On Nov. 11, Robert Trent Jones Jr. is slated to receive the Donald Ross Award, which is the highest honor bestowed by the American Society of Golf Course Architects.
At 85 years old, Jones shows no sign of slowing down. His firm, Robert Trent Jones II Golf Course Architects (RTJII) has been awarded the contract to design a second course at the Buenaventura Resort in Panama. Already recognized as Central America’s premier golf destination, the layout for the new course —called Course No. 2 — was recently unveiled.
Set within a sprawling resort of 800 acres of gently rolling terrain along Panama’s Pacific coast, the 6,810-yard, par-72 layout will blend the site’s natural beauty, including magnificent specimen Corotu amd Panama trees, with a thoughtful design that emphasizes enjoyment for all skill levels. The ever-changing landscape — a lush jungle, expansive meadows and stunning beachfront — will be an integral part of the golf experience. The use of meandering “ribbon tees” will allow players to choose a course length that best suits their ability.
Built as a traditional continuous 18-hole loop, the course will feature a halfway house as well as a member-only gathering spot between holes Nos. 9 and 10.
While designed to be a distinctly different experience from Course No. 1, the shorter Course No. 2 will place an emphasis on fun and playability. However, No. 2 at Buenaventura will also place a premium on strategic play commensurate to each golfer’s level of skill and confidence. Natural streams, twisting barrancas and water features will provide multiple options and angles on every hole. Better golfers will face numerous risk/reward options; higher handicappers will find bail-out areas and opportunities to play safe. Tightly mown chipping areas near the green complexes will give all golfers the chance to demonstrate finesse and creativity with a variety of short-game shots.
Reinforcing RTJII’s commitment to respecting the environment, many areas of rough will be irrigated only by natural rainfall, enhancing the unique atmosphere of the Riviera Pacifica. Eschewing land-moving, existing elevation changes will be incorporated to produce stunning sightlines, ocean views and the thrill of playing from elevated portions of the ribbon tees and to a few uphill greens.
Buenaventura is a vibrant luxury beach community situated just 90 miles from Panama City. The first 18-hole championship course was designed by Jack Nicklaus. A late 2025 opening is expected for the new Jones course.
THE SOCIAL ASPECT
The transformation at Darlington Country Club continues. pic.twitter.com/9ka6LgJONL
— Richard Mandell Golf Architecture (@RichardMandell) November 1, 2024
PENINSULA CLUB REOPENS WITH BEAU WELLING RENOVATION
The Peninsula Club, a golf and country club located on the shores of Lake Norman in Cornelius, North Carolina, reopened in late October following a renovation by Beau Welling Design.
Led by Beau Welling and senior design associate Chase Webb, the renovation kept the routing and footprint of the golf course largely the same, yet many golf features were adjusted to deliver a more strategic, memorable and playable test for the club membership.
"Working with The Peninsula Club over the last few years has been an honor for our team, and we’re thrilled to see these exciting capital improvements come to life and continue the club’s legacy as one of North Carolina’s premier golf properties," Welling told GolfCourseArchitecture.net. “The renovated golf course truly presents a strategic test of golf while remaining very enjoyable for golfers of all skill levels."
Updates to the course included regrassing the entire layout, utilizing TifEagle bermudagrass on the greens and Tahoma31 bermudagrass on the rest of the course, including green surrounds, fairways, roughs and tees. In addition, BWD overhauled the infrastructure, installing a new state-of-the-art irrigation system, upgraded drainage and new cart paths.
An important alteration for both playability and aesthetics was the strategic clearing of trees for expanded sightlines across the golf course as well as to open up stunning views of Lake Norman. In one instance, at the fifth hole, a number of large trees were taken out to make the fairway corridor wider. With the tree removal, additional width and a newly shortened distance, the hole was transformed into an exciting, option-laden, drivable par 4.
Another noteworthy adjustment saw a native fescue mix added to out-of-play areas that provided a new feel to the golf course with more striking visuals, while also decreasing water reliance. Finally, Welling and his team reduced the bunker square footage as part of a larger recalibration of bunker strategy and also assisted the club with campus planning that included an expanded practice area.
“Off the course, additions to the practice area and updates to other amenities provide not only world-class training facilities but also wonderful human moments of social activation for the membership, both with friends and family,” Welling said.
OLD DANE BEGINS TO TAKE SHAPE
Architect Trevor Dormer has begun construction on the makeover of the nine-hole Old Dane course in Dakota City, Nebraska.
The metamorphosis taking place will transform the old layout into 12 new holes, with options that will include six-, nine- and 12-hole loops. Work started in early October with the excavation of a two-acre lake to store irrigation water and provide approximately 40,000 cubic yards of fill for Dormer to reshape what had been an extremely flat golf course. Course owner Will Andersen and his family also own the nearby Landmand layout, a highly acclaimed spread from Tad King and Rob Collins that won Best New Course of the Year in 2022. Dormer has since joined King Collins Golf as a third partner.
“Old Dane is a great community asset, but it didn’t really have anything special about it as a golf course,” said Dormer, who briefly toiled for King and Collins when they built Landmand. “With the fill material we are generating from the lake excavation, and the reshaping work we can do elsewhere on the site, I am hopeful that we can do something really good out here. Obviously on a flat property like this it is never going to be as spectacular as Landmand, given the nature of the site on which that course sits, but I think it can be an excellent sister course that visiting golfers will want to play as well.”
Among the highlights will be the 11th green, a “volcano” that will be elevated by 15 to 20 feet above its surrounds and a shared fairway between the third and eighth holes. Fairway width will increase, but being reduced—in fact, eliminated — is the driving range, a rarity in today’s golf environment.
“That might seem a strange decision — driving ranges generally are seen as money-makers for public courses, but it is my view that golfers want to play golf, not to stand on a range and beat balls into a field, so the more golf we can give them, the better,” Dormer said. The Andersen family owns a site across from Old Dane, so a future practice range is certainly a possibility.
“I’m really excited to see Trevor start work on reimagining Old Dane,” said Will Andersen. “The course means a lot to me and my family. It was our first foray into the golf business, so it could be seen as the progenitor of Landmand in a way. And obviously, we have a lot of golfers traveling a long way to play Landmand, so if we can provide them with more interesting golf to play while they are in the area, it will encourage people to stay longer and put more money into the local economy, which is important to us. When we bought the course, I redesigned it myself. I did the best job I could, but I’m just a golfer who has seen a bunch of good courses—in no sense a professional golf architect. So it is great that the course is being reimagined by someone with Trevor’s vision and ability to realize it.”
