Omni La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, California, has announced June 1 as the full reopening date of its Championship Course, which has been rebranded the North Course after an extensive renovation by the architectural team of Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner. The opening to resort guests and members follows the NCAA Division I Women’s (May 17-22) and Men’s (May 24-29) Championships on the North Course. The layout is also slated to host those college championships in 2025 and 2026. Hanse and Wagner implemented significant changes to the North layout. Among the renovations: A new drivable par-4 11t ..read more

Princeville Makai Golf Club in Hawaii kicked off a renovation this week that focuses on improving bunker drainage, boosting turf quality and improving playability. The $3-million project will be conducted in two six-week blocks. Nine holes were closed April 15, and in six weeks those holes will reopen and the other nine holes will close for the same length of time. Nine holes will be open to resort guests throughout the renovation. Princeville Makai Golf Club on Kauai was the first solo design by Robert Trent Jones Jr. and opened in 1971. It underwent a more extensive renovation in 2009 and 20 ..read more

Harbour Town Golf Links – site of the PGA Tour’s 2024 RBC Heritage – was designed by Pete Dye with an assist from Jack Nicklaus and opened in 1969 on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. Part of Sea Pines Resort, Harbour Town ranks No. 2 in South Carolina on Golfweek’s Best list of public-access layouts in each state. It also ranks No. 21 among all resort courses in the U.S., and it ties for No. 59 on Golfweek’s Best list of all modern courses in the U.S. Harbour Town will play to 7,213 yards with a par of 71 for the RBC Heritage. With tree branches frequentl ..read more

Augusta National Golf Club has famously named each hole at the home of the Masters for a plant. What’s the story?  A little history lesson: Augusta National was a plant nursery operated by the Berckmans family before it was turned into a golf course in the early 1930s, and Alphonse Berckmans helped ANGC founders Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts adorn each hole with the plant for which that hole is named. Some of the plants already were in place, but others had to planted. Our favorite is Golden Bell, aka forsythia, for which the par-3 12th was named.  If you, like us, can’t get ..read more

ABERDEEN, N.C. — Pinehurst is having a heck of a year. In June the resort’s historic No. 2 course will host the U.S. Open for the fourth time, and the Donald Ross masterpiece is scheduled to host that USGA championship four more times before the halfway point of this century.  But Pinehurst’s big year isn’t only about the best players in the world competing for a national title. There’s welcome news for traveling golfers who will never tee it up in a U.S. Open, as well. Pinehurst Resort this month opened No. 10, a new course designed by famed architect Tom Doak with a big hand from lead ..read more

Attention to all National Champions, State Champions, Club Champions, and elite senior amateurs aged 65 and over! We invite you to participate in the 2024 Golfweek U.S. Super Senior, Legends & Super Legends National Championship. This exclusive national ranking championship sponsored by USA Today Sports will take place from July 9-11 at one of the nation’s premier private golf clubs, The Golf Club of Georgia. Now in its seventh year, the Super Senior, Legends, and Super Legends national championship was the first tournament dedicated to elite senior amateurs aged 65 and over. It offers an ..read more

Canadian golf architect Trev Dormer, perhaps best known in the industry for his work as an associate for the team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, has signed on for his first solo project. Working with the farming family behind the development of the popular new Landmand Golf Club in eastern Nebraska, Dormer will completely renovate the family’s nearby nine-hole course at Old Dane Golf Club in Dakota City, Nebraska. The Andersen family bought an 18-hole course in 2007 and converted it to nine holes, the current Old Dane. Dormer’s plan is to tear out the entire course and introduce a 12-hole rou ..read more

Cabot Highlands in Inverness, Scotland, has chosen a name for its new Tom Doak-designed course that is now scheduled to open for preview play in 2025: Old Petty. The name is a nod to the Old Petty Church, which was built in 1839 and sits off what will become the 16th green. The now-unused church is believed to sit at the site of an even older church, and the Old Petty Church is reported to have hosted an unusual custom: Mourners in the early 1800s would run to the church’s graveyard during funerals while carrying the coffin. The logo for the new Old Petty course will be the highland cow, or “H ..read more

TPC San Antonio’s Oaks Course, site of this week’s Valero Texas Open for the 15th time on the PGA Tour, was designed by Greg Norman with Sergio Garcia as a consultant and opened in 2010. The Oaks ranks No. 6 in Texas on Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play list for public-access layouts. It also ties for No. 119 on Golfweek’s Best list of resort courses in the United States. The par-72 layout plays to 7,438 yards for the Valero Texas Open. Thanks to yardage books provided by StrackaLine – the maker of detailed yardage books for thousands of courses arou ..read more

It finally happened last year: Augusta National built a new back tee measuring 545 yards, adding 35 yards to the iconic 13th hole at the Masters Tournament. The 13th ranks as one of the great risk-reward holes in golf. Going for it should be a "momentous decision," in the words of Bobby Jones, who assisted Alister MacKenzie in its design. It originally measured 480 yards when the Masters debuted in 1934 and played to 510 yards for the 2022 Masters. But that distance is shorter than many par-4s in major championship golf these days. One year later, we asked pros what they thought of the change ..read more