Cabot Citrus Farms in Florida, USA, is officially opening two new 18-hole courses, a nine-hole short layout and 11-hole par-three course on 21 January 2025.

Kyle Franz designed the 18-hole Karoo course and co-designed the 18-hole Roost layout with Mike Nuzzo, a collaboration that also saw greens shaped by Rod Whitman and consultancy from Golf Magazine’s architecture editor Ran Morrissett. Nuzzo also designed the Squeeze and the Wedge, both short layouts.

The Cabot Collection acquired the former World Woods property and its Pine Barrens and Rolling Oaks courses in 2022.

The 7,201-yard Karoo course occupies the same corridors as the Pine Barrens course, with the reversal of the third and sixteenth holes (both par threes), and the second and seventeenth (both par fours). Tees, fairways and greens have all been expanded and redesigned. Greens now have more contour and a “more sculpted” aesthetic.

“The course is a blend of a lot of things that I really like, and I’ve tried to mould it into a style that is our own and allows us to be creative and challenge ourselves,” said Franz. “We have tried to do something that’s fun and we have taken risks, hopefully in areas where everybody really likes them, as we want golfers to walk off and feel like they’ve never played anything quite like it.”

The course has fairways that provide multiple routes of play and are split by large expanses of sand. Ridges, bunkers and sand waste areas help to create a variety of heroic tee shots and risk-reward lines of play.

Karoo’s flexible teeing grounds allow golfers to play a round that suits them on the day – they can opt for an easy carry, or a more challenging tee shot. “We really tried to get a tremendous amount of elasticity in the redesign where you can play it way forward and way back day to day,” said Franz.

The architect highlights that the par-three third could potentially stretch to 292 yards if teeing it all the way back. “The bounce-down slope off the right and the succession of rolls within the green are really cool,” said Franz. “You’ve got to land your ball on the perfect spot on that hillside and it will bounce down to the pin. The pin location at the very back is like a little pedestal.”

The 7,200-yard Roost layout lies on the site of the former Rolling Oaks course.

“There were several holes on the old routing that were problematic, and the walk felt challenging,” said Nuzzo. “The terrain was very interesting and significantly impacted the routing… it would be difficult to drastically change the existing corridors.

“The greens, bunkers, tees and cart paths were average or dated, but there seemed to be a deeper distraction to Rolling Oaks. The up-and-down nature felt like a negative when it could have been more positive.

“Travelling home after my first visit I sketched a simple routing on an airplane napkin, and the unknown nagging issue jumped out at me. The old routing tacked to the back of the property via an adventurous path, then straight back to the clubhouse. Then the start of the back nine beelined out to the same spot and continued the nice tacking manner until the end of the round.”

Nuzzo’s solution was to have more changes of direction throughout the property, which would help with walkability. “Our new routing for the Roost now feels like one went out to play without interruption,” he said. “The entire course flows more organically.”

The opening hole – which, along with the second, was shifted more in the direction of the third tees – is now more dramatic. The ninth green was moved to turn the hole from a par four to a five, and the tees at ten were shortened to turn the hole from a par five to a short four. “We eliminated the original eighteenth hole,” said Nuzzo. “It felt disjointed in how it played down below what felt like a pond in the sky.

“The current sixth plays perpendicular to the old corridor, which included a forced layup tee shot short of a pair of large trees. The new location for the green is located on a dramatic highlight of the site, adjacent to a beautiful old oak.”

Nuzzo relocated nine more greens and reversed a five-hole loop. “The holes now play counterclockwise – the five holes [seven and twelve to fifteen] play in the opposite direction from the old greens to the old tees. This was to improve flow, interest, playability and walkability.”

Morrissett suggested flipping the sequence of seven and sixteen, which Nuzzo says changed the flow and idealised the order of holes by placing the old par-three eighth in the penultimate position of the seventeenth, which enabled more expansive views.

“We developed a new theme for the course, with more expansive and rolling golf holes that fit this great site,” said Nuzzo. “We expanded and connected the irrigation pond into a course-wide feature that starts on top of the hill and finishes towards the cottages.

“The backlands generally don’t drain off the property. Instead, much of the land drains to a giant sinkhole. It is a very dramatic feature that was essentially hidden previously. Now we play a one-shot hole directly over the deepest part of the sinkhole to a small green, of a similar playing nature to some of [Cabot developer] Ben Cowan-Dewar’s favourite short holes. Rod Whitman’s design ideas and green shaping have been an enormous part of the project and helped to elevate the interest and enjoyment of the entire golf course.

“Now, the high points are distributed throughout and by shifting some greens, we were able to create very dramatic vistas. The majestic oaks now stand out more and even act as strategic features on several holes.”

Read our report on the Squeeze and the Wedge layouts in the July 2023 issue of Golf Course Architecture.