It took a trip to Scotland to create a non-traditional golf course in Florida.

 

Granted, this wasn't just any buddy-trip; the globetrotting golfers included a trio from Love Golf Design: John MacKenzie, vice president and director of business development; Mark Love, Davis Love, III's brother and president of the company; and Senior Designer Paul Cowley. The three men were playing North Berwick, one of Scotland's oldest courses, and notices that the club had two 18-hole courses in town and a children's course by the hotel.

 

"We liked the idea that here (in the United States), you see kids playing basketball and football, and over there the kids come out and play golf, separate from the 18-hole golf course," MacKenzie says. "That course was originally built as a ladies course, back whenever, and now it's for the kids."

 

That memory incubated among the members of Love Design, eventually giving birth to Cabin Bluff in 1996, a hunting reserve and corporate meeting facility in Camden County, Georgia. Five years later, when Love Design was commissioned to design a course for Florida-based developer St. Joe, the idea resurfaced.

 

At the time, St. Joe was immersed in construction of WaterSound, a collection of neighborhoods woven through a former pine plantation on Florida's Emerald Coast near Panama City Beach. The developer had already built an 800-home community called WaterColor and a now-private, 18-hole course known as Camp Creek Golf Club. Still, they were looking for an additional amenity - in this case, a DLIII course - to attract more homebuyers for a development that continues to grow.

 

"When we were first hired by St. Joe, it was going to be an 18-hole course," says MacKenzie, recalling the early plans for what eventually becam The Origins Course. "During the permitting process, it became harder and harder to find room for 18 holes because of wetland issues."

 

Confined to approximately 40 acres, Love Design utilized 25 acres for The Origins' playable surfaces. The result is an 1,800 yard, six-hole layout that can also play as a nin-hole executive course and a 10-hole par-3 facility through the use of alternate tee boxes and auxiliary greens.

 

"We wanted to create variety with what you could do with that acreage," says MacKenzie, noting that the layout features larger-than-normal greens as well as a new concept: the hole within a hole. "On each hole, off to the side, we created these little greens that aren't built up like a normal green complex. That gives the owner the option of how he wants to set up the course. One day, it's a ppar 3; other days, it's six regulation holes."

 

Whether by design or happen-stance, The Origins Course's compact routing and fewer holes also addresses a constraint currently forcing operators around the country to adapt the ways they do business - the battle for leisure time. "The idea (for the design) was to play a quick round after work," says Will Hopkins, general manager at Camp Creek. "It's conducive to going out for just walking a few holes."

 

Design considerations aside, The Origins Course is currently filling a niche within WaterSound. The facility, which came on line in early 2007, is open to the public and has received incremental play from neighboring resorts since Camp Creek transitioned to a fully private facility. This year, the course hosted 4,500 rounds, and officials expect to record 7,000 rounds in 2008. Not surprisingly, families (particularly resort guests) comprise the lion's share of those rounds, with children age 15 and younger accompanied by a paying adult ($25 green fee, $10 extra to ride) able to play for free.

 

According to Hopkins, St. Joe's officials have been pleased with the return on investment they've realized at The Origins Course. Then again, the facility was never intended to be a cash cow but, rather, a real estate amenity.

 

"Since the real estate has slowed down right now, we've opened it to the public," Hopkins notes. "Now, they (golfers) come out to the golf course and have to drive throught the community to get there. They see we're putting a lot of attention to detail in the community and get a feel for what we're trying to do there, so they're potential customers."

 

Because of its size, however, The Origins Course faces inherent obstacles to growth. For starters, the facility isn't large enough to accommodate scores of golfers, so it will never generate huge rounds numbers. What's more, club officials must constantly battle misconceptions.

 

"People think it's going to be a pitch-and-putt and it's really not - overcoming that perception has been a challenge," Hopkins admits. "It's real golf with real fairways and greens and ver well-manicured conditions. Kids can play on a real golf course at an affordable price - on a Davis Love golf course, for goodness' sakes."

 

The more universal challenge, of course, is determining whether or not projects like The Origins Course would work in other settings and, ultimately, grow in popularity. One school of thought suggests they will, considering that permitting and environmental restrictions promise to remain deterrants to development for the foreseeable future. These factors - coupled with time constraints, non-golf commitments that compete for golfers' leisure time and an industry-wide cry for alternatives to the 18-hole-round - seem to bode well for this type of venture.

 

MacKenzie, for one, hopes concepts like The Origins Course will gain traction and help shepherd in the next generation of golfers. "Conceptually, it's (courses like The Origins) designed to encourage junior golfers, beginners and families to participate in the game of golf and remain engaged throughout their recreational lives."

 

 

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