Golf Course Architecture - Issue 63, January 2021

39 Jones says that one of the highlights of his father’s design at Coral Ridge is the variety: “It has as much variety as any Florida golf course, and that’s hard to do when you have a f lat piece of land.” Along with design associate Steve Weisser, the Jones team emphasised that variety: “Every hole really has a different twist – there’s not one single green that really resembles another, nor are the contours within the greens similar,” says Jones. Of the par-three eighth, for example, he says: “I don’t think there’s another hole like it anywhere. It has a very large front portion of the green, a sizeable slope up to the rear. It’s really two holes in one – a distinctly different golf hole. Players can use the slope as a backstop when the pin is at the front but have to roll the ball up the tier when the pin is at the back portion.” “Eighteen is a phenomenal hole,” adds Jones. “450 yards from the back, with water on the left and a Biarritz green. And one thing that has changed from Dad’s course, because of the newly elevated greens, is that we have chipping areas around the greens with pronounced drops, including to the right of eighteen. The average golfer can putt, the good player can choose different clubs.” The course’s new bunkering was inspired by Jones Sr’s early work. “These bunkers really have a look of the courses at Banff Springs and Jasper Park that my father marked out for Stanley Thompson. They have that sculpted look you would see in brochures at the start of his career,” said Jones. Coral Ridge reopened in late 2020 to widespread praise. Jones says: “One of the members said to me: ‘Magnificent. That says it all’.” The par-three eighth hole has a large tier separating two distinct portions of the green. New bunkering at Coral Ridge, as also seen on the sixth hole, left, is reminiscent of Robert Trent Jones Sr’s early work Photos: Michael O’Bryon