I woke up one day earlier this month to yet another drive-by on my beloved TPC Toronto in the Fried Egg newsletter from Mr. LaMagna, who ranked it in the pleasantly titled tier ‘Unfortunately, It’s a Golf Course.’ In the interest of disclosure, I work at TPC Toronto, so if you want to dismiss everything that follows here as flak or propaganda, that’s fair game.

I will say I’ve chuckled at the many JLM zingers coming at my employer’s expense over the past year, including this one during last year’s Canadian Open.

With that said, this latest zinger got me thinking about what makes for a ‘bad’ golf course, and I can’t help myself from stepping into traffic here to talk about a course I know well and, I think, is poorly understood. For whatever it’s worth, I do believe I’m writing this not out of professional obligation, but because I’ve spent a huge amount of time thinking about this course and hope to engage in some discussion around it here.

According to what’s been written and said by folks from Fried Egg Golf, Golf Club Atlas, No Laying Up and others, we have committed some grievous sins with our North course. The prevailing narrative goes: the bunkers are repetitive, it’s a long and boring slog, the greens are flat pancakes, it rewards bomb-and-gouge specialists, and its overall look is generally out of line with the current architecture zeitgeist. Oh, and it’s a ’run of the mill TPC.’

While I disagree with those, and not just because they’re mostly been posited by people who have never set foot on the property, I won’t attempt to refute them here (though regarding the bunker shapes, you may be surprised to learn the course was designed to be played from the ground, not Google Maps). Our work is in the public sphere and criticism is fair game. If you don’t like it, you don’t like it, and that’s just an innate part of evaluating golf courses

Instead, I want to point to a few things that I enjoy about the course and have not seen discussed much in these spaces. There are some aspects to the course I’ve learned to appreciate having played, photographed and talked about it for years, and while truthfully I hope to change some people’s minds about the course, the reason I’m choosing to write it here (of all places!) is that I hope to inspire some discussion about what is worthy of criticism and derision, and what really makes for a ‘bad’ golf course.

What criteria should really banish a venue to the ‘Unfortunately, It’s a Golf Course’ tier? What is the threshold of redeeming qualities a course must possess to elevate out of that tier? And even when a course fails that litmus test, how hard should a fan or commentator have to look to find something interesting? I’ll make my case below, then return to the question.

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1. Emphasis on Tee-to-Green play

The premise of the North course’s 2023 renovation was to make tee-to-green play actually matter. The thinking for how we aimed to accomplish that: We know modern, technologically-optimized players are going to score well no matter what we do. Instead of trying to arbitrarily manipulate scoring with narrow targets, thick rough and more hazards, let’s create opportunities for the best players to earn their scoring opportunities with great long game play. If players continually decline risk off the tee and into the greens, their ability to keep pace with whoever is playing best that week will be compromised.

I went deeper into the topic with Ian Andrew in this Q&A.

When I looked up Data Golf’s course summary from last year’s Canadian Open, I wasn’t sure this would be reflected in the results. I was admittedly expecting to find evidence of a ‘Piece of Sh*t Putting Contest’, owing to the soft conditions from the heavy Wednesday rain and the fact that there was snow on the ground less than 50 freaking days before the tournament. However, at risk of being a numbers-blinded #DataBoy and misinterpreting the below chart, I was surprised to find that the Within-Event Correlations and Course Insights showed that players who gained strokes on the field did so overwhelmingly with the long game. In particular, distance having such a negligible impact on total strokes gained goes against the prevailing critique that the North course is a Ball Speed Impostor’s paradise, where speed is the only number that matters and all you need to do to win is hit it far and make a few putts:

Players who gained strokes on the field in 2025 did so primarily with driving accuracy and approach play

Course Insights point to approach play as the strongest influence on scoring variance, while the course slightly favoured accurate drivers

It’s just one year’s worth of data and these are raw correlations, but to see evidence that the course actually played in line with the design’s premise suggests that, despite the jokes about Cameron Champ leading well into the weekend, there’s something here beyond a mindless bomber’s paradise.

2. Approach shot length variety

Members of this forum are obviously familiar with modern equipment’s muting on shotmaking skill, and know that only the rarest venues and weather conditions really emphasize these skills in the men’s pro game. To be sure, the ways most often mentioned among a course’s tools to combat this - truly exceptional green contouring, or exposure to forceful natural elements, for example - are not a strength of the North course, and I’m not here to convince you otherwise.

However, to me one of the course’s strongest traits is undeniably the variety of approach clubs it can put in players’ hands, and the variety of approach distances, if not types of approach shots, players face during a round. I love how the course is essentially bifurcated into scoring opportunities (short approaches) and what Ian Andrew, the renovation architect, calls ‘perseverance’ holes (long approaches).

Below is the Approach Shot Distribution from last year’s event, via Data Golf. As you can see, there are a much higher number of very short and very long approaches compared to the average Tour course.

This is consistent with the intent of the 2023 renovation, which aimed to emphasize the back-and-forth nature of the scoring/perseverance holes, especially on the back nine:

• 10-11, perseverance holes (tricky par-4, brutally tough par-3)

• 12, scoring hole (drive-and-pitch par-4)

• 13, perseverance hole (very long par-4)

• 14-15, scoring holes (short par-3, short par-4 with sharp dogleg)

• 16-17, perseverance holes (very long par-4s)

• 18, scoring hole (reachable, risk-reward par-5)

The par-3s are also well positioned to give the players a variety of yardages and wind directions. 7 and 11 can both play between 190 to 230+ but play in opposite directions, so they give players opposite wind directions, and can both require a long approach club. 4 and 14 both give players a different look at a shorter club, with 14’s internal punchbowl and 4’s severe upside-down saucer runoff area on the right side. Ultimately this is meant to test a variety of approach shot skills, plus add a fun psychological element of the back-and-forth between easy and difficult holes.

For what it’s worth, I think the Tour could, should and will lean into this dynamic more when it comes to course setup in 2026.

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3. Approach shot tests:

I can’t blame folks who saw the course for the first time on TV last June and saw a set of soft dartboard greens - between the heavy rain on Wednesday and humid, windless conditions the rest of the week, I’m not sure any course’s greens would have looked very interesting from TV Tower-level perspectives. However, beyond just a variety of yardages players have into greens, there are some approach shots I find very interesting to watch even in pillow-soft conditions, and which turn outright fascinating if things get firm and spicy (like they did when the course hosted the 2024 PGA Tour Americas Tour Championship and the winning score was only 5-under). I’d argue that the following approach shots:

• Reward aggressive risk-taking

• Penalize misses that cut it too close to the danger

• Make subsequent shots much harder after conservative play.

10th hole: With a water hazard short right and a false front/closely mown runoff area short right, balls that don’t carry far enough into the green or have too much spin will roll back, even if they’re 4-5 paces onto the green. But bailing long or left means playing back towards that same hazard, which makes for a very delicate two-putt or up and down. There’s a nice element of deferred risk and “take on the hazard now, or later” to this one, especially since the S-shaped, cambered fairway requires an actual golf shot to hit. To me it’s kind of crazy that on a course where there are two extremely long par-3s and six par-4s that can play 500 yards (including two that are just converted par-5s - shoutout to the TPC Summerlin Model, #ParIsASocialConstruct), a 415-yard par-4 could play as the sixth hardest hole, as it did for the week. My friend Jake Scott explained it better than I ever could here in this video.

16th hole: For my money, this is the best green on the course. Perhaps someone more learned in the GCA lexicon can tell me what this is called, but basically the right half the green is severely back-to-front, while the left side is severely front-to-back. You can get a better appreciation for it in this photo:

I think this hole did a fantastic job of rewarding excellent tee-to-green play in last year’s Canadian Open. Check out the ShotLink data from last year’s first round (which I’ll note came after heavy rain and, sigh, preferred lies the night before). Because the left hole location was so well protected by the deep bunker and front-to-back left side slope, the only birdies came from the very right side of the fairway. But look at all the bogeys that came from missing in the right rough! Find the preferred angle down the right side, and it’s a green light. But chase that angle and miss, and making par was a stiff challenge.

A closer look at the green reveals that players who bailed safely out right frequently three-putted or failed to get up and down. A two-shotter that puts a mid-iron in a player’s hand and makes them hit a shot of consequence? In this economy???

I’d also add that this green offers players multiple ways to get it close, including hitting a shot that releases to the back of the green and funnels down to the left side. I saw Taylor Pendrith do exactly that once in 2019 and probably think about that shot one a week.

13th hole: Located on one of the best pieces of ground on property, the large mound left of the green is covered with very thick fescue and sets up a preferred angle off the tee down the right side, especially since the fairway cambers severely from left-to-right. From the left side of the fairway, the green is partially obscured and gives the player almost no room to run it up. There’s a bail out area short right, but it was lowered and the front right of the green was raised in the 2023 renovation to make that a very delicate recovery. What that all ads up to: a player who can curve it right-to-left off a left-to-right slope has a significant advantage on this approach shot, while cutting it too close to the mound nets out a stiff penalty and bailing safely right makes the next shot more difficult.

4th hole: In the 2023 renovation, the front right of this green was steeped into a false front, so any tee shots that play too aggressively along the right side or don’t effectively control spin are carried well away from the hole. Check out Max Homa’s tee shot in Round 2: right over the flag with a 9-iron or wedge, but since he cut it too close to the dangerous slope, the ball carried 70 feet away and led to a bogey. He could have played safely left and left himself a very slippery downhill putt, but instead chose to take on the risk and was penalized for cutting it too close.

11th hole: 11 features a similar short-right vs. long-left dynamic to 10, except it can play 225 yards and the long/left misses are into a giant wall of extremely thick fescue. On most holes on the North course, there’s a spot available for a player to take their medicine after a miss, hit a smart recovery and get up-and-down. Not so on the 11th - just ask Ludvig. I think that change of pace is a good thing. Joseph’s own venue ranking criteria praise courses that severely penalize wide misses, and I’d humbly suggest that there aren’t many par-3s on Tour that do a better job of that than 11:

I could go on, in particular about the 2nd, 5th, 9th, and 18th greens, but my point is that there are very interesting approach shots to watch for if you know where to look.

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None of the above information is meant to argue with your perception of the North course if you just don’t like it. Despite my obvious bias and stated fandom of the course, I’ll be the first to admit that it’s not in the same class of course as St. George’s, with its artistic bunkering and fantastic greens, or Hamilton and its routing genius. But that’s also not what the course is trying to do - it’s meant to provide a compelling, credible test for modern tour players while simultaneously giving the PGA Tour and Golf Canada an excellent venue to run a modern tour event and national championship. As the modern venue discourse will tell you, that's not an easy needle to thread.

So, I’ll return to the question that started this journey: what makes a bad course? Are the grevious sins TPC Toronto has apparently committed beyond the pale? If a course can provide a modicum of interest to the enlightened fan, is it truly bad?

I come in peace, and hope to see some responses and discussion here!

As FEGC member Pearce Barringer noted a few hours ago, Old Shores, a new Dream Golf development in the Florida panhandle, made several newsy announcements today.

We first reported on Old Shores in November 2024.

The resort's first course, designed by Tom Doak, is now under construction, with Angela Moser serving as lead associate. Moser headed up on-site efforts at Doak's Pinehurst No. 10 and recently earned a commission of her own at Burlington Golf and Country Club in Ontario, Canada. A grand opening for Old Shores No. 1 (not the official name, of course) is on the calendar for fall 2027.

Dream Golf also revealed some details of its future plans for Old Shores:

1) The resort's plans also include a second 18-hole course designed by longtime Doak associate and Old Barnwell co-designer Brian Schneider, a 12-hole "precision course" in the vein of The Commons at Sand Valley, a par-3 course, and a nine-hole regulation course similar to The Dunes Club in Michigan. This kind of varied golf offering has become typical of the Dream Golf resorts spearheaded by Bandon Dunes founder Mike Keiser's sons Michael and Chris.

2) Schneider's course will be inspired by Augusta National, but not by the current iteration of the Masters venue. Instead, Schneider will be taking inspiration from Augusta National as it stood in the 1930s, with minimal bunkering, eccentric green shapes and contours, and a rough-hewn aesthetic. Michael Keiser said in a press release that this course will be "very different from the first course [at Old Shores], and as dramatic as anything we've ever built." Whereas Doak's design occupies relatively subtle terrain, Schenider's course will tackle a severe piece of land with up to 90 feet of elevation change.

3) Architects have not yet been selected for the other courses at Old Shores.

4) The golf courses will radiate out from a walkable core consisting of restaurants, lodging, and home sites. "It's like this little village is the hub and the spokes are the golf courses that go out in all directions," Keiser said. "So, when you arrive, we'll get you our of your car and we'll take your luggage to wherever you're staying — a hotel room or rented home — and then you're going to be walking everywhere."

Thoughts? Takes? Have at it.

For my part, I find Michael and Chris Keiser to be among the most smartest, most inventive developers in the business. They love golf and golf course design, and it shows in their planning.

https://linksmagazine.com/new-florida-golf-resort-old-shores-announces-plans-for-multiple-courses/

Just now hearing about this new development from Keiser and Co. First course is underway, being built by Tom Doak, and it was just announced that Brian Schnieder will be handling the second 18. Excited to see this as I often vacation down in the panhandle, and golf in that area is mediocre at best.

The interesting bit is "Keiser says [Schnieder's] layout is inspired by Augusta National as it existed in the 1930s when Perry Maxwell extensively renovated seven greens with bold internal contouring." We will see about that.

Also curious to see how walkable Tom's course is. Keiser has put an emphasis on walkability at his previous resorts, but Tom's routing does look a bit like a hike in the Florida heat.

Also interested to see how they handle drainage. Lots of sand soil in those next of the woods, but there's also plenty of rain and a shallow water table. Some of the images Linksoul shared made the property look pretty wet.

I'm sure the courses we'll be very exciting, and I am sure the online golf world will have many opinions. Hope to check them out alongside a few eggheads at a future FEG Event.

On the Golfer's Journal podcast yesterday announcing their 2026 events, Gil Hanse made the statement that he believes that the renovation at Spanish Bay will be the last large project completed on the California coastline due to the nature of the coastal commission. Do we think he is saying this because he believes it or is he trying to create a sense of urgency at Pebble Beach?

Hoping for recommendations on other golf to play in the Wichita/Hutchison Kansas area. Will be in town to play Prairie Dunes and have time for some other golf. Hesston and Sand Creek Station seem to keep popping up on searches but would welcome tips!

Eggsters,

I am traveling to Fort Worth next month and am looking for course recommendations. My brother in law is more of a casual golfer, PGA Frisco will be a tough sell but looking for that next tier of courses.

Texas Rangers Golf Club, Steven’s Park, and Rockwood Park are all courses I’ve looked at but trying to call in the experts here! Look forward to any recommendations.

-Taylor

A group of investors is transforming 619 acres of duneland outside of Hutchinson, Kansas (home to the great Prairie Dunes Country Club), into a 45-hole golf facility. Named Salt Lick Golf and Hunting Resort, the new complex will feature two 18-hole courses, a nine-hole short course, 36 cabins for overnight stays, and... presumably hunting? Todd Clark and Ron Whitten have been engaged as golf architects, and the resort is targeting a 2028 opening. This unlisted YouTube video describing the project recently came across our desks.

The site once housed Cottonwood Hills Golf Club, a Nick Faldo-designed 18-hole course that closed down several years ago. Andy Johnson and I took a quick look at Cottonwood Hills on our way to Prairie Dunes in 2019. The land is terrific — sandy, undulating, and occasionally dramatic — but the golf course struck us as oddly divorced from its setting. I can see why the Salt Lick developers are just building something new.

I don't know much about Clark as an architect, but his work at Buffalo Dunes Golf Course in Kansas (executed by shaper Zach Varty and superintendent Clay Payne) looks great. Whitten, formerly the architecture editor at Golf Digest, is a deeply knowledgeable golf course scholar and critic, but I've never been sure what his genuine architectural convictions are. He has typically been more eager to play the contrarian than to state his affirmative beliefs. So we'll see.

There's an excellent business case for Salt Lick. Prairie Dunes is already viable destination with a healthy national membership. It makes sense to create a companion resort with more robust lodging and golf options. But the devil, as always, is in the execution.

GCA has a thread about the hardest golf course people have played, and I found it to be an interesting discussion.

One day per year at Hazeltine, we have a member event from the Tournament Tees, which play to about 7,950 yards. We also pick hole locations from a previous championship that we've hosted (this past year we used the hole locations from the 2024 U.S. Amateur Championship Match). It's a serious test, but one that our members embrace. We usually get 80 - 100 guys to play, the majority of them single digit handicaps, and almost invariably less than 5 people break 80.

For a "normal" course (one that isn't set up like a major championship), I think The Ocean Course at Kiawah is really difficult. I have only played it once and caught it on a calm day by Kiawah's standards. However, if the wind picks up out there, I could see that place becoming an absolute nightmare.

I have a question: why doesn't Kohler's golf complex (Whistling/Blackwolf) get mentioned with the same passion/frequency as resorts like Sand Valley? As I was listening to Garett talk about The Commons/afternoon courses becoming more common and (hopefully) popular, I thought it was strange that no one had mentioned King-Collin's Purebred Farm. (The name is...questionable.) Maybe it's because it'll likely be a 2027 opening, I suppose.

Anyway, afternoon courses aside, Kohler just generally isn't discussed nearly as often as Dream properties, for example. Maybe it's that they're not all "officially" under one resort banner/name? Is Pete Dye out again?! (I'm kidding I hope.) Just curious on the communities thoughts.

I really enjoyed the podcast with Garrett and Matt about the new openings that they are most looking forward to in 2026. As someone based in Scotland with regular travel to Melbourne, I was excited to hear them mention both National Long Island and the innovative plans OCM have for it, as well as Old Petty.

In addition to those, I wanted to mention two others that I'm excited to see in 2026 when I'm back in Australia for work (and golf). First is the opening of the Cliffs on Kangaroo Island in South Australia, a few hours south of Adelaide. It's a Darius Oliver primary design that is set for preview play soon with a full open later in the year. Darius was involved in Cape Wickham, but this looks like a less dramatic piece of land but one that still has loads of potential playing above the cliffs with views out south to ocean. Unlike 7 Mile Beach, they've been pretty minimal in their social media so it's hard to know exactly how the course will play.

Speaking of 7 Mile Beach, while it technically opened in late 2025, it's also worth a mention. I was lucky to play it with Mike Clayton a few days before opening, and it promises to be a must see for anyone travelling to Australia. The routing is exceptional, the land dramatic, and the course plays a bit more like an old world links than those at Barnbougle. I particularly enjoyed some of the less dramatic holes, including 6, 11, and 16 down near the water. They also have some interesting ideas like the two greens on 8, or the various tees that radically change the holes like on 2, 9, and 17.

Finally, a word for the renovated or restored Huntingdale by OCM. I was able to get a tour from the GM in December. The land is a bit more undulating than its neighbour Metro, although not as much as Vic, RM, or PK. The wallaby grass gives the course a really unique look in the Sandbelt, and it should return to some of its earlier glory. yYou an see more on my instagram @golfing_scotland about both Huntingdale and 7 Mile.

I hope this is the right sub-forum for this.

I play in a volleyball league that is pretty competitive, but in the offseason, the commish of the league is starting up a 5-week sim golf league, inviting people from all skill levels for screen golf. The commish doesn't know much about golf, so I'm trying to give him some tips. (For example, I asked him what the two-man format was, he said best ball. I pressed him further knowing full well he meant scramble) He claims the sim has almost any course we want and is excited to do courses like Augusta and Sawgrass. It sounds like there are going to be some beginner beginners in this. For example, they think I (an 18 index) am going to be one of the best players in the league (My teammate is a 2).

I think you see where I'm going with this. I think throwing newbies onto courses like Augusta and Sawgrass would be a complete disaster and unfun for all involved. Assuming they do indeed have every course in the world, any suggestions for ones I should suggest? I was thinking Mammoth Dunes, Kapalua Plantation, LACC, Trinity Forest, anything with wide wide fairways where people won't be hating life and quit.

My biggest takeaway from the latest Yoak was that nobody was willing to just say "here's the money, do whatever you want." Like, yea, I get it, when you're investing $25 million on a golf course, you really, really need it to make money and you're likely super worried about the outcome. But what there thousands of people putting in not much at all? With 10,000 investors, you'd only need $2,500 invested per person. I mean, that's a lot of money, yes, but the point is (1) if it's an investment, it's small enough to lose, and (2) if successful, any perks from that money could probably pay for the initial investment over the lifetime of the going concern.

Now, I know finance law prohibits just asking normal folks to invest in a venture without becoming a public company, and that has non-trivial costs attached. However, the cost is low enough that I think plenty of folks would be willing to be compensated through a kick-starter structure, that is, I assume I'll get zero return on my investment, but maybe I'd get to play golf at a steep discount, or get access to a locker/bar that is otherwise private when I visit. I mean, I'd happily pitch in for a Bandon-like entity to get built if I know I'll get discounted golf and preferred access going forward. I also wouldn't care at all what the course was like, because I genuinely think pitching in for a Doak-level masterpiece to get built would be worth it.

Maybe I'm totally out of touch with reality, but it just seems doable to me.

After heavy rainstorms slammed into the West Coast in late December, Soule Park Golf Course suffered significant flood damage. Multiple holes along the large barranca that runs through the Ojai, California, municipal course will need to be repaired or partially rebuilt.

This is the second time in three years that the course has taken a hit from rising waters. In the winter of 2022-23, portions of holes 12 and 14 were washed away. During the recent storm, the punchbowl green on the par-5 fifth hole took a particularly hard hit. Below are overhead photos of the green taken in 2022, 2024, and 2026, respectively.

Yeah. Yikes.

Soule Park has been vulnerable to floods throughout its 60-year history. In 2005, an especially intense storm left the course in a dire state. Fortunately, as I detailed in this 2019 piece, an ambitious leaseholder stepped in to rehabilitate the property and spearhead a renovation by Gil Hanse. In recent years, the course has seen a major uptick in play and media coverage.

Soule Park is near and dear to several of us at Fried Egg Golf. I grew up in nearby Goleta, California, and my dad and I played the course frequently in the late 1990s. Today, my colleague Cameron Hurdus lives about 30 minutes away.

Cameron visited Soule Park a few days ago and sent along these notes to me:

• "The plan is basically to try and recapture as much of No. 5 green site as possible and put 'something' back, but no one has been hired on the design side yet.... I think what they end up building will depend on how much land is recaptured."
• "There are a lot of areas that need to be addressed — just stabilizing spots and also potentially creating dams or buffers that might reroute water downstream slightly."
• "The river is getting very close to the pond on No. 1/No. 10, [and a breakthrough there] would be the worst-case scenario."
• "No. 12 will need some sort of stabilizing measure to keep it from eroding more."

This is all tough to hear. But I'm glad that the current leaseholder, Keith Brown, has remained committed to keeping the course open and preserving Hanse's excellent design work. All best to Keith and the team at Soule Park in their recovery efforts.

I'm brainstorming ideas for Golf Architecture 101 episodes and segments for the 2026 run of Designing Golf.

What basic questions do you have about golf course design? Or, if you're more advanced in your golf architecture knowledge, what 101-type topics would you like to see covered?

Let me know below.

In a New Year's Eve email, the National Links Trust announced that the Trump administration is killing the nonprofit group's contract with the National Park Service to operate and improve the three municipal golf courses in Washington, D.C. The administration has deemed the NLT in default of its lease — a finding that does not appear to have much basis in reality.

For the past several weeks, rumors and reports have circulated about the President's desire to seize control of the courses and transform East Potomac Golf Links into a professional-level tournament venue. Now the administration has made its first concrete, public move.

A few of my many questions about what will happen next:

• Will 80-year-old Tom Fazio, Trump's reported pick to lead the PGA Tour-grade makeover of the golf courses at East Potomac, actually take the job?
• What will the impact of this project be on the accessibility and affordability of golf at East Potomac?
• Which company will be hired to manage the three courses after the NLT exits? (Trump Golf? Surely not!)
• What are the administration's plans for D.C.'s two other municipal facilities, Langston Golf Course and Rock Creek Park Golf Course?
• Will the in-progress renovation of Rock Creek Park, now on hold because of the NLT's ouster, get back underway at some point?

The National Links Trust is (was?) a bright light in the game. This is all terribly sad and stupid.