Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw had two aces up their sleeves when they accepted the job of building a new short course at Streamsong Resort in Florida: They had sandy terrain on which to work, and they were hired by a management team looking for something different. Perhaps very different.
The quick-draining, sandy site for The Chain – the name references the giant drag chains used during the land’s previous life as part of a phosphate mining company – provides the firm and bouncy conditions so many golfers love. And sand is relatively easy to push around to form interesting contours.
“The blessing is sand,” said Crenshaw, the two-time Masters champ who partnered with Coore nearly 40 years ago to build some of the top modern courses around the world. “You’re way, way ahead of the game when you have sand.”
More: We rank the best short courses in the U.S.
And because they were tasked with designing a short course, they were free to let their imaginations wonder. They needn’t be concerned with protecting par or making sure resort golfers could get around a traditional, full-size layout without losing too many balls. The KemperSports managers of Streamsong, who have since bought the resort from Mosiac Company, gave the architects carte blanche to design holes as they saw fit, so long as the focus was on golfers enjoying something new and fresh.
The fun begins Dec. 1 when the resort allows limited preview play of The Chain, and it will only get better when the 19-hole, 3,000-yard layout opens fully in early 2024. Consider it mostly a par-3 course with holes ranging from 109 to 293 yards on the scorecard but with no formal tee markers, allowing guests to play each hole from a range of shorter distances of their own choosing.
Architects Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw have built several of the best short courses around the world. (Courtesy of Streamsong)
The layout features two loops – one six holes, the other 13 – that can be played individually or as one course. And those 19 holes encircle The Bucket, a 2.5-acre putting green that’s more than 100 yards from one end to another – it easily can hold two putting courses, perhaps three. The site will feature a food truck offering creative and quick fare with plenty of cool drinks, enhancing what likely will be considered by many to be the best spot on property to hang out as the sun dips.
It’s a non-traditional setup, very different than the three highly ranked 18-hole courses at the resort:…
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