The golf architecture team of Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner have signed on to restore Mid Ocean Club in Bermuda, a seaside course originally designed by C.B. Macdonald with collaborator Seth Raynor and opened in 1921. The course work will follow a clubhouse renovation and upgrade, with the course slated to close for the restoration in the fall of 2027.
Mid Ocean was the only course Macdonald, a famed Golden Age architect, designed outside the United States. Mid Ocean, which accepts limited non-member play, ranks No. 6 on the 2026 Golfweek’s Best list of top courses in the Caribbean, Mexico, South America and the Atlantic islands. It also ranks among the top 100 courses outside the United States.
"C.B. Macdonald is on my personal Mount Rushmore of golf architects, so it’s an honor to have the opportunity to work on another of his courses," Hanse – who also restored Macdonald’s designs at Sleepy Hollow Country Club, The Creek Club and Yale Golf Course – said in a media release announcing the project. "He only built 10 or 12 golf courses, depending on how many you credit to him. The fact that we now have a significant opportunity at Mid Ocean Club means the world to us.
"Every single golf course C.B. Macdonald worked on was impactful, not only from the standpoint of that particular club, but in the world of golf course architecture."
Macdonald pioneered the use of template holes in his designs, using the concepts of great holes abroad to recreate strategic demands with “ideal holes.” One particular template in play at Mid Ocean – the Cape Hole design at No. 5, a par 4 that launches off an elevated tee then curves around a lake – was described by Hanse as “one of the greatest holes in the world.”
Mid Ocean was the only course Macdonald, a famed Golden Age architect, designed outside the United States. Mid Ocean, which accepts limited non-member play, ranks No. 6 on the 2026 Golfweek’s Best list of top courses in the Caribbean, Mexico, South America and the Atlantic islands. It also ranks among the top 100 courses outside the United States.
"C.B. Macdonald is on my personal Mount Rushmore of golf architects, so it’s an honor to have the opportunity to work on another of his courses," Hanse – who also restored Macdonald’s designs at Sleepy Hollow Country Club, The Creek Club and Yale Golf Course – said in a media release announcing the project. "He only built 10 or 12 golf courses, depending on how many you credit to him. The fact that we now have a significant opportunity at Mid Ocean Club means the world to us.
"Every single golf course C.B. Macdonald worked on was impactful, not only from the standpoint of that particular club, but in the world of golf course architecture."
Macdonald pioneered the use of template holes in his designs, using the concepts of great holes abroad to recreate strategic demands with “ideal holes.” One particular template in play at Mid Ocean – the Cape Hole design at No. 5, a par 4 that launches off an elevated tee then curves around a lake – was described by Hanse as “one of the greatest holes in the world.”
4 months ago
