Golf course architect Kris Spence, who is something of a Donald Ross historian, helped in restoring Dunedin Golf Club, the historic Ross-designed course owned by the city of Dunedin (just north of Tampa.
The course was built in 1926 and opened for play in 1927, under Dunedin Isles Golf Club. At the time, Ross referred to it as "his masterpiece" and attributed it to the land's ideal combination of rolling hills, waterways and other natural hazards. In 1939, the city of Dunedin took ownership of the course and in 2024 took over the management operations.
In 1944, the PGA of America moved its headquarters from Chicago and renamed the course PGA National Golf Club — leasing it from the city. Eventually, the PGA moved out, but the site hosted 18 consecutive Senior PGA Championships — as well as the original PGA Merchandise Show in 1954.
Over the years, several renovations took the course further from what Ross had created. This included the green complexes shrinking 35% to 50%, taking away from the strategy Ross intended. In 2014, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Now, thanks to this latest and meticulous $6 million restoration of the green complexes, bunkers, fairways and tees, the course plays as Ross intended — right down to the actual greens Ross originally created.
"At Dunedin, the most pleasant surprise was that I could see the old green extending out beneath those renovations and was able to measure them and compare them to his original plans and notes, and I quickly realized that the original greens had never been destroyed," Spence said. "They were just buried under this material, so the opportunity to remove the material, excavate and expose the original greens, and restore them was possible. It’s fairly rare that they hadn’t bulldozed them away. There’s no question that by the number of bunkers and the contouring we found in the greens, Ross was clearly given a mandate or a directive to build a top-shelf championship layout on that property."
Spence said the greens’ original contours and elevation changes are back for today’s golfers to experience firsthand.
"They're as good as any out there with great variety," he said. "There are some subtle greens on some of the longer holes, and some with a lot more movement, tilt, and complexity to them on some of the shorter holes. It’s what we’re used to seeing out of Ross when he was really on point. In hindsight, it was a blessing that they just buried the old greens. It was sort of an archeological dig to go down and find the surface of the old greens and peel off the newer material like we’re peeling the rind off an orange — to reveal that original green. Once we did, we could see the original greens that had been buried for 75 years.
"Players are going to experience the greens and bunkers how he envisioned it. There’s some difficulty and depth to it all, and the bunkers are very challenging. That’s the unique thing about Ross: He brought the style of golf to this country, which he grew up experiencing in Scotland. There are a lot of different shots golfers won’t experience on other courses. The little bump and runs on the ground and the low approaches into the greens you experience in Scotland, you can now experience at Dunedin."
The early reviews from golfers have been very enthusiastic. According to Blair Kline, the course’s general manager of golf operations, a lot of the positive response is due to Dunedin’s authenticity.
"If Ross crawled out of his grave today and saw how far the ball goes and how fast the greens are compared to his era, I do not believe he would design the same course today that he designed in 1926," Kline said. "Now we have the course that we believe he would design. The routing is still the same; some bunkers changed locations to account for driving distance, and the greens are incredible. We recaptured all the pin placements, too."
THAD LAYTON TAKES ON FOX HOLLOW WORK
Thad Layton, of Thad Layton Design (TLD), has embarked on a renovation project at Lakewood, Colorado’s Fox Hollow Golf Course.
Layton, formerly the longtime senior design associate at Arnold Palmer Design Company, began enhancements on all three nines at the popular 27-hole layout 15 minutes southwest of Denver with the intent of widening fairways, remodeling bunkers and thinning trees and vegetation. He will also make over the short-game area.
"Fox Hollow is a solid Denis Griffiths design built in the early 1990s and is one of the busiest courses in Colorado, generating upwards of 60,000 rounds," Layton told GolfCourseArchitecture.net. "The city of Lakewood continues to strategically reinvest in its core asset. When faced with replacing aging infrastructure, the Lakewood team consulted TLD on opportunities to improve playability, aesthetics and reduce maintenance, rather than simply putting things back as is.
"Leveraging data gathered from the USGA’s GPS loggers, we assembled a long-range improvement plan to reposition features in a more strategic and impactful way based on the evident patterns and the evolution of the game since the course was originally built."
SOCIAL ASPECT
I’m excited to bring new life to The Score at Cottonfields with a 20-hole executive golf course. Groundbreaking began in early 2025 and thanks to the client and development team this visionary project will soon be a completely revitalized community. #GolfDesign #GolfCommunity pic.twitter.com/9PsnemZKyt
— Forrest Richardson Golf Course Architects (@ForrestGolf) April 3, 2025
SINGAPORE ISLAND TO REOPEN BACK NINE
The back nine of Singapore Island Country Club’s Island is expected to reopen this summer after a course renovation by Nelson & Haworth — the final design work from Neil Haworth before his untimely death in June 2024 at the age of 63. Brian Mogg, a partner in the firm, took the lead role after Haworth’s passing.
"Golf in Singapore has been under pressure lately, with several courses closing," Mogg told GolfCourseArchitecture.net. “The Singapore government has been reviewing land use and, as a result, it has reduced and will likely continue to reduce the number of golf courses in the country over the next ten years. SICC decided it had to act to renovate the Island course to maintain its position as Singapore’s premier private club and had to provide more all-weather golfing alternatives for its membership. The Island course, while much loved by the members, was an old-style clay-based and cowgrass layout that had to often close due to wet weather."
The Island course, one of three championship layouts at the prestigious club, was designed in 1932 by Peter Robinson, a professional from Braid Hills Golf Club in Edinburgh, Scotland. In 1998, Aussie legend Peter Thomson modified the course, including adding bunkers. The Island was a prominent host to the Singapore Open between 1961 and 2000. Haworth’s conception was to expand the back tee yardage from 6,502 yards to 7,106 and to also enhance playability, by making it drain better and be more friendly to walkers. These goals were intended to be accomplished in conjunction with preserving the course’s classic character.
“Our work includes reducing steep fairway slopes and unwalkable areas, sandcapping to help the course cope with tropical rain events, new drainage, retaining playing corridors and mature trees, limited routing changes, improve views to Pierce Reservoir and to maintain the traditional look and feel of the course through new, push-up style greens and EcoBunker’s revetted bunkers," Mogg said.
Concurrently, the front nine renovation overseen by Mogg is continuing and is expected to conclude in late summer or early fall of 2025.
