Practice elements have been incorporated within the course, including a practice tee on each hole. Players will be able to practice flop shots, chip-and-runs, and putting in a variety of areas. A recirculating water feature meanders throughout the course, including four holes in which it becomes part of the playing strategy.
When it opens, Seven will become only the second private par-54 course in the U.S. to have an official course rating, joining the Hurdzan and Fry-designed Hickory Course at New Jersey’s Hamilton Farm Golf Club. The Desert Mountain Club, which serves more than 1,900 golf club members, said the Seven course addresses the sport’s “ongoing evolution to build more user-friendly courses to make golf more inclusive and fun, but still challenging.”
Beyond golf, Seven’s gastropub clubhouse will feature collapsible glass walls and outdoor space for activities, such as bocce ball courts and fire pits. There will also be a lighted putting green, seating areas and music extending from the clubhouse, creating what the club describes as a “lively, entertaining and interactive experience.”
Copper Rock – (Hurricane, Utah)
Like the 19th Hole of Woods’ course in the Ozarks, this new 18-hole daily-fee facility in the southwest corner of Utah — near Zion National Park and Sand Hollow State Park – is nicknamed “The Rock.” A Dale Beddo design, Copper Rock is planning a soft opening in April with a full opening in September.
The course will wind through a grassy valley for the front nine before moving to hillier terrain for the back nine. It will feature a double green for the 9th and 18th holes, with a large lake between the fairways, as well as a 5th hole with a green that’s 210-feet long (the longest in Utah).
Old Toccoa Back 9 (Mineral Bluff, Georgia)
The scenery around the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Georgia is not quite the same as the mountain ranges surrounding the Copper Rock course in Utah, but the views can be equally as impressive. The back nine of Old Toccoa Farm is set to open amidst those Blue Ridge Mountains in April, giving this community a full 18 holes.
Ancient Cherokee called the area “The Enchanted Land,” and the course has over 280 feet of elevation change as it winds through 125 acres of ridges and meadows. When complete, the par-70 course will measure 6,850 yards and offer spectacular views of the Chattahoochee and Cherokee Nation Forests.
Millcreek Golf & Learning Center (Erie, Pennsylvania)
Everybody loves a good comeback story, and that’s exactly what Millcreek is. The municipal facility has been closed since 2011 when a roadway was shifted across part of the course to accommodate a runway extension at Erie International Airport. Technically considered a new project, it has been delayed repeatedly, with township supervisors seeking state funding to reconfigure and reopen the course. The facility’s driving range reopened in 2014, breathing life back into the project. Then, a $77,500 Keystone Community Grant along with $155,000 in matching funds from Millcreek Township were secured to pay for reconstruction of the lost holes.
The result is a reconfigured course with six greens that’s built on the site of a former hazardous waste dump. Additional teeing areas at three holes will allow those holes to be played twice, for a total of nine holes — the longest of which is 388 yards. Millcreek was designed to follow the Longleaf Tee system, which gives multiple tee options that properly scales the course for players of all ages and ability levels.
“Under the new design, it is a six-hole course with the emphasis on learning the game of golf,” says John Groh, Supervisor of the Millcreek Township Board of Supervisors. “There will be programs and instruction for novices and those with intermediate skills. It is a great place to not only work on driving balls at the range and putting on the practice green but an opportunity to take those skills to the course and actually play some holes.”
Palamino Nine – Wildhorse Golf Club of Robson Ranch (Denton, Texas)
Source: Mike Buteau / Mike is a former senior golf business writer for Bloomberg News, where he focused on the most significant companies, organizations, people and trends in the industry. He still writes about the game as an Atlanta-based communications specialist.