Several of architect David McLay Kidd's most popular courses have focused on extreme and creative playability, with Gamble Sands in Washington and Mammoth Dunes at Sand Valley in Wisconsin as prime examples. Even his first-ever design, the original Bandon Dunes layout at the famed resort of the same name in Oregon, put playability at the forefront.
Kidd had a few deviations from the playability theme in his career, but in recent years he has talked at length about designing courses that are approachable for any level of golfer. The trick, he has said, is to challenge the best players while allowing less-skilled golfers to keep swinging.
Consider that challenge accepted at Bone Valley in Florida, his latest completed creation that will open in late September for preview play at the well-regarded Streamsong Resort. Built with an appreciation of the resort's other courses and with those layouts' DNA in mind, Kidd has constructed a new, full-sized 18 that offers ample width and plenty of opportunities to bounce **** into greens – those are keys to playability for less-skilled players.
But just as megalodon shark teeth can be found in the sand piles left over from the site's history as a phosphate mining operation, Bone Valley can offer a bit of a bite. Stray too far from the best scoring lines, and even the best players will struggle with the angles as they attempt to set up birdie putts.
"My team and I felt like we got to build something really, really fun both visually, strategically, creatively," Kidd said. "I think golfers, when they come here, won't be disappointed. I think they'll have a blast trying to figure out how to navigate their way through. I think every hole has a dozen different attacks you could make, a thousand different ways you could recover from error. It's not overly penal, but she is going to put up a fight against scoring. I think I've been able to refine that over the last dozen years or so."

#think #players #dunes

Oregon Ducks quarterback Dante Moore turned 21 back in May and he celebrated the big day on the southern Oregon coast playing golf at Bandon Dunes.
"It's my favorite," Moore said. "Golf is very, very tough. There's some days I can shoot 86 and some days I can shoot 120. But it's just a game and as a quarterback it's great. … It's just a way for me to decompress."
Moore said during his team's recent training camp there's a peacefulness that comes with being on the golf course, and for a player constantly in the limelight, those moments are precious. By the sound of it, they're also over for the time being.
"Just being able to go out there and connect with the Earth and be able to just ease my mind," Moore said. "But you know, it's fall camp time, so I'm dialed in. It was great and I can't wait to do it again."
Moore started playing golf in June 2025 and has worked his way down to a 16 handicap.

#golf #oregon #days #camp

Golf architect Kyle Phillips has broken ground on the course at the private Pandion Club in Estero, Florida. The new layout, intended to invoke the heathland courses of England with Lowcountry influences, is being built on the site of the former Old Corkscrew Golf Club that was closed earlier this year.
Phillips plans a par-71 course for Pandion Club, stretching to 7,220 with firm and fast playing conditions and a premium on strategic shotmaking. The new layout is scheduled to open in 2027 with membership capped at 280. The golf-only club will include a Lowcountry-inspired clubhouse and expansive practice facilities. The name Pandion is inspired by Pandion haliaetus, aka osprey.
The layout features sandy terrain that should promote Phillips' goals. Having built the top-ranked Kingsbarns Golf Links and Dundonald Links in Scotland and having studied courses around the world, Phillips said that heathland courses are situated on inland dunes, "like the ones we have in Florida."
Old Corkscrew and additional surrounding land was purchased in 2022 by The Hoffmann Family of Companies for $14.5 million, according to property records reported by the Naples Daily News. The Hoffmans purchased the Cottages at Old Corkscrew Golf Club for $4.5 million in a separate transaction. The Hoffmanns also own Old Collier Golf Club in Naples, as well as the Pittsburgh Penguins and Florida Everblades.
"Everything we do at Hoffmann Family of Companies, we want to provide a unique, best-in-class experience for our guests, and Pandion is going to be no exception" Geoff Hoffmann, CEO of HF Companies' private equity arm, said in a media release announcing the start of construction. "From the moment that you drive through our gates, you will know that you have arrived somewhere special. You are going to feel like you are in nature, and this is an escape. We knew that his experience presented an opportunity to preserve the natural landscape that was embedded on the site, and that's something we are going to build around."

#pandion #corkscrew #layout #courses

The pinnacle of football rose up from the fiery dunes of Qatar and flew down to North America, born again like a phoenix that comes alive every four years. The FIFA World Cup, the biggest spectacle of the planet unwrapped nearly every emotion that can be experienced through the medium of sport in another edition. Here are the moments that made this one special.
The Hosts: The Estadio Azteca in Mexico City ushered in the World Cup with the opener between Mexico and South Africa. The charged atmosphere that turned the stadium into a buzzing cauldron when Julián Quiñones scored the opening goal for Mexico was a propitious sign for the tournament and its audience. Canada and the USA did not disappoint in their games either, seeing enthusiastic support push their teams to qualify for the knockout stages and reach the round of 16.
Unyielding Underdogs: Talk about the underdog spirit. DR Congo, Cabo Verde, Paraguay, Ecuador and more. The performances by these seemingly minnow teams who turned into nightmares for some of the biggest footballing nations like Germany, England, Argentina, Spain will be an important story in footballing heritage.
No matter the result of the games, they made their opponents suffer. These upstarts displayed what sheer determination, hard work, unrelenting spirit and some smart coaching can do against the giants in the game. The expanded format has been a welcome change in this particular regard that even the smallest team can put up the biggest fight.
Clash of the ******* ans: The blockbuster fixtures awaited by eyes all over the world did not disappoint. While the heat of the group stages kept many big teams on their toes, it all simmered down to a boil in the knockouts.

#biggest #like #every

SOUTHPORT, England – There won’t be another Jordan Spieth miracle bogey at Royal Birkdale this time around at the 154th British Open.
That’s because the area right of right at the par-4 13th hole will be considered out of bounds. Instead of the range as it was in 2017 when Spieth was the Champion Golfer of the Year, that ****** e will be utilized as the site of the fan village with OB beginning at the cart path to the right of the dunes.
Spieth’s opening comment in his press conference after winning in 2017 was, “We’re going to skip the first twelve holes, right?”, referring to his adventurous bogey-five on the 13th, followed by a finish of birdie, eagle, birdie, birdie, par to win by three strokes.
Who can forget Spieth fanning his tee shot so far right at 13 that it struck the noggin of a fan and ricocheted into an unplayable lie on the side of a dune. Then it took about a half an hour to determine his relief. Spieth ended up hitting his third shot from the club’s driving range.
That’s not the only change to the hole since the last Open was here. There is a new left tee box that alters the angle to a fairway pinched in by new bunkering to the right and an expanded dune dividing the 13th from the fan village and a ditch that runs the length of the hole to the left. The greenside bunker that Spieth had to pitch over for his fourth shot also has been pushed back nearer to the green. Spieth pitched to 10 feet and canned the putt for an improbable bogey to fall only one stroke back of Matt Kuchar. Then he rifled a 6-iron that lipped out to 5 feet at the par-3 14th. That hole had been dropped from the layout, the green saved as part of a short-game practice area. The new 14th is what used to be the par-5 15th, remodeled into a 602-yard par 5 with the green moved back some 30 yards from its previous location. The 241-yard, par-3 15th is a new short hole created to diversify the directions and lengths of the course’s par 3s.

SOUTHPORT, England (AP) — A hole-by-hole look at Royal Birkdale, site of the 154th British Open to be played July 16-19:
One of the toughest opening holes in the Open rotation. This requires a tee shot to a fairway that bends to the left. The closer the drive is to the fairway bunker on the left, the better view of the green and angle of attack. The prevailing wind is left-to-right and there is out-of-bounds down the right. Two pot bunkers on either side guard the front of the green.
Two bunkers are to the right side of the fairway nearly 300 yards from the tee, and there is severe mounding up the left side between 250 and 290 yards. It plays into the prevailing wind, and the green is protected by six bunkers and rough-covered banks.
A tee built in the dunes turns this hole into a slight dogleg to the right, and additional bunkers on the left side of the fairway at just over 300 yards makes a partially blind tee shot even tougher. The tee shot should stay on the left side of the fairway to open up the best approach to a green guarded by four pot bunkers.
The par 3 is made even more difficult by a right-to-left prevailing wind and a green that is some 40 yards deep. The green no longer has a bunker across the front so shots can run up to the green. But there are three bunkers to the left and one to the right. Mounds to the right will kick the errant shots away from the greens, making it tough to save par.