Golf Inc. 2023 Visionaries: Agustin Pizá and Brandel Chamblee

Editor’s Note: Golf Inc. has named five individuals as 2023 golf business Visionaries of the Year. Each has helped the industry move forward through their visions and examples. In addition to Don Rea, as featured in the Jan/Feb Golf Inc. issue, we feature here the design partnership of Agustin Pizá and Brandel Chamblee. 

In June 2021, award-winning architect Agustin “Augie” Pizá and Brandel Chamblee, PGA Tour champion and Golf Channel analyst, announced their collaboration to focus on distinct and key golf design projects.

Pizá and Chamblee are Yin and Yang, and together their partnership expands the Pizá Golf Branded Collection and their signature Pizá Chamblee golf designs will be made available on select projects.

Pizá describes Chamblee as an artist of analytics. 

“Brandel brings to our partnership an acute understanding of golf course playability,” Pizá said. “As a former PGA TOUR Professional, he appreciates a golf course from a player’s standpoint, but as an analyst his intellect provides some profound and unique insight. His perceptiveness will challenge me to become a better architect, and I am up for that challenge.”

The first Pizá Chamblee signature design pushes the creative boundaries of multi-purpose golf.

The duo is collaborating on a 24-hole golf resort in Cuatro Ciénegas, Mexico. The development is in the rustic desert and mountains of Mexico, within a master planned community and resort, co-designed with Sardo Madaleno Architects. Butterfly Golf at Desértica was inspired by the Butterfly Effect concept of Chaos Theory where one small change in a system can result in a large difference; this also refers to the innovative layout of the resort.

The layout resembles the wings of a butterfly from above with four diverse quadrangles. Within these sections are six-hole golf loops creatively positioned within the rural landscape and surrounding an inventive multi-purpose short golf course. This 24-hole layout provides a great degree of flexibility in the course setup, playing options, maintenance practices and diversity in a selected 18-hole layout on any given day. Ground breaking is expected this year.

The duo will be working on a couple more projects together and are currently looking for the perfect match to create a proper TPC course for women.

“We are not thinking of ever changing the game,” Pizá said. “We are running parallel. We embrace golf as it is; everything that goes with it and the virtues that you learn….