What It’s Like Trying To Build Golf Courses During The Coronavirus Pandemic
- Details
- Category: Inside Golf
- Published: 2020-05-04
By PAUL SULLIVAN, Golf.com
How does the state of course design today differ from 2008, the last time the global economy came to a grinding halt? I recently coaxed Tom Doak, sitting in his home in Traverse City, Mich., into talking about it. The good news is the two golf landscapes are very different.
Back then, course construction was abundant, backed by cheap money. Some 400 courses at the peak were being built each year, many tied to real estate developments that would provide the golfers and an ongoing stream of dues and fees.
Today, Doak said, the developers are more serious and selective. It’s probably no wonder that that the current crop of top architects — Doak, Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, and Gil Hanse among them — have devoted followings. They are often backed by deep-pocketed lovers of the game, not real-estate companies counting doors, not strokes.