In the rolling Carolina Sandhills near Aiken, South Carolina, an ambitious project is underway by 21 Golf Club to interpret one of golf’s most storied designs. The club’s MacKenzie Course is inspired by Alister MacKenzie’s plans for El Boqueron, a bold concept he envisioned nearly a century ago but was never built.
Guided by extensive research and a deep respect for MacKenzie’s philosophy, 21 Golf Club aims to honor MacKenzie’s vision while thoughtfully adapting it to the natural beauty and challenges of its new home.
For the uninitiated, MacKenzie (1870-1934) was an English surgeon who became one of the most celebrated golf course architects of all time. His portfolio of more than 50 golf courses includes several considered among the game’s very best, such as Cypress Point Club, Crystal Downs Country Club, Lahinch Golf Club, Augusta National Golf Club and Royal Melbourne Golf Club.
El Boqueron was one of MacKenzie’s boldest concepts — a layout for an Argentina family featuring nine massive double greens and a strategic routing designed to challenge players’ creativity and decision-making. While the plans for El Boqueron were shelved and thought lost for decades, their rediscovery reignited interest among historians and architects alike.
The creation of the MacKenzie Course has been guided by years of research, collaboration and an unwavering respect for the game’s traditions. A dedicated team, including the MacKenzie Architectural Committee and architect Brian Zager, has studied every available detail — MacKenzie’s original plans for El Boqueron, his writings and the features of every course he designed.
"We understand the responsibility that comes with undertaking a project like this," said Wes Farrell, founder of 21 Golf Club. "Our goal is to honor Alister MacKenzie’s vision while adapting it thoughtfully to our site, which offers dramatic rolling sand hills and endless vistas. We’ve put immense care into studying not only MacKenzie’s designs but also the topography of the original El Boqueron site and our property here in South Carolina.
"This is not just about building a golf course; it’s about preserving a piece of golf’s history, exploring its possibilities, and sharing that journey with others. We look forward to releasing a detailed analysis of our process and the thought behind this design in the coming months."
With its shared greens and interconnected routing, the course offers a sense of intimacy rarely found in modern golf. Players will be able to see multiple greens from nearly every location, fostering a sense of camaraderie and connection that MacKenzie championed in his designs.
"Our goal is to create a course that challenges the mind, rewards creativity, and provides joy to golfers of all abilities," Farrell said. "We hope the intimacy and interactivity of this layout will make it a truly memorable experience."
The MacKenzie Architectural Committee was formed to oversee every detail of the project, bringing together experts in MacKenzie’s work, classic course modeling, and modern construction techniques. Among them is Zager, an architect whose contributions include collaborations with Tom Doak and Mike Keiser and the Keiser family, and the celebrated recreation of The Lido.
"Our approach has been one of respect and curiosity," Zager said. "We’ve worked to understand MacKenzie’s intentions and adapt them to this extraordinary site. The rolling sand hills give us an incredible canvas, and every decision we make is informed by MacKenzie’s principles and the natural beauty of the land."
THE SOCIAL ASPECT
Things are looking great at Starcke Park GC in Texas with @golf_mid, including more irrigation layout by @ian_hwilliams. We approved more greens on an unusually cold couple of days back on Monday/Tuesday. Great to see a surge in public golf projects like this one nationwide! pic.twitter.com/woQX6n5ZF5
— Nathan Crace, ASGCA, PLA (@lipouts) January 17, 2025
BEAU WELLING WRAPS WORK AT JONATHAN'S LANDING
Beau Welling and his Beau Welling Design (BWD) team have completed work on a renovation of the Village course at Jonathan’s Landing Golf Club in Jupiter, Florida. Originally designed by George and Tom Fazio in 1978, with assistance from associates Andy Banfield and Jan Bel Jan, the Village had most recently been tweaked in 2000. Team members that collaborated with Welling included BWD VP Scott Benson and senior design associates Amanda Barbee and Hunter Rigsby.
"The project started with an analysis of the course’s infrastructure,” Welling told GolfCourseArchitecture.net. “Once the decision was made to really reinvest in that infrastructure, we looked at how we might achieve certain goals relating to how the Village course played. There was a real intention to make it more strategic and playable for all skill levels."
State-of-the-art infrastructure upgrades on the golf course include irrigation, drainage and bunkering, along with visual enhancements via regrassing and landscaping. Among the alterations that BWD applied to the Village course at Jonathan’s Landing were:
New greens and bunkers throughout the golf course; reshaping and recontouring across all 18 holes; rerouting of holes 3 through 7; strategic tree clearing and relocation for expanded sightlines; drainage and irrigation improvements to enhance sustainability and optimize water storage resources; planting Bimini Bermudagrass on tees and fairways; new concrete cart paths; and a renovated practice range and short game area.
"This is more than a renovation — it’s a reinvention," said Jonathan’s Landing director of agronomy Brad Nelson. “We’ve elevated the Village course to a level that reflects the excellence of Jonathan’s Landing while honoring its legacy.”
SERGIO GARCIA EMERGING AS DESIGNER
Sergio Garcia is making more news as a designer these days than as a tournament golfer. A few months away from opening his Torre course at Portugal’s Terras da Comporta, Garcia announced this past week news of a new design project in Bahrain for the Rashid Equestrian and Horseracing Club (REHC) in Bahrain and developer Bareeq Al Retaj.
The layout will be situated in Riffa, just west of Bahrain’s premier course, Royal Golf Club, a European Golf Design/Colin Montgomerie collaboration which is a frequent host to DP World Tour events. Yusuf Osama Buheji, CEO of REHC was quoted by the Bahrain News Agency that the initiative aligns with a club effort to diversify its offerings, all the while promoting sports and tourism for Bahrain.
Garcia will follow in the footsteps of compatriot Jose Maria Olazabal, whose design firm signed on a month ago to create a new championship course on the west coast of Bahrain for developer Al Areen Holding Company.
