BOWLING GREEN, Fla. – Streamsong, already home to three highly ranked courses built by some of the biggest names in modern golf architecture, plans to add a fourth course that will open in late 2023 or 2024.
The design duo of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw have signed on to construct their second course at the resort, this one an 18-hole, non-traditional layout for which the early routing shows holes ranging from 70 to nearly 300 yards. The yet-to-be-named short course will be built on lumpy, bumpy, and sandy land just east of the resort’s main lodge, easily within walking distance of guest rooms.
Streamsong – which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year – also will add another putting course near the new course and lodge. It is projected to be larger than the resort’s popular Gauntlet putting course at the Black Course’s clubhouse. Food and beverage components will be constructed alongside the new short course and putting course with a dedicated clubhouse.
All combined, the new amenities should make for a perfectly relaxed way to spend an afternoon after playing one of the resort’s traditional 18s. The Red Course by Coore and Crenshaw ranks No. 2 on Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play list of public-access layouts in Florida and is tied for No. 37 on Golfweek’s Best rankings of all modern courses built since 1960 in the United States. Streamsong’s Black Course by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner is No. 3 among Florida’s public-access layouts and ties for No. 44 among all modern U.S. courses, and the resort’s Blue Course by Tom Doak ranks No. 4 in Florida and ties for No. 55 among modern courses in the U.S.
Coore recently visited the site with course shaper and architect Keith Rhebb, who frequently works for the Coore/Crenshaw team, and they set out initial stakes on the land that cuts across a scrubby, roughly 100-acre site with several lakes in play.
Because it’s a non-traditional course, it’s entirely possible to introduce exciting features that might not work on a traditional course. Think imaginative greens, big run-offs, and other opportunities to show off creative design that might not work as well on a traditional, full-size course.
It’s a similar concept to the new par-3 courses that have become incredibly popular at many top destinations, only longer in spots. Streamsong already is home to a par-3 course, the seven-hole Roundabout near the Black Course’s clubhouse.
And because the new course won’t stretch to a traditional total length, it will be possible to play it with fewer than 14 clubs – players can leave their drivers in their rooms, if they so choose, and tackle it with just a handful of irons, wedges, and a putter.
Coore and Crenshaw often include devilish short par 3s on their traditional courses, including the 147-yard eighth hole on the Red at Streamsong. These holes typically feature extreme putting surfaces and surrounds that can frustrate even good players who have only a short iron or wedge into the green, making them among the most interesting holes on the course despite their diminutive length. Their experience building such holes, as well as par-3 courses such as the much-heralded Preserve at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Oregon, should help make for a very interesting 18 holes at Streamsong’s new short course.
