9 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 riskreward 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 parthree 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 Photo: Matt Majka
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