one, had bare patches and overall, the course felt tired.

The pastureland beyond the 3rd green stretches as far as the eye can see. Sometimes, the cows crowd the fence, hoping to get a peak of the action!

On the back nine, I vaguely recalled the downhill 12th from years prior, as it featured a sink hole right of the green but that and the large lake near the clubhouse were all I remembered. As Ben and I progressed around the second nine, the sun came out and the setting became the picture of bucolic bless with the light filtering through the live oaks and the wind rustling the leaves.

Key elements—an expansive site, rolling topography, patches of sandy soil, and scores of specimen trees—were present for there to be great golf but… there wasn’t. Take the aforementioned downhill 12th. The sink hole was neat, but it didn’t lend strategy as only a flared approach would find it. It was a distinctive feature that wasn’t being fully utilized. You then drove around—and past—it to get to the next hole, a par 3. Then, a series of uphill, dogleg two-shotters ensued.

Ben was driving and as we got to the top of each hole, he parked the cart behind and to the side of each green. We put our feet up on the cart and looked back down each hole. We sat in silence, both caught by the beauty of the view from behind the holes, all the while mulling over why the golf didn’t seem to match the opportunity. There was such a peaceful Old Florida vibe to the site, surely great golf could ensue.

After the tour, we caught back up with Rick Kelso. Guess what he confirmed? That the two favorite holes of the visitors to Rolling Oaks had been the 3rd and 8th. That jived with our own impressions and proved vital intel for later.

Overall, what Ben had long suspected seemed true—the property of Rolling Oaks and its appealing elements could yield something special. Indeed, I remarked to Ben that as a raw site, I thought it rivaled Pine Barrens. Most architects would disagree with that assessment as their strong preference would be to work in pure sand a la Pine Barrens. Yet, my favorite course in the southeast is Yeamans Hall and I saw elements of it at Rolling Oaks, just with more amped up topography.

Not too long after that visit, I received an email from Ben with a preliminary re-routing of Rolling Oaks from Mike Nuzzo. Sure enough, holes 12-15 had been reversed so that those pretty views from behind the greens were now how you would play the holes. Additionally, what is today’s 14th—a short one shotter that plays directly over the sink hole—now perfectly utilized the sink hole in a daring, all-or-nothing manner. WELL, talk about an improvement!

This sink hole is certainly a unique hazard and it now the dominant feature at the short par 3, fourteenth.

The next thing that happened floored me: Ben asked me to participate in the design of what became The Roost. I had written about architecture for 25-plus years, and I had known Ben since he initiated contact via Golf Club Atlas in December 1999. At the time, he was living in Toronto, and I was in Sydney, Australia but our shared passion for golf course architecture had brought our paths together.

Ben had long admired George Crump’s approach at Pine Valley of having various people provide input. He saw no reason why a group couldn’t design a course today. I was speechless, something Ben says he has never seen before or since. I would be joining Mike Nuzzo, who was doing the Squeeze (a 10-hole short course) and The Wedge (a 9-hole par 3 course) and Kyle Franz, who was doing Karoo. They were both great friends and more importantly, we all had similar, though slightly different, ideas as to what constituted great architecture.

Ben placed no restrictions on us, other than to better embrace the land’s Old Florida essence. Playing corridors were used where possible from the old course and the large 7-acre lake was retained but otherwise, no features from the old course made it into The Roost. As noted previously, holes that played uphill were changed to downhillers and holes that played downhill became uphillers. Rather than have the two nines come and go in separate loops from the clubhouse, we decided to make the walk feel like more of an exploration of the property. That meant that we cut from 6 (whose green was placed 75 yards left of old 6) to what had been playing corridors from the old second nine to finish out the front.

A lot of the holes that emerged were intrinsically interesting based on the land movement, and to be honest, the process of establishing the routing and the sequencing of holes proved relatively straightforward and never changed from the first few months, as indicated in the plan above.

That’s not to say there weren’t plenty of issues to overcome. My notes from our first walk around of today’s routing included two primary concerns by the architects. First, holes 1 and 2 were on modest land but the need for them to be engaging was acute. After all, our assignment was to make golfers want to play The Roost as much as the visibly dashing Karoo and ‘a soft start’ wasn’t an option. Both were ‘build a hole’—and it was mission critical to get them right. And second, everyone thought the two downhill one shotters (8 & 17) and the two downhill monster two shotters (12 & 13) were beauts, so the emphasis turned on getting their counterpart uphill holes (e.g. 7, 15, 16, and 18) to play well too. It isn’t rocket science but 4 uphill holes represent 22% of the course, which is a chunk. Building uphill holes that are fun and engaging is no mean feat and we knew success would hinge on building diverse greens.

One thing that shaped the ultimate version was seeing Karoo unfold first. Kyle got a running start, and construction of Karoo generally occurred a year ahead of Roost. As Kyle’s sandy creation emerged, it helped crystallize how different the two courses could be organically from each other. The goal was always to get the best from both properties but what a win for the resort if the two could be distinct in an unforced manner. Guests would surely appreciate that kind of authentic diversity.

The undulating land and live oaks set the tone for The Roost much more so than bunkers. Indeed, we tried to be parsimonious in deploying them. Four holes (7, 12, 13, and 17) are bunkerless, and another 10 holes (1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 15, and 16) have three or fewer bunkers. Indeed, the largest bunker is behind the 4th green and its existence stems from acting as a sand mine for that portion of the property. We merely converted it into a large sandscape afterwards, complete with railroad ties to make it maintenance friendly (and as a tip of the hat to Florida having been commercialized by railroad barons).

As was to be expected, the three of us had differing opinions as we went, and the ultimate decision-maker was Ben Cowan-Dewar. Whoever could best articulate their point of view in the field during one of Ben’s regular visits generally won out, assuming that the perspective embraced a ‘less is more’ philosophy. There was no shortage of debate (should the tree stay or go in the 13th fairway was the most re-visited topic throughout the two-year build) but all the debates were healthy dialogue.

The live oak in the left center of the thirteenth fairway.

The one area though where decision-by-committee would have proved too cumbersome would have been building greens, and so Ben placed a call to his long-time friend and fellow Canadian, Rod Whitman. Name anyone you want for building great greens (Hanse/Wagner, Doak, Coore, DeVries, Schneider, Hoffman) and Rod is there in the mix. Of course, the key was Rod needed to be happy with the routing and the already established general green placements to accept the project. After a tour, he quickly agreed, much to everyone’s delight.

That was the team that designed The Roost—Franz, Nuzzo, Whitman and me. Don Mahaffey’s Greenscape was in charge of building the course and wonderfully talented shapers like Slade Grant and Jacob Cope were brought in (and deserve heaps of credit for some of the early greens that they roughed in, especially those at 1, 2, 12, and 18).

One of the great delights for me personally was getting to work with Steve Blake, who is the Head Green Keeper across all of Cabot Citrus Farms. Building a course can be a grind but his Mid-Western commonsense approach and positivity (“You all design it, we will maintain it”) was awesome. Whatever we felt was important, like getting tees precisely placed, he was always accommodating (“Can do that, but these three trees need to be felled for morning light”). Some of those decisions are painful but making tough calls in the field come part and parcel with building a course.

The ground game is a key underpinning to The Roost’s design and Steve was hyper-focused throughout on drainage. It doesn’t do any good to build holes like 12 and 13 if the long approach shots aren’t rewarded with balls that release onto their respective greens. Yet, this northeast portion of the property is the least sandy bit, so it is Steve’s below-the-ground work that allows them to play properly. Though he grew up in Wisconsin and learned his craft at places like Milwaukee Country Club, his maintenance ideal has always been the Sandbelt in Australia with firm fairways and fast greens. His appreciation for what tawny fairways can mean to the overall playing experience certainly makes him the ideal Green Keeper for Cabot Citrus Farms. And advancements in Bermuda grasses this century and the advent of Bimini for fairways (which avoids any discussion for over-seeding given how it retains a muted green color through the Florida winters) and Tif-Eagle on the greens have proven ideal for the Florida climate. Plus, his knowledge of Centipede and Bahia grasses gained from Karoo added an appealing contrast across The Roost.

Anyway, enough on the background story and the key participants. Let’s go for a tour as the only thing that truly matters to golfers isn’t who designed what but rather, the holes themselves and how they interact with each other.

Holes to Note

(The two yardages below are from the Black, 7,610 yards, and Tangerine tees, 6,445 yards)

First hole, 430/375 yards; Golfers will play this hole differently, depending on what they value. For those that prize a view of the putting surface, drive toward the right edge of the bunker, from where most of the flag and some of the green is generally visible. Sounds perfect, right, why not do it all the time?

The bunkerless, pushed up green is at an angle to the player from the right side of the fairway. If you hit a fade approach, you might still consider yourself to be in “the mayor’s office.” However, the single place you cannot (emphasis on the NOT part) miss this green is to the left as the green’s subtle left to right tilt makes just holding the green problematic from anywhere along its left flank. Indeed, the caddies have confirmed after five months of play that as many people de-green from the left as hold the green. Therefore, you will find that your caddie may well urge you to drive long left even though only the top of the flag is visible from there. Still, from that angle, you will be hitting down the axis of the green. Everyone on the design team prizes The Old Course at St Andrews and some of her timeless riddles—and we thought that starting out with a question that will take multi-rounds for a golfer to decide the best solution for him was a neat outcome on what was previously a prosaic stretch of land.

Second hole, 210/175 yards; This was a build-a-hole and the dry barranca that separates the tee and the green gives the hole a visual spark but its rolling green is the true star. Interesting hole locations galore exist from front right where a false front and side make it super tricky to back left where a shallow plateau is hard to hit and hold. A tip of the cap to Slade Grant, who worked on this green extensively.

Third hole, 600/515 yards; This beautiful, flowing playing corridor heads toward a distant grazing ground for cattle. As it abuts the 5th hole on Karoo, it is one of the sandiest areas on The Roost and that soil composition lent itself to more micro-contours and rumpled landforms than elsewhere on the property where the slopes are broader in nature.

This playing corridor has enchanted golfers for 30 years.

Pushing the original green placement back 30 yards better incorporated the live oak short left of the green and the pasture behind.

Whitman’s green starts low, rises in the middle before dropping and peeling away to some pesky lower back right hole locations that are fun to sling a shot back to.

As seen from behind, today’s front hole location asks completely different questions than lower back right ones, which lends this hole great flexibility during the player’s stay.

Fourth hole, 420/380 yards; The 4th features one of the widest fairways on The Roost but that statement is deceiving as the 35-yard-wide upper left portion of the fairway is always preferable as it affords a view of the entire putting surface. The green is much wider than it is deep. Indeed, a v-shaped false front eats its way deep into the green. Approach shots hit anywhere near it invariably see the ball funnel into it and then slowly—and aggravatingly—trundle off the front of the green. Meanwhile, over isn’t safe either, as the course’s largest bunker lurks. Rod Whitman has built numerous stellar greens over his 50-year career but this one – dubbed a double helix for how it twists and turns – ranks among his best and it gives this intermediate length two-shotter real kick. Indeed, getting past the vexing nature of the intermediate 1st hole as well as this one is an underpinning to a good score on the front.

Fifth hole, 460 yards/415 yards; This natural hole was self-evident and hardly changed from when the architects first envisaged it until play commenced in November 2024. The tee ball plays across a shallow valley to a far hillside with a central bunker cut into it. Whether to go left or right of the central bunker depends on the hole location. Certainly, for back hole locations, the player is better served by heading left off the tee. A bunker 40 yards short of the putting surface obscures the fallaway green but at least from the left, the golfer (like at the 1st) is hitting down the length of the green. Still, approaches shots from the right work out well for front locations as the player can ‘deaden’ his approach coming at the green from an angle vs hitting directly down the fall line.

Sixth hole, 330/290 yards; Everyone is in love with drivable par 4s except… those of us that lack the firepower to drive them! So, yes, the tiger can have a go here and if he fails, he is likely left with either an uncomfortable 20-50 yard explosion shot or his view is obscured by two greenside mounds front right. Personally, I am forced to refer to such holes as “drive and pitch” and in this case, I like laying up with a 3-wood to the base of the bunker, from where a level lie is guaranteed, and the view of the green is good. Worth noting is that originally, the solitary bunker was going to extend back to the tee another ~25 yards and the play would have always been to lay up somewhere along the right of it. The person who suggested shortening it? Ben Cowan-Dewar.

Here is the fine view of the 90-yard pitch from short of the hole’s lone bunker.

Seventh hole, 440/410 yards; The first of four bunkerless holes, the question faced by the architects was how to make an uphill hole fun to play. Coast to coast, one of the best is the 8th at Blue Mound in Wisconsin, capped off by Seth Raynor’s amazing punchbowl green. With that thought acting as loose inspiration, the architects set about creating a riff of a punchbowl green with the big tightly mown slope behind the green always happy to release balls back down onto the putting surface. Also, the architects were cognizant that the shortfall of most punchbowl greens is that balls generally collect into a confined area. We didn’t want that, so careful attention was paid to floating in a plateau along the right side and another back left one.

Eighth hole, 230/195 yards; What has become a crowd favorite was actually the last hole to come together. All the ingredients were present for good golf: elevated tees, shallow valley, natural green site on the far side, so no one worried. For a while, we kept it bunkerless, but Kyle Franz pushed hard for the green to fade away to the back left. He was right to do so, and that meant that the visual would be augmented and enhanced by bunkers on the low left side of the green. And that’s what happened. Director of Golf Mike Johnston notes:

This visually stunning downhill par 3 makes you say “Wow” on the tee and is the first taste of the low side of Brooksville ridge. The live oaks and pines that surround the green create an amphitheater feel and the green runs hard right to left towards the left greenside bunker complex. The esthetics of the tee shot suggest that a right to left shaped ball flight is most advantageous, however, slightly overdone and this shot shape can easily find one of the gathering bunkers and result in a short-sided attempt at an up and down. Short of the green, as well to the right, is tight fairway so the high handicapper can run their tee ball onto the green or comfortably bail out right. In sum, like so many other holes here, it provides challenge to the low handicapper and playability for the high marker.

The eighth enjoys loose Redan qualities, given the green’s right to left tilt and how the putting surface drifts to the rear.

Ninth hole, 585/475 yards; A hole of enormous flexibility, this can play as a reachable three shotter or a burly two shotter, all because the only two bunkers on the hole are pulled well away from the putting surface, which is at grade with the fairway. Thus, be it an 80-yard pitch or a 240-yard approach, the hole functions well either way. When Ben and I were going around the course in the fall of 2021, the large lake was more of a concern than an opportunity. After all, lakes abound on courses in Florida, so having it act as a differentiator vs employing it in a manner that you have seen countless times was the challenge. Mike Nuzzo quickly came up with the notion of tucking the green into a nook just left of the lake in such a way that the water was visible from behind the green as well. Given the putting surface’s left to right cant, any approach from any length is nervy. Typically, a ball runs along the ground here for an extended period of time—and while that sounds neat, for most of its journey, it is heading toward the water. Hoping it stops at an appropriate place is one of those moments that the golfer never tires of experiencing.

Fancy your chance of carrying the two bunkers and then having your ball drift from left to right along the ground before it reaches the right edge of the green? Peril lurks right and over, so the golfer is fully engrossed as he watches the shot play out.

Tenth hole, 370/320 yards; A tough spud of a hole, there is nothing particularly user-friendly about it other than its modest length. The push up green is a good one to hit as, otherwise, a miss left or right might leave you six feet below the surface of the green. And if you have short-sided yourself, things can go from bad to worse if you get too exotic with your recovery attempt. Some take a rip at the green, but a popular play has proven to be a three wood out to the right, leaving a full, controlled wedge shot into the deep green that starts narrow but widens in the rear. Attention was paid in making this green and the one at the similarly short 6th be as different from one another as possible.

Eleventh hole, 615 yards/515 yards; Every shot matters on this par 5, starting with the tee ball that must avoid the Principal Nose bunker configuration in the fairway. Next, the second shot—ideally—carries the dry barranca that bisects the fairway 160 yards from the green, thus leaving a short iron approach. The green has wicked tendencies, courtesy of Whitman, and keeping the ball below the hole is paramount. And that’s a lot easier to do from ~100 yards than from ~165 yards because you had to lay up of the barranca.

Twelfth hole 535/515 yards; This hole and the next don’t have a single bunker yet they rival 17 and 18 as the two hardest back-to-back pars on the course. How? Let’s see. Certainly, length is a consideration and in the case of the 12th, its honker 12,000 square foot green is at the heart of the challenge. It is both the biggest green on The Roost and its most boldly contoured. All sorts of hole locations present themselves with the front right ones being more manageable than any on the left, which is protected by a massive false front. Alas, given the absence of easy-to-photograph bunkers, you may never see a lot of pictures of it on social media. Plus, the shadowing has to be just right for the ground contours to pop and to capture the movement within the green. Still, late in the afternoon, with the sun behind, the view from the elevated tee and the walk down the fairway with live oaks left, right, and behind is something to behold. In many ways, this hole epitomizes the Old Florida vibe of the site and for naturalists and lay-of-the-land aficionados, it has become their favorite hole on the course.

Thirteenth hole, 480/400 yards; The 13th occupies one of the prettiest spots on the property and its playing strategy hinges around three things: the live oak in the left center of the 80-yard-wide fairway, the wetland that the fairway bends around, and the green itself, which tilts from left to right toward the wetland.

Though it is the longer way home, scooting left past the specimen tree off the tee fully opens up the entrance to the green.

It’s my personal favorite because so many playing options are present. In general, when the hole location is front right or along the left, I aim down the right middle of the fairway as that is the shortest way home. However, for back right hole locations, I like heading left of the tree and then hitting in a low chasing approach down the length of the green.

The tree works well as a means of creating driving interest because even if it blocks you to a certain degree, its branches are high and you can easily manufacture a low shot underneath. Worth mentioning, there is a 330-yard tee box off the left corner of the 12th green and should The Roost hold a four-day event, it would be wonderful to see that tee employed once as the playing angles from there make it a sensational, risk/reward drivable hole.

Fourteenth hole, 165/130 yards; A sink hole is an uncommon geological feature, so when one is present, it behooves the architect to incorporate it in a meaningful manner. After all, that’s what architecture is about – capturing the site’s most interesting features within the holes themselves. Still, since there is no recovering from one, it is best if it is used on a par-3 when the player has ball and tee in hand, and indeed a short one at that. And guess what? That is what happens here. Whitman’s 3,500 square foot green is the course’s smallest target and its kidney shape provides a surprisingly wide variety of hole locations as it wraps around the sink hole. The most dramatic is on the far left where the sink hole is the steepest but the right front one is a sneakily tricky one to which to recover.

Fifteenth hole, 435/360 yards; As you stand on the 7th tee ~an hour and a half earlier, take note where the flag is on the nearby 15th green as it makes a difference where to drive the ball. For those of us that prefer the Tangerine tees (i.e. directly left of the 14th green), three potential plays exist. When the wind is down, you can drive over the solitary bunker high right, leaving yourself a pitch from virtually the same level as the green + you are pitching down the length of the green. That is position 1A when the flag is toward the rear—let the front-to-back green feed your approach to the back hole locations. Should the prevailing wind be against, questions arise regarding the risk/reward of carrying the bunker. On those days, a 210-215 yard shot up the hill that finishes anywhere close to the bunker is prudent. You are still well positioned relative to the green, though the optics are worse. When the hole is toward the front, a third option is worth consideration, which is to aim at the live oak, and let the fairway shunt the ball to the left edge of the fairway. From there, you are clear of the tree and can come at the green from an angle. In that manner, your approach isn’t ‘gravity feed’ down the green’s slope, which is particularly advantageous when the hole is toward the front. Worth noting, both the 15th and 7th holes play markedly uphill, yet this green drops four feet from front to back. Meanwhile, the punchbowl seventh flairs up along its right and rear. The two greens could not possibly be more different in what we consider to be a design win.

Options exist at 15. Do you carry the bunker, lay up beside it, or head left of the live oak? This is very much a position hole and should be treated as such. Flailing away with driver and hoping for the best is unlikely to render the desired outcome as the fairway slopes right to left and is more than happy to deposit your golf ball behind the live oak in the left portion of the fairway. Yes, you can hit a punch underneath its branches but the fallaway green isn’t overly receptive to such shots.

Sixteenth hole, 490/445 yards; The easiest hole on the second nine still requires thoughtful golf. Ideally, the player will carve a draw past the live oaks on the left and have his ball finish in the left side of the fairway, just above a dry wash area that slashes across the fairway on a diagonal. From there, it depends on where the hole is located relative to the large fronting bunker. If it is behind it, the hole plays as a switchback, requiring a fade approach to skirt around the bunker. The hardest hole locations are far right and when over there, the best play is often to lay up well to the right and pitch on.

The elevated, skyline green sixteenth is the highest point on the course and the golfer can see half the holes on The Roost from it.

Seventeenth hole, 205/170 yards; The last of four bunkerless holes on The Roost, the penultimate hole asks a difficult question at a tense time in the round. The sometimes dry barranca snakes in front and along the left of the green and serves up a wide variety of recovery options depending on how much water is in it. You might end up on a sand bar, rough or water. Sometimes, you will draw a decent lie. The architects believe this variety of outcomes is superior to a hazard that (boringly) metes out a uniform outcome. Regardless, the objective is not visit the barranca and instead, use the friendly kicker slope along the right to have your ball finish in the heart of the green.

Eighteenth hole 540 yards/410 yards; When into the prevailing wind, this likely becomes the day’s single toughest par (in part because that means 12 and 13 are downwind).

The seventeenth green is in the foreground, with the uphill Home hole stretching away in the distance.

We always envisaged centerline bunkers and a wicked, right-to-left sloping green that followed the cant of the land as being the underpinning to an interesting finish, but the element of the wind brings a real zest to this finisher. In fact, there are two spots for the Tangerine tees about 40-yards apart from each other: left of the 17th green (making the hole longer by ~25 yards) or behind the 17th green (making it shorter). Daily decisions on tee placements are made based on the wind forecast but even on a still day, par is a most satisfying result.

As the holes unfolded and were starting to get grassed, we had the perfect person in addition to Rick Kelso (a very tidy player) to play them. Cabot Citrus Farms’s General Manager David Bennett plays off a +2 and can move the ball either way. When setting the tees on doglegs like 12, 13 and 16, it was instructional seeing him hit over the trees at 12 or draw a tee ball over and around the live oak branches at 16 and then hit a fade to the green. Such in-the-field shots helped crystallize refinements on the spot.

Anyway, that’s the tour. Ben Cowan-Dewar trusted four friends who had never worked together to deliver a design that took advantage of an abundance of interesting, natural features. Classic features abound, from low profile tees, center line hazards, cross hazards, and a wide variety of greens that slope in every conceivable manner and that range from 3,500 square feet to 12,000 square feet. Tight mow chipping areas provide gobs of recovery options. Eye candy was kept at a minimum. Meanwhile, mow lines were devised such that the timeless and elegant live oaks edge into play and influence the shape/trajectory of shots. The effects of the wind need to be constantly reassessed, as some holes are tucked low while others occupy high spots.

Overall, the property and Rod Whitman’s greens guide the narrative. Losing a ball should be infrequent and first-off tee times are averaging 3 ½ hours to play. To be sure, Rod Whitman, Kyle Franz, Mike Nuzzo, and I are all very proud of what was created as the course fully embodies many of the timeless design virtues that we hold most high. What an honor to participate in this collaboration, one that we believe will stand the test of time given its slew of classic design elements.