Imagine building 26 golf courses at the height of the golf development bubble, with nine figures in public pension money — in an effort that now loses money year after year. Welcome to the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail.
In theory, 12-hole designs should be cheaper to play, build, and maintain. But in the staid industry of golf course development, there’s been no rush to test the theory. The minds behind Sweetens Cove are ready to change that.
Tobacco Road Golf Club, near Pinehurst, N.C., is a paradox: a wild adventure among manmade features, through rugged conditions laced with sand and brush.
A golf course built around the idea of having fun shouldn't be novel. The fact that it is says more about other designs than it does about Sweetens Cove.