Tiger Woods

It’s early in a design career that accompanies a legendary one between the ropes, but Tiger Woods’ initial work in golf course architecture has been well-received. It suffered a bit of a false start when the economic recession of the late 2000s put his eagerly-anticipated course at the Cliffs complex of golf communities in the Carolinas on hold, but when El Cardonal opened in Los Cabos and Bluejack National followed soon after outside of Houston, it became clear that Woods had both a keen eye for compelling golf course design and a team of capable advisers - namely, architects like Beau Welling and Shane Robichaud - to help him plan and execute his vision.

As a fairly vocal fan of classic golf course design, Woods’ courses are right at home in the recent movement toward more playable, fun and conventionally attractive designs that characterized the early 20th century “Golden Age” of the craft.
Most of El Cardonal and Bluejack National's greens are open in front, allowing less powerful players to tack around the hazards that are places to trip up the aggressive swashbuckler. His third “big” course, Payne’s Valley at Big Cedar Lodge in Missouri, offers acres of short grass off the tee that keeps the novice from losing lots of golf balls while the same surface around greens can make for intriguing short game options. Strategic, rather than penal design seems to be a hallmark of Woods’ philosophy.

Another trait of Woods’ design career so far has been an insistence on the importance of short courses as both a compliment to “big” courses and a worthwhile distinct golf experience. His Oasis Short Course at Diamante Los Cabos and the “Playgrounds” short routings at Bluejack National and the new Jack’s Bay in the Bahamas offer members and guests a shorter and more relaxed dose of golf that nevertheless allows them to test and hone their short games, just as young Woods did on several Southern California short courses. His redesign of the Peter Hay Par 3 Course at Pebble Beach will further establish his TGR Design as a leader in this trend, as will his partnership with putting-oriented “golfertainment” concept PopStroke, whose now-open second location in Ft. Myers, Fla. was designed in concert with Woods’ group, with more to come.