Architects Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw have been hired to design the first course at Sand Valley, a planned multi-course resort in Wisconsin.

Located about 15 miles south of the town Wisconsin Rapids, Sand Valley is the brainchild of Mike Keiser, the developer behind the Bandon Dunes resort.

Construction is set to begin this year, and the first course is scheduled to open in late 2016.

Coore and Crenshaw will begin working on the routing this spring and construction will begin in September. The Oliphant Companies will carry out construction work.

An official statement from Keiser read: “I have purchased the land and The Founders and I have decided to build the first of four golf courses at Sand Valley. The first course will be designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw. Design work will begin as soon as the snow melts and we plan to be open for play in Spring 2016.”

Wisconsin is already home to big golf resorts, such as Whistling Straits in Kohler. Unlike Whistling Straits however, which when under construction required the bringing in of thousands of truckloads of sand, the Sand Valley site lies on 100ft of sand.

“With Cabot Cliffs underway and Gil Hanse and I working on Bandon Links, I really tried to resist this project, but within 30 minutes of being on site, I was hooked,” added Keiser. “It is a thrilling dunescape – a cross between Pine Valley and Sand Hills.”

Coore and Crenshaw previously worked on the Pinehurst No.2 course, leading a successful restoration project in 2011. They have also worked on the Bandon Trails course at Keiser’s Bandon Dunes resort, as designing the Red course at the Streamsong Resort in Florida.