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.
With a secure future and a standalone date in hand, the Sanderson Farms Championship has a chance to keep its novelty while also becoming more than just a novelty.
“I’d like people to take away that my emotions are pretty good starting out here,” Bhatia said. “If I have my A-game, I feel like I can win out here. This week, I had a C-game.”
In all the youth-heavy field at the Sanderson Farms Classic, you’d be hard pressed to find a more different pairing than Maverick McNealy and Braden Thornberry.
“At first, we felt like the higher the score, the better. But if you watch golf on TV, you want to see people make birdies or you want them to make double bogeys. Anything in between is kind of dull.”
The Sanderson Farms Championship slogged through decades of small purses, weak fields, and year-to-year insecurity. Those days are gone — for better or worse.