Royal Liverpool Golf Club
A new par-3 “Championship 17th hole” (the 15th on the regular course routing) that runs counter to the previous one was created at Hoylake in anticipation of its turn to host the 151st Open Championship in July 2023. That’s why the Championship 18th hole is now 607 yards with new tees. For the last major championship of the year, the team selected additional alterations with the assistance of architect Martin Ebert.
The Nest at Sandhill Crane Golf Course
Par-3 courses, like this 19-hole facility next to a 6,300-yard layout, are becoming increasingly popular. They provide players with a more compact but challenging golfing experience at resorts, private clubs, and municipalities. Chad Goetz, a longtime partner of Nicklaus Design, had some fun with the greens here, including unique concepts in several Macdonald/Raynor patterns and changing the course lengths from 100 to 240 yards.
Teton Pines Country Club
In recent years, the team at Arnold Palmer Design Company has been hard at updating its namesake’s original designs. Principal Thad Layton has spent more than two years overseeing semi-private Teton Pines. The rear nine had its round of renovations in 2022, after the front nine’s 2021 overhaul. Among the recent modifications are some eye-catching bunkers that mirror the surrounding mountains.
Tiger Point Golf Club
Aiming to revive a course that hosted the PGA TOUR in the early 1990s, the new ownership brought architect Nathan Crace on board to streamline upkeep. Consequently, Crace converted almost thirty acres of formerly irrigated but unusable rough to naturalization and removed two-thirds of the formal bunkering, converting the remainder to sandy waste areas.
Lake Merced Country Club
Alister MacKenzie designed the initial layout of Lake Merced, but later renovations, particularly those by Rees Jones, caused it to diverge from that timeless style. Gil Hanse has been tinkering away at an extensive restoration/renovation aimed at restoring MacKenzie’s original concept while addressing certain route adjustments caused by different land restrictions over the years.
Final Thoughts
The voyage across the most upgraded golf courses leaves an impact on the golfing environment as the sun sets on the undulating greens and groomed fairways. The drive to improve these venues has not only changed the standards of golf course design but has also produced locations that call players to push themselves beyond their comfort zones.