New club in Florida offers fascinating example of great strategic golf on flat ground
NAPLES, Fla. – Kinsale Club, with its new private course designed by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner, showcases what a great team of architects can do with a flat piece of land.
Given 174 acres to accommodate the entire club – including parking and all amenities – Hanse and Wagner had to construct all the intrigue from the course with hard boundary edges, a preserved area of wetland at the center and no distinguished landforms rising from the site just a few hundred yards from the Gulf of Mexico. To make it all work, they relied on classic architectural templates for inspiration, making golfers consider strategy and proper lines for every swing.
That strategy is dictated mostly by sand – lots of sand. Wherever you might want to land a tee ball, there’s often a steep-faced, relatively flat-bottomed bunker in the way. Players must steer their balls around all the hazards, often playing toward the edges of wide fairways to set up the best line for an approach shot. Heading into the greens, plenty more bunkers await. Players who take the proper lines off the tee are rewarded with a much more welcoming approach through all the sand and past the frequent run-offs.
It's old-school strategy at it’s finest. No reward is granted without a fair bit of risk. It’s the best type of golf, and it makes Kinsale stand out in a state where, on too many courses, strategy is dictated as a game of avoiding water. Such design is especially effective when married to firm and fast playing surfaces, as director of agronomy Rusty Mercer has provided at Kinsale. Hanse and Wagner told members they were inspired by Golden Age architects C.B. Macdonald and Seth Raynor, and Kinsale certainly calls to mind their work.
It all adds up to a private course where members should never get bored with playing the same shots again and again. Strategy shifts as holes locations change, and there are multiple ways to play almost every approach shot.
Hanse and Wagner have gained fame as the restorers of many classic layouts, jobs for which they put aside their own ideas and try to recreate what original architects had in mind. Los Angeles Country Club, Oakland Hills, The Country Club, Winged Foot, Southern Hills, Merion, Oakmont, on and on – Hanse and Wagner have restored many major championship sites, and many casual golf fans know them best for their work on such Golden Age stalwarts.
But building a new course scratches a different kind of itch for the design duo. Their work at Ohoopee Match Club in Georgia and CapRock Ranch in Nebraska, in particular, rank among the top 20 modern courses in the U.S.
“From a creativity standpoint, new construction is so much more liberating because of the way we’ve chosen to do restoration, being beholden to the original architects,” Hanse said during a preview showing of plans for SkyFall, their new project at Forest Dunes in Michigan. “So there’s not a lot of creativity and not a lot of original ideas. It’s more restoration research and then trying to create in the same style and what we see there. Whereas with the new stuff, we can do kind of whatever we want.”
Clearly, what they wanted at Kinsale was to challenge golfers on every shot. To create interest on a site that didn’t start as much. And to thrill the club’s members for every round with a wide variety of interesting shots and incredible greens inspired by templates that have stood the test of time.
It will take time to see where Kinsale Club is eventually ranked by Golfweek’s Best course-rating program. Below, this author shares his thoughts on how Kinsale Club’s layout stacks up in our 10 rating criteria. Our hundreds of raters assign a score of 1 to 10 for each criterion, then offer an overall rating. In non-definitive terms, any course that averages above 6 out of 10 might be the best course in many areas and certainly worth a drive across town, a course averaging 7 out of 10 is a seriously solid layout, and anything above an 8 is one of the best courses in the country. There are only a handful of courses rated above 9 in the world.
1. Routing of Kinsale Club
How well the holes individually and collectively adhere to the land and to each other.
This site for Kinsale Club was a flat piece of ground with squared-off boundaries, and Hanse and Wagner had no prominent features to play into and away from. They fashioned a first seven holes that play out to a far point at the northwest corner and back before spinning into the separate back nine that plays mostly into the northwest corner. The course was built with walking in mind and is an easy stroll. One unusual choice: The par-5 12th plays to the south next to the range and toward the clubhouse, then players shift to the side for the par-3 13th, which tees off across the line of No. 12 headed west. It calls to mind the far end of the Old Course at St. Andrews, where No. 11 crosses No. 7 fairway.
My rating: 7
2. Quality of shaping
The extent to which course construction creates design elements that fit in well and provides a consistent look or sensibility.
Everything on the course was created by Hanse, Wagner and their team of shapers. Many of the features are quite sharp instead of curving naturally into slopes. Most of the taller shaping helps create breaks in what would otherwise be a flat plain. Many of the greens lie quite flat on the ground at their entrances, but they typically are guarded by bunkers with steep faces to at least one side.
My rating: 8
3. Overall land plan
Ease of integration of all built-out elements with native land, including course, clubhouse, real estate, roads, native topography and landforms. The extent to which land plan facilitates long views of surroundings and/or interior views of property.
It was a relatively tight parcel at 174 acres to accommodate the clubhouse, parking, expansive range, practice greens and course. But it never feels squeezed. Especially on the course, Hanse and Wagner had enough room to make each hole feel distinct and connected to the greater routing. The clubhouse is still under construction, but when opened, players will be able to tumble out to No. 1 tee and pop right in from the adjacent 18th green.
My rating: 7
4. Greens and surrounds
Interest, variety and playability of putting surfaces, collars, chipping areas and greenside bunkers.
The greens are varied and always interesting. The ground game is frequently an option going into the greens if a player has taken the proper line, but steep-walled bunkers that feature relatively flat bottoms tend to block any wayward lines. The putting surfaces feature multiple tiers, humps, bumps and hollows, and putting is never an afterthought. Most greens roll off to one side or another, either onto tightly mowed runoffs or bunkers. Many of the greens have been shaped with modern twists to classic template holes, inspired by the courses of Golden Age architects C.B. Macdonald and Seth Raynor.
My rating: 9
5. Variety and memorability of par 3s
Differentiation of holes by length, club required, topography, look and angle of approach.
Ranging in length from 135 yards up to 250, the four par 3s play in all directions and feature the most immediately recognizable modern twists on template variations. No. 4 is a take on the classic Redan hole, No. 8 is a Biarritz, No. 13 (which crosses No. 12 fairway) is a classic Postage Stamp, and the short 16th plays into a punchbowl. These holes offer a fascinating mix of shots.
My rating: 8
6. Variety and memorability of par 4s
Range of right-to-left and left-to-right drives and second shots required, as well as spread of length, topography and look of the holes.
There is not a thoughtless par 4 on the property. Each of them grabs your attention from the tee box, with strategically placed bunkers forcing players to think before they swing. Firm ground helps, as balls will roll and roll and until they are within reach of the green for a second shot, or roll and roll until they settle into a bunker. The par 4s are often lined with sandy waste areas. The fairways are typically generous in width, except for those always-encroaching bunkers. A favorite was the short third, 310 yards off the back tees but laced with sand almost everywhere you might want to land a tee ball – it’s a brilliant little par 4 offering many options.
My rating: 7
7. Variety and memorability of par 5s
Variety of risk/reward opportunities on tee shot; how interesting the second shots are; variety of third shots required.
The course opens with back-to-back par 5s, starting with the 583-yard first before offering a more reasonable scoring opportunity with the 500-yard second. Each of Kinsale’s par 5s offers opportunities for better golfers to play boldly, but with plenty of obstacles that must be narrowly skirted for players trying to reach the greens in two shots. Each offers hope but can easily dash it.
My rating: 7
8. Tree and landscape management
Extent to which ornamentals, hardwoods, conifers and other flora enhance the design and playability of a course without overburdening it or compromising strategic flexibility and agronomy.
Except for a wetlands preserve at the north-center section that divides much of the front nine and the back nine, and at the western boundary along a road, there are almost no trees in play at Kinsale. Most of the trees that are on the course grow out of the sandy waste areas to the sides of holes. It’s a wide-open plateau with long views of other holes from almost every vantage point.
My rating: 7
9. Conditioning and ecology
Overall quality of maintenance, discounting for short-term issues (weather or top dressing); extent of native areas; diversity of plant life and wildlife.
Rusty Mercer, the director of agronomy, came to Kinsale from Streamsong Resort, and he knows a few things about firm ground. He has the Bermuda grass playing surfaces dialed in, with bouncy conditions that promote the ground game. It’s a stark and welcome contrast to play Kinsale in winter after playing many other Florida courses, where rye overseed and soggy conditions frequently make a ball land and stop like a dart. One word for these TifEagle Bermuda putting surfaces: pure.
My rating: 9
10. “Walk in the park” test
The sense of the place as worthy of spending four hours on it.
Kinsale isn’t dramatic, and it doesn’t feature very interesting terrain or ocean views, even though it is so close to the Gulf of Mexico. But the property is all about golf in the best ways. With easy strolls from green to tee and frequent views of upcoming holes, Kinsale creates a sense of excitement to be playing something different than the usual Florida fare. It’s a prime example of how great architects can put the focus on the golf, and even on a flat piece of land create an environment that beckons golfers.
My rating: 7.1
Overall rating
This is not a cumulative score.
As soon as you finish a hole at Kinsale, you want to play it again to see if a different line might work better. With classic strategy so much in play, this course would never become boring or repetitive. There’s no greater compliment.
My rating: 7.1
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Gil Hanse, Jim Wagner focus on strategy at new Kinsale Club in Florida
