I think it's important to remember that, as busy as the golf course construction industry is right now, it's still nowhere near the highs of the 90s and early 00s. Most of the activity is concentrated in specific regions and specific segments of the market. Could those regions and market segments become oversaturated? Sure. But that correction wouldn't be anything like the extinction-level event of the late 00s and early 10s.If anything, the current rate of golf course construction and renovation is failing to keep up with demand, at least in the lower- to mid-price daily-fee world. But costs are what they are.

Great article - I have thought about this before and I think another course of note to add to your list is Harding Park in SF. The front 9 stays in the interior of the property, while the back nine quite literally encircles the property and stays on the boundary line the entire time.

The site plan / architect drawings are starting to look like album art. I'm here for it.

The sheer volume of new courses is overwhelming currently, I wonder when the music will stop and what happens when it does? Will be interesting to see with places like Contentment, High Grove and Tepetonka.

I’m excited to see Brian Schneider’s work on Woodhill Country Club west of Minneapolis, which begins this summer. The classic Donald Ross course is one of my favorites in the MSP metro area.

Great article that summarizes all of the work that The Fried Egg has done overviewing MI golf. Other suggestions- in the lower part of the stay there are a few regional Willie Park Jr courses/clubs that are accessible and great examples of classical architecture (Battle Creek, Flint GC) that could really benefit from more spotlight. The area NE of Traverse City is a real sleeper for a golf trip - Elk Rapids Golf Club is a wonderful Donald Ross 9 hole course, Cedar River is a fun Weiskopf that doesn’t get the attending that Forest Dunes does but is worthwhile and Agaming Sundance is another really fun course in the NW part of the lower peninsula

Great article! On the topic of Fields Ranch East, I had a wonderful time playing the venue last year. I certainly would not label it a boring course from any shot. My main critique were landing strip tee boxes but that is more of a preference on my part. The large amount of rain in that area caused a lot of uneven tee shots due to erosion. I do wonder if switching holes 9 and 18 ruined some of the flow of the golf course. I would be curious to know about more routing changes made for tournaments at other courses.

Can't wait to watch the men play it in 2027. It's such a visually striking course to see in person, I hope the CBS broadcast does it justice in two years!

thanks, Andrew!

Maybe I have it wrong, but are the labels on the pictures on the 13th backwards? Front should be back and vise versa, same as left and right.