This column features recollections of the author’s 37 years as a golf writer. These installments stem from his many travels and experiences, which led to a gradual understanding that the game has many intriguing components, especially its people.
Here’s a sampling of news in the magical world of golf – some good, bad and brutally honest.
Ted Scott.
The caddie for the winningest golfer on the planet, Scottie Scheffler, works hard for his money. If only the rest of us enjoyed equivalent rewards for our efforts on the golf course. Ever since the former employee of Bubba Watson, Paul Azinger and Grant Waite came outbob of near-retirement and hopped on the lanky Texan’s bag in fall 2021, Scott’s IRA portfolio has multiplied by a factor of “wow.”
In 2024 alone, Scheffler won seven tournaments, including his second Masters’ green jacket and the ultra-rich Tour Championship, earning a mind-boggling $62.3 million by season’s end. Scott’s slice of his boss’s pie is over $5 million. This tidy sum ranks among the PGA Tour’s top 25 money earners, more than such stalwarts as Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Adam Scott and Max Homa. Pretty good for a 50-year-old looper.
Two New Courses Underway in Texas.
The Keiser family – creators of Bandon Dunes in Oregon, Sand Valley in Wisconsin and Rodeo Dunes in Colorado – are at it again, this time pursuing plans for a large-scale destination golf resort in the Lone Star State. Occupying 2,400 acres of sandy soil (a requisite for any Keiser course), Wild Springs Dunes has two courses planned, at least initially. Both will be designed by the family’s favorite architects, Tom Doak and the Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw team. In 2024, Doak completed his routing while Coore-Crenshaw are close to finalizing theirs. Neither course has been named. The property is located near Mt. Enterprise (pop. 500), a remote outpost off Interstate 84 situated 155 miles from Dallas and 236 miles from Austin.
Pricey New Private Club in Florida.
Construction is finishing up on Kinsale Golf Club in Naples and the course is slated to open in fall 2024. Its designers are golf architects Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner. Despite measuring a relatively short 6,555 yards, the par-71 layout and related golf amenities require an initiation fee of $425,000 for its limited membership of only 250. The project is being developed by Soave Enterprises of Detroit. Atlanta’s Steve Archer is the director of club operations, and Rusty Mercer – formerly at Streamsong Resort – is the director of agronomy.
New Course coming to Gamble Sands.
Positioned on the opposite side of the U.S. from Naples, Florida, construction is finishing up on a second 18-hole course at Gamble Sands Resort in Brewster, a small north-central Washington farming burg by the mighty Columbia River. Slated to open in spring 2025, the nameless layout was designed by the architect of the first course (now called Sands), David McLay Kidd. The Scottish-born designer resides in Bend, Oregon, 382 miles south of this resort. Kidd also oversaw the 14-hole, par-3 Quicksands and Cascade Putting Course. Odds are that the second regulation-length course here will have “sand” somewhere in its name.
Florida State Parks Plan Draws Heat.
An article in the August 2024 Palm Beach Post and Golfweek reported on a massive resort development in Jonathan Dickinson State Park. The news was met with a collective “huh?” by interested people. Leaked first on social media and not on any official state channels, the plans for the popular park in Martin County include 45 holes of golf, pickleball courts (what a surprise), disc golf, paddling, cabins and lodges with upwards of 350 rooms.
The project has not been vetted by public or private entities, nor discussed with key politicians. “Nobody that I spoke to in government had heard literally one thing about this,” U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, R-Palm City told the Post. “Everyone was taken by surprise.” The office of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis promised a full study involving “public and expert comment” before the development reaches fruition.
Shadow Creek Green Fees Bumped to Second.
There’s a new world leader in the price to play a golf round. According to Bunkered Magazine, the 2025 green fees for the Donald Trump-owned Turnberry’s Alisa Course will be increased to £1,000. Converted to USD (August 2024 exchange rates), that amounts to $1,276.52, 16 bucks higher than the $1,250 for 18 holes at casino baron Steve Wynn’s Shadow Creek in Las Vegas. After 1 p.m. Alisa’s price drops to a more palatable £545 ($716).
Pursuing Sustainable Golf Tournaments.
A nonprofit based in North Berwick, Scotland, is now active in 75 countries. The GEO Sustainable Golf Foundation is dedicated to helping promote worldwide climate action through golf. The organization works closely with tournament sponsors on the DP World Tour, R&A events, LPGA Tour, Ladies European Tour and PGA Tour to achieve zero waste delivery to landfills from competition sites, lower carbon emissions from fan and player travel, and localize the supply chain to minimize fossil fuel use.
“Put simply, it’s a broad-ranging exercise in maximizing the positives and minimizing the negatives [of golf tournaments],” explained Alan Grant, GEO Foundation Director of Partnerships & Engagement. “I really do encourage anyone who’s attended a golf tournament, as a spectator, to read [our] outlook paper. It’s eye-opening to see what underpins a meaningful sustainability commitment.”
For more information, visit https://sustainable.golf/.
Tell ‘em What you Think Sir Bob.
Former “Champion Golfer of the Year” Sir Bob Charles told the New Zealand Herald that he “wants nothing to do with it” in reference to a possible deal for the renegade LIV Golf to hold a tournament at his home course of Christchurch Golf Club. The winner of the 1963 Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St. Annes commented on what he clearly feels is repugnant:
“I hope they’re not playing at either of my golf courses,” Charles said. “I don’t endorse LIV Golf in any way, in fact, quite the opposite. I want nothing to do with it. I wouldn’t walk across the street to watch. The traditional game that I’ve played for 50 years traveling around the world is in total upheaval and they’re causing havoc – they’re causing problems, and I just have no time for LIV whatsoever.
“It’s not the traditional game… we had a certain set of rules, we had an organization and they’re a bunch of boys playing in short pants,” the 88-year-old added. “I’ve got nothing nice to say about them whatsoever.
“[The players] have been offered some obscene sums of money and some of the guys that play, I’ve never ever heard of. I don’t know that they deserve the money which they have been offered.”
The Herald received confirmation of LIV Golf’s interest by Christchurch GC general manager Mike Hadley, with a caveat. Hadley noted LIV Golf officials paid a recent visit to the club, but “no follow up” meeting has been scheduled.
Jeff Shelley has written and published nine books as well as numerous articles for print and online media over his lengthy career. Among his titles are three editions of the book, “Golf Courses of the Pacific Northwest.” The Whidbey Island resident was editorial director of Cybergolf.com from 2000-15, co-founded the Northwest Golf Media Association and was president of the nonprofit First Green . To contact Jeff: fairgreens@seanet.com.
