Rees Jones is moving forward with a transformation of Saddlebrook Resort’s 36 holes, which will morph into a 27-hole complex.
Located in Wesley Chapel, Florida, 30 minutes north of Tampa, Saddlebrook had been home to the 18-hole Saddlebrook Course, nicknamed “the Old Course” by locals, a 1976 Dean Refram design that was remodeled by Arnold Palmer and Ed Seay in 1984. In 1986, the 18-hole Palmer Course was created by Palmer and Seay. Real estate and investment firm Mast Capital, partnering with Amzak Capital Management, acquired Saddlebrook in 2022 and soon brought in Jones to reimagine the golf product.
Jones is spearheading a dramatic redesign of Saddlebrook’s two existing layouts into a versatile 27-hole championship experience. The three newly conceived nine-hole courses, called Pine, Oak and Cypress, can be rotated in various combinations to create three distinct 18-hole challenges, each offering a unique playing experience.
The renovation began late in 2024, incorporating six holes from the former Palmer Course and relocating the driving range closer to the main resort lobby for improved accessibility. The state-of-the-art practice facilities now span 13 acres and include a double-sided driving range extending more than 360 yards, two TifEagle bermudagrass putting greens, and three short game areas with precision-designed greenside bunkers.
Jones’ renovation preserves the legacy of the original courses while elevating them to modern championship standards. All green complexes are being rebuilt to USGA specifications; bunkers are being reshaped, repositioned, and filled with new sand; and tee boxes are being added, rebuilt, and laser leveled. An advanced irrigation and drainage system is also being installed to optimize turf conditions and long-term sustainability.
Upon completion, the three nine-hole layouts will converge near the resort’s redesigned 500,000-gallon Super Pool, creating a cohesive and convenient golf experience. The three configurations will rotate daily, with course distances ranging from 6,600 to 7,005 yards and playing to pars of 71 or 72. The Oak Course is slated to debut in late 2025, with the Pine Course to follow in January 2026. The Cypress Course is currently open for limited play and will undergo full renovation in late 2025 and into 2026.
THE SOCIAL ASPECT
My @tgrdesignbytw team and I made a special visit to Marcella Club in Park City, Utah to witness the incredible progress we're making. We walked the site, saw the new sod which is already installed on several holes, and directed final shaping on the holes still under… pic.twitter.com/wjDfTJqDuy
— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) July 21, 2025
GIL HANSE'S WORK REOPENS DOWN UNDER
Australia’s Royal Sydney Golf Club in suburban Rose Bay has reopened following a major redesign by Gil Hanse and his team at Hanse Golf Design. So comprehensive was the makeover that the new layout has been rechristened the Bay Course.
"The origins of our course project lie in our ‘2030 Strategic Plan’ developed in 2015," Des Mulcahy, CEO of Royal Sydney told GolfCourseArchitecture.net. "Having had its last major redesign in 1922, our old championship course was approaching 100 years of service. From a golfing standpoint, its quality was diminishing. It was also increasingly difficult to maintain, with drainage issues and an aging irrigation system that would likely have required an overhaul regardless.
"We also wanted a golf course that reflected the history and reputation of the club, meeting the standards of our other sporting and clubhouse facilities. The chance to work with one of the world’s greatest golf course designers was an opportunity to bring our course back to its standing as one of Australia’s great courses."
Founded as Sydney Golf Club in 1893, the club was granted royal status by Queen Victoria four years later. It proved to be a reliable venue for the Australian Open, hosting the event on 15 occasions. Most recently, Rory McIlroy won in 2013 and Jordan Spieth took the crown in 2016. Hanse essentially turned the coastal parkland course into a heathland tract.
"Despite more than 15 hectares (37 acres) of course land being ceded for the heathland landscape, the shape of this landscape has opened up new playing corridors and added new risk and reward strategies for each hole," said Adam Marchant, course superintendent. "The club has also opted for revetted bunker edges to allow more precise bunker shape and a reduction in wind-based erosion."
Hanse shaped the majority of the greens during his site visits amid the 15-month construction period. Pure Distinction creeping bentgrass now carpets the putting surfaces.
"Gil’s design has created many new areas of interest on the course," Marchant said. "There’s the sharp hook at the approach to the seventh green, the boomerang green on the 11th and the new bunker complex on the inside of the dogleg on 18. Gil’s green contouring gives us, the turfcare team, plenty of options to vary the challenge for golfers with our pin placements.
"He also utilized ribbon-style tee boxes, which don’t just add challenges in length for the tees further back, but harder angles, narrower corridors of play and potential risks that are less severe for those golfers playing from the front tees. Finally, moving from our old routing — which had the ninth hole at the far end of our property — to a ‘two loops of nine’ routing presents fun options for nine-hole play, or even composite courses with our nine-hole Centenary course."
MIKE NUZZO EYES EL EBANO DESIGN
Architect Mike Nuzzo will break ground early in 2026 on a new championship track called El Ebano for the Cardon Adventure Resort in the state of Sinaloa on Mexico’s Gold Coast.
Nuzzo, best known for his recent design work on the Roost, the Squeeze and the Wedge courses at Florida’s Cabot Citrus Farms, is teaming with Landscapes Unlimited for construction of the new course.
Nuzzo will drape his golf holes atop mountain terrain and the subsequent design will enjoy Pacific Ocean vistas from at least a dozen holes. The golf course will be a prime amenity at a masterplanned resort that will include beach activities from fishing to surfing, racquet sports and mountain biking.
Expected opening for the first nine holes is 2027, with the remainder of the 6,900-yard course set to debut by the end of 2028.
