A handful of new and new-and-improved golf courses hit North America in 2014

The golf course design business in North America has a heartbeat after all.

This year we'll welcome in a nice chunk of new and revamped golf courses, highlighted by a trio of high-end designs in Cabo San Lucas. The U.S. has plenty going on from coast to coast as well.

Here's a look at what to expect to open (or reopen) in 2014:

Scottish architect David McLay Kidd, who designed Bandon Dunes and Tetherow in Oregon and the Castle Course in St. Andrews, built 12 holes with views of the Columbia River roughly 200 miles northeast of Seattle. This 7,300-yard all-fescue course should open no later than August.

In Lake Charles, next door to the L'Auberge Resort and Tom Fazio-designed Contraband Bayou, a new Golden Nugget resort and casino, along with a championship golf course, is scheduled to open in mid-to-late 2014. The golf course, designed by Todd Eckenrode, is currently unnamed.

In Pebble Beach, Poppy Hills G.C., owned by the Northern California Golf Association, closed in spring 2013 to entirely rebuild its golf course. The course, which was formerly in the circuit for the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, will feature entirely new greens, grass and drainage to go along with some other design enhancements. Poppy Hills is scheduled to reopen April 4.

When Donald Trump picked up the bankrupt resort in 2012, his eyes turned to making the resort more lavish than ever. He called on Gil Hanse to reinvent The Blue Monster, which is now open and will welcome the WGC-Cadillac Championship in March. Hanse's work altered almost every hole, stretching the layout to 7,500 yards. Three of the Blue Monster's holes -- the eighth, ninth and 10th -- have shifted to make room for the new lighted driving range, which tripled in size and will house a new TaylorMade Performance Lab. Doral went from six holes splashed with water hazards to 14.

Set to open in the first quarter of 2014 is the redesigned course at Makena Beach & Golf Resort on Maui. Unfortunately for visitors, the new course will open as a private club. Redesigned by Robert Trent Jones Jr., some of the routing remains, which is especially prudent considering that the old course, despite being dated, had some of the best views on the island. Guests at the recently renovated resort will still have golf privileges on the other golf courses in the Wailea resort area.

Paul Albanese & Chris Lutzke of Michigan broke ground last summer on the Santee Sioux Golf Club at the Ohiya Casino & Resort in Niobrara, Neb., the site of the state's first casino 17 years ago. The Santee Sioux tribe opened its new expanded casino and hotel in February 2013. The course, which could open in fall 2014, will incorporate elements of Native American culture and history, a theme similar to their work at the successful Sweetgrass Golf Club in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

One of the Mid-Atlantic's top luxury clubs and golf resorts, Keswick Hall is set to reopen this summer after 18 months under the knife at the hands of Pete Dye. The Keswick Club golf course originally opened in 1948 and Dye is building a brand new course on top of the existing routing.

30 miles south of Washington D.C. on the Potomac River is a new golf course and community featuring a brand new, public Jack Nicklaus Signature design, Potomac Shores. Set to open in April, the course promises 200 feet of elevation change throughout the property.

Original architect Robert Trent Jones Jr., along with Bruce Charleton and Jay Blasi, have refreshed SentryWorld, which dates to 1982. All new tees, bunkers and greens were built while the 7,200-yard course was closed last season. The fairways were stripped of turf, regraded and seeded. The course was rerouted with holes 4, 9, 13 and 17 built on existing corridors, but substantially altered. Two completely new par 3 holes sit on acquired property. SentryWorld, located 100 miles west of Green Bay, is scheduled to open this August.

While the Red Course and Blue Course at Streamsong Resort opened in early 2013, early 2014 saw the completion of a 216-room main lodge with luxurious rooms, a grotto-style spa and new restaurants that will keep this hot new destination in the limelight.

Arizona-based developer Taylor-Morrison commissioned Michigan resident Chris Wilczynski to build two private courses that will open in Florida by March, The Esplanade Golf & Country Club at Lakewood Ranch in Sarasota and The Esplanade Golf & Country Club in Naples. The 6,716-yard Esplanade Golf & Country Club at Lakewood Ranch was built with baby boomers in mind. Fairways have 350-foot corridors, which lead to open fronts of large greens that average 7,000 square feet. Wilczynski worked with Arthur Hills & Associates (now Hills & Forrest) before branching out on his own.

Already Mexico's best golf destination, "Cabo" will debut courses by Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Fazio. How's that for a big three? Fazio's Chileno Bay, a long-awaited resort development routed in the desert foothills high above the Sea of Cortez, opened Dec. 31, 2013. Quivira, Nicklaus' sixth Cabo golf course, is set to open this summer next to Diamante. Quivira starts at sea level near the pounding surf before climbing to panoramic views along higher ground. The biggest splash will be Woods' architectural debut near the Pacific Ocean north of Cabo San Lucas at the tip of the Baja Peninsula. The El Cardonal, an inland course to complement the Dunes by Davis Love III, will open later in the year. Not to be overlooked, Love and his design team recently returned to Diamante to replace the inland 12th and 13th holes with a new pair of holes routed in enormous dunes closer to the sea. Diamante, a timeshare development, only offers tee times to prospective property buyers.

The new course at the Vista Mar Golf & Beach Resort in San Carlos, Panama, about an hour from Panama City, boasts ocean views from almost every hole. Designed by J. Michael Poellot, the KemperSports-operated course is set to open this spring. The nearly 7,300-yard course features elevation changes, mountain views, paspalum fairways and several risk-reward opportunities, especially when the wind is blowing toward the ocean. The course is just one of the amenities at this new resort, which also has a marina, restaurants, tennis, real estate and a beach club.

Located along the Caribbean Sea on the northern coastline of Honduras, the new golf course at the Indura Beach & Golf Resort actually had a soft opening in late 2013. Crafted by Gary Player Design, this championship course, which is managed by Troon Golf, features multiple ocean views laid out over the sand dunes throughout the site. The $133 million resort, which is situated along a 26-mile stretch of Tela Bay, will have 60 junior suites as well as a number of other amenities.

The new five-star all-inclusive IBEROSTAR Playa Mita opened in December in the Riviera Nayarit. IBEROSTAR has invested 100 million euros in building its 10th Mexican resort but first along the Pacific Ocean. The 452-room resort includes 120 oceanfront junior suites, 18 adult-only Spa Rooms, two Presidential Suites and four accessible rooms. Two pools, SPA Sensations, tennis courts and a fitness center will keep guests busy. The Litibu Golf Club, a Greg Norman design on site that opened in 2010, overlooks the ocean. Punta Mita's famed Pacifico Course and Bahia Course by Jack Nicklaus are nearby.

The new 1,000-acre Baha Mar Resort's Jack Nicklaus Signature Course will feature "two courses in one." The front nine will provide plenty of ocean views, while the back nine will wind through inland forest and native habitat. Scheduled to open sometime in 2014 ahead of the completion of the resort, the course should rank among the finest in the Bahamas. Among the highlights, as you might expect, is a picturesque par 3 on the ocean.

Designed by Ty Butler and Native American Notah Begay, the Sewailo Golf Club in Tucson, Ariz., is a $25 million casino course that is anything but typical desert. Opened in December 2013, Sewailo (which means "flower world") has 14 acres of lakes (including waterfalls behind the 18th green), a mile of streams and 75 bunkers. Most important, after all the dirt was moved, native wildflowers and cactus were replanted by the thousands.

Just up the road in Scottsdale, the 36-hole JW Marriott Camelback Inn opened its new Ambiente Course in November. Ambiente is a redesign of the old Indian Bend Course, which opened in 1970. Designed by Jason Straka on behalf of Hurdzan/Fry Environmental Golf Design, the course has 12 new holes. This 7,200-yard desert-style course contrasts nicely with Camelback's other layout, the Arthur Hills-designed Padre Course, a parkland-style layout.

In Texas, after years of neglect, the Campus Course at Texas A&M in College Station got way more than a new look; it's a new golf course. Completed in just a year, the 7,008-yard par-71 course has movement where it was once flat, 158 bunkers, new Mini-Verde greens and great views of the Texas A&M campus. Open to the public, architect Jeff Blume drew his inspiration from the classic golf courses of the Northeast.

Troon Golf-managed BallenIsles Country Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., is celebrating the reopening of the North Course, which is now an 18-hole executive course to complement the other two courses at the club.

Near Ashville, N.C., The Cliffs Communities, which put its Tiger Woods signature design on hold, rolled along with its Gary Player design, The Cliffs at Mountain Park. It's private, but it's available to prospective home buyers at The Cliffs as well.

Also, members at the Country Club of Winter Haven (Fla.) are getting a nice boost to their course: Rees Jones renovated and redesigned the course, which is now under new management (Billy Casper Golf). The course reopened in December after a year under the knife.

In the Bronx, N.Y., the oft-maligned Ferry Point Park project celebrated the completion of its construction in fall 2013. But the course, which is now operated by Trump and designed by Jack Nicklaus and John Sanford, is currently growing in and is not scheduled to open to New York City golfers until 2015.

The early buzz is that Cabot Cliffs, a Bill Coore-Ben Crenshaw course scheduled to open by 2015, could eventually surpass Cabot Links, a links by Rod Whitman that opened in 2012, as the premier course on the northwest coast of Nova Scotia -- if not all of Canada. Bandon Dunes' Mike Keiser and Cabot Links' Ben Cowan-Dewar are spearheading the project.

Forest Dunes Golf Club in Roscommon, Mich., is working on getting finalized permitting and a contract signed for a new Tom Doak course to complement its fantastic Tom Weiskopf course. General Manager Todd Campbell indicated that tree clearing began last fall and construction could start this spring. A potential soft opening could occur in fall 2015.

-- Jason Scott Deegan and Mike Bailey contributed to this report.