We know it’s cliche, but it’s true to say that we are living in a second golden age of golf course design. While golf course renovations are still more popular than new course builds, there are quite a few new courses opening in 2023 across the world. We recently asked our followers on Instagram which course openings next year they were most excited about. Below are the top 10 most popular choices, followed by a table of other courses opening next year that we are excited about.

• The Lido – USA – Tom Doak

This was by far the most popular choice amongst our followers, receiving nearly three times the votes of the next course. It may be in part because The Lido has long been golf’s most famous NLE (No Longer Exists) course. The original Lido, designed in 1914 by C.B. Macdonald, was lost during World War II when the Navy purchased the property for use as a military base. Over the past few decades, there has been buzz about who was going to resurrect it. Mike Keiser originally intended to do so at Bandon Dunes, but Old Macdonald ended up being a tribute course to C.B. Macdonald instead of a replica.

2023 is set to be the year the Lido is reborn. Tom Doak, Renaissance Golf, and Peter Flory re-created the original Lido at Sand Valley Resort in central Wisconsin using historical information and photos in a 3D digital model. We have been told that the course will be open to Sand Valley resort guests on certain days of the week.

The Lido at Sand Valley Resort. Photo: Jerry Rossi

 

• West Palm Golf Park – USA – Gil Hanse

Located on the site of the former West Palm Beach municipal course, the new park will include a Gil Hanse-designed, 18-hole course, a par-3 course, driving range, and putting green. The Park will also be the new home of the South Florida PGA. There will be special special programming for local youth and walking trails along the perimeter of the course. The facility is scheduled to open in early 2023.

• Tree Farm – USA – Tom Doak, Kye Goalby & Zac Blair

Tom Doak routed Zac Blair’s course and Kye Goalby was in charge of building it on a sandy site near Aiken, South Carolina. While preview play has started, the course doesn’t officially open until next year. Feedback so far is that it has a heathland vibe to it and is extremely fun to play. This part of the country is quickly becoming a hotbed of new course builds, including Old Barnwell (2023) and Broomsedge (2024).

 

A look back at the 18th hole at the Tree Farm. Photo: Zac Blair

• Point Hardy GC – Saint Lucia – Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw

The Cabot brand is expanding to the warm climate of the Caribbean with its next installment: Cabot Saint Lucia. The property is on a peninsula on the northern tip of the island that is said to be just as dramatic as Cabot Cliffs up north in Nova Scotia, Canada. The course opens for preview play to members in early 2023 with the debut of all 18 holes set for mid-2023. All club amenities, including the clubhouse and accommodations, come online in 2024.

Once complete, Point Hardy will have one of the most stunning settings in the world of golf. Photo: Cabot Saint Lucia

• Black Desert Resort – USA – Tom Weiskopf & Phil Smith

The last design by the late Tom Weiskopf is another solid addition to the budding St. George, Utah golf scene. Sitting next to the recently renovated Entrada at Snow Canyon only one hour from the gates of Zion National Park, the course routes across a unique landscape of black lava fields with the backdrop of the Red Hills. It will be accompanied by a 36-hole putting course and resort accommodations.

 

The course at Black Desert will play across a unique landscape of black lava fields with a mountain backdrop. Photo: Brian Oar

• Te Arai (North) – New Zealand – Tom Doak

The same team (owner Ric Kayne and development planner John Darby) behind top-ranked Tara Iti on the north island of New Zealand are bringing two new courses down the street, both open to the public. The South course at Te Arai, a Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw design, recently opened to rave reviews. The second course, the North course, is a Tom Doak design that opens this spring. In addition to 36 holes, there will be onsite accommodations, luxury home sites, a public camping ground, and a retail center.

• Wicker Point – Alabama – Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw

Wicker Point is part of a 1,500 acre luxury residential development (The Heritage) on Lake Martin in between Birmingham and Montgomery, Alabama. The back nine routes along the lake with some holes directly on Lake Martin. It is said that more dirt was moved for this project relative to most Coore & Crenshaw designs, which will be interesting to see.

The routing at Wicker Point makes its way through longleaf pines and on a peninsula that juts out into Lake Martin. Photo: Wicker Point Golf Club

• Palmetto Bluff – South Carolina – Rob Collins & Tad King

Sweetens Cove, Rob Collins and Tad King’s first 9-hole project in Tennessee, is famous for its Illuminati routing where certain holes can play backwards or cross country. Now, Collins and King are building a reversible nine-hole course at the Montage Palmetto Bluff Resort near Hilton Head, South Carolina. The course plays across 50 acres and complements the existing May River course at Palmetto Bluff, a Jack Nicklaus design that has been ranked in the Top 100 public courses. We recently posted about reversible courses on our Instagram page and there was a very positive response, so this should be a popular place to visit at the end of next year when the course opens.

King Collins will break ground on the new reversible nine holes at Palmetto Bluff next month. Photo: King Collins Golf Course Design\

• Fields Ranch (East & West)

Fields Ranch are the courses at PGA Frisco, the new headquarters of the PGA of America, about 40 minutes north of Dallas. The West course at Fields Ranch, designed by Beau Welling, opens to public play in May, along with the short courses (par-3 and putting) and new Omni Hotel. The Gil Hanse-designed East course opens later in the year due to its hosting of the Senior PGA Championship on Memorial Day weekend.