Palm Beach Gardens, FL (June 29, 2023)—The Nicklaus Companies and Hyperscapes Golf Club are pleased to announce their partnership to develop the first professionally designed championship golf course and members-only golf club in the Metaverse.
The new Metaverse golf club will incorporate the traditional design philosophies and standards of the world’s leading golf course design firm with state-of-the-art technologies and cutting-edge terrain systems built by Hyperscapes. By engaging Nicklaus Design to create a traditional golf course design for its project, Hyperscapes will be able to develop a one-of-a-kind golf experience only possible in the Metaverse: a new, professionally designed Nicklaus golf course playable from anywhere in the world, with exciting terrains and user experiences that are impossible in the physical world.
The virtual-only golf course will be created using a blend of existing Nicklaus Design processes and exciting new technologies, combining Nicklaus Design’s time-honored physical course design techniques and long experience with 3D modeling of physical golf courses, with innovative design and modeling tools being developed especially for this project by Hyperscapes' technical staff. The finished course will feature challenging golf design, unique hole features, and stunning photo-realistic 3D scenery.
Nicklaus Design’s golf design team will be led by Chad Goetz, Senior Design Associate at Nicklaus Design and member of the prestigious American Golf Course Architects Society who will oversee all aspects of the design process.
“The core of Nicklaus Design has always been the artistry and knowledge of our designers and their understanding and respect for the historical traditions of the game of golf,” said Phil Cotton, CEO of Nicklaus Companies. “Over the years, we’ve built on the traditions of our founder, Jack Nicklaus, to design more than 435 golf courses on six continents, reflecting almost every style of course design on a wide variety of sites – many in places that had never seen a modern golf course. We now bring that unprecedented, real-world expertise to the virtual world.”
“Nicklaus Design is an industry pioneer in moving from drafting tables to CAD systems, then to 3D modeling,” said Paul Stringer, President of Nicklaus Design. “The opportunity to extend our design work to the Metaverse is just another way to keep innovating and expanding the markets we serve—including owners and developers of golf projects, and the golfers who enjoy the fruits of our efforts each day.”
“We selected Nicklaus Design not only because of the leadership position it has achieved in the golf course design business over the last 50 years, but also for the firm’s consistently demonstrated willingness to enter unexplored markets and embrace new technologies throughout its storied history,” said Gabor Tankovics, CEO and co-founder of Hyperscapes Golf Club. “Working with Nicklaus Design, we have access to the most experienced golf designers in the world. Together, we are developing a suite of tools which bring to our Metaverse golf play the exact hand-crafted process the Nicklaus Design team uses on their physical golf courses.”
Membership in this first-of-its-kind Metaverse golf club will be available through the purchase of Hyperscapes membership tokens, which give access to unique member rights on a virtual golf resort, as well as the ability to visit and play the course. No more than 300 membership tokens will be minted for this high-end golf club experience—a level of exclusivity on par with some of the most prestigious golf communities in the world.
“This Metaverse club will rival any physical membership golf community anywhere in the world,” Tankovics said.
Early access to this members-only golf experience will be available through a Founders’ Program limited to just 30 memberships. Like traditional founder memberships in newly developed golf facilities, the Founders’ Program will reward members who play an important part in the club’s story from the very beginning. Among other benefits, Founding Members will have private access to follow the entire golf design process from the earliest stages, including through virtual site visits that allow Founders’ Program members to witness the transformation of the terrain—a feature rarely offered to members of physical golf communities.
Terrain design and routing plans will be released by September 2023, with the 3D golf course scheduled for viewing by the end of the year. The full course and resort will be open for play in the second half of 2024.
For more information, visit www.hyperscapes.golf
About Nicklaus Companies
For 50 years, the mission of Nicklaus Companies has been to enhance the golf experience and to deliver quality branded products and services on a global basis that mirror the high standards established in the career and life of its Founder, Jack Nicklaus. The Nicklaus Companies businesses include golf-course design, the development of golf and real estate communities, and the marketing and licensing of lifestyle products worldwide under the iconic Jack Nicklaus and Golden Bear brands. Nicklaus Design, recognized as the world leader in golf course design, has created over 430 courses worldwide, open for play in 45 countries and 40 U.S states. In 2007, Jack Nicklaus partnered with Howard Milstein to further the growth of the company and expand the branded businesses. In addition to institutionalizing the Nicklaus brands for the future, Milstein has instilled a personal philosophy of “A Brand That Gives Back,” with products and partners committing to donations to help the Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation and other charities.
About Hyperscapes Golf Club
Hyperscapes Golf Club is a Metaverse golf community offering cutting-edge experiences for virtual golf play. It relies on three foundations: expertly designed virtual-only courses, exclusive memberships, and playability in photo-realistic 3D landscapes. Founded in 2022 in New York City, Hyperscapes Golf Club's aim is to bring the quality and exclusivity of top-level private golf resorts to the Metaverse.
###