When arriving at Cabot Citrus Farms you’ll understand why Ben Cowan-Dewar sought this property for decades. A prehistoric ridge in Brookville, Fla., created rolling topography on sandy soil—a golf developer’s dream. In the early 1990s, World Woods opened with two acclaimed public courses and what was once the world’s largest driving range that hosted Tiger Woods commercial shoots.
But playing conditions had deteriorated at World Woods. Its Pine Barrens course, once the 75th-best course in Golf Digest’s ranking of America’s 100 Greatest Courses, quickly fell off that list in 2013. Cowan-Dewar inquired about the property with the previous owner, Japanese businessman Yukihisa Inoue, in 2014 and 2016, to no avail. Others also tried to buy it. Finally, as COVID-19 restricted travel, Cowan-Dewar chatted with Inoue through translators over Zoom and negotiated to purchase the property in 2021—giving his burgeoning Cabot resort and real estate empire its first U.S. offering.
That decades-long courtship has now paid off with Cabot Citrus Farms’ Karoo course, which opens for preview play next week. Kyle Franz—known for his meticulous remodeling of North Carolina Sandhills courses such as Mid Pines, Pine Needles and Southern Pines—transformed the existing Pine Barrens course with Karoo, the first course to open. He reversed playing corridors in some cases, completely changing what was in the ground in many cases. You see that immediately on the first hole—a massive double green for the first and sixth holes. Franz dubs this design style as “adventure golf.” Eleven holes boast double fairways—and the 18th has a triple fairway. “George Thomas was doing massive double fairways 100 years ago,” Franz explains. “So this was a really fun way to make people think a little differently while still staying rooted in good, classical architecture.”
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The modern trend of pushing width and options is amplified with “super width” here, with some fairways over 100 yards wide, though strategy is still present—as large, exposed sand hazards often split the playing areas. Choosing the ideal side of the fairway will often open up an easier approach.
“We throw some innovative, off-beat stuff at people,” Franz said. “And we hope everybody really likes it.”
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Another course, the Roost, on the site of the old Rolling Oaks, is slated to open for preview play in the spring (the entire resort will have a grand opening in the fall). Franz worked on the Roost as well, along with long-time golf historian Ran Morrissett, his neighbor in Southern Pines, N.C., and aerospace engineer-turned golf architect Mike Nuzzo, to route the Roost.
The golf offerings don’t end there. Nuzzo was tasked with building as many holes as he could on a small 120-acre parcel of land. He delivered 21 holes—a 10-hole course called the Squeeze—with holes as long as the 559-yard par-5 fourth, and a variety of par 3s and par 4s, plus an 11-hole par-3 course, the Wedge, which will be lit up for patrons to enjoy into the night. Not to mention a massive putting course that will have tunes rocking under the lights. The vibes, as the kids say, will be immaculate.
Jeff Marsh
Though super width is a big of part of the “adventure golf” philosophy seen at Karoo, it’s not without strategy: “We wanted to build a huge palette for the average player, but for good players to really score, with the severity of the hazards, you have to make very clear decisions. With the a lot of our hazards in the middle, it challenges the player to make a very clear decision. Often it’s a very simple, solid strategy that people can think about and react to immediately.”
Matt Majka
Cowan-Dewar’s goal, in developing Cabot Citrus Farms and his other projects such as the newly opened Cabot Saint Lucia, and new projects at Cabot Highlands and Cabot Revelstoke, is to build canvases that fosters repeat play: “The whole focus for me has always been: ‘Can I find these sites that I love returning to, and what do I love about them?’” At St. Andrews, National Golf Links and Royal Melbourne, it really is the options of play each time out. That continues to be what we have fun doing working to create places like that.”
Matt Majka
Franz: “We really wanted to build cool subtle bumps into the fairways with the shapes and make it look like stuff had blown around naturally. The quarry that runs from 13, 14 (above) and 16, we wanted it to seem like it had blown into the fairway naturally.”
Cowan-Dewar first worked with Franz while the young architect was toiling with Rod Whitman at Cabot Links: “I think he’s a genius, and I think he has all the talent in the world.”
Perhaps the most memorable hole at Karoo is the short par-4 15th (above), where golfers play over a large swarth of exposed sand to a tiny green sloped back to front. The carry is about 220 yards from the regular tees.
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Jeff Marsh
Thousands or years ago, the Gulf of Mexico ran up through the property. The resulting sandy site and expansive waste areas made this site perfect for golf.
Jeff Marsh
Cowan-Dewar: “The first thing that everyone says is that it doesn’t remind you of Florida. … What it really reminded you of is North Carolina with the rolling undulations, sand, pines and the mossy oaks.”
Jeff Marsh
Most of what you’ll see at Karoo is a product of Franz and his team challenging themselves to push the boundaries of what his peers have been building over the past 20 years. “A lot of my architecture love is showing through. These are just a few things people aren’t doing over and over and over. We wanted to throw some innovative, off-beat stuff at people. And we hope everybody really likes it.”
Here are some renderings from Franz-Nuzzo-Morrissett creation, the Roost, which will open for preview play in the spring.
The above green is the soon-to-be 17th hole at the Roost, which boasts the same green site as the previous eighth hole. But dozens of trees were cleared to reveal the great expansive view from the tee box, which sits on a crest.
Some shots from Nuzzo’s 10-hole Squeeze:
Jeff Marsh
Matt Majka
Glowing greens at The Squeeze.
Pictured here is the 6th green at one of our four courses at Cabot Citrus Farms. This specific course is stretched over varied terrain, encouraging golfers to consider different strategies.
📷: Matt Majka pic.twitter.com/yX3dumZfuQ
— Cabot Citrus Farms (@CabotCitrus) November 25, 2023
When 18 holes just isn't enough, The Squeeze has your next 10 covered.
📷: Matt Majka pic.twitter.com/uNQivdKIZt
— Cabot Citrus Farms (@CabotCitrus) December 17, 2023
Pictured here is the par-5 fourth hole on The Squeeze. At 559-yards, this is the longest and only par-5 on our 10-hole course!
📸: @jeffkmarsh pic.twitter.com/IK0PwNd7BY
— Cabot Citrus Farms (@CabotCitrus) January 20, 2024
Cabot is building a full village as part of its offerings. The first phase includes dozens of two-bedroom and four-bedroom cottages, which will be available to rent. The property includes 1,200 acres, which is surrounded by a state forest, ensuring no future development.
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This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
