By Design – Issue 53, Summer 2021

11 DIGEST Construction has started on a new golf course designed by this year’s ASGCA Donald Ross Award winners Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore, ASGCA, that will be the centerpiece of The Heritage luxury residential development in Alabama. The 1,500-acre project by developer Russell Lands will be built at Wicker Point, a strip of land next to Russell Forest and Lake Martin. Crenshaw and Coore’s design, their first in the state, will sit on 250 acres and will incorporate the land’s natural contours and elevation changes and indigenous hardwoods. Six greens are located on the shore of Lake Martin. “The new Russell Lands golf course will be a showcase of the area’s natural beauty and a first in the region,” said Coore. “Our team has taken the utmost care in designing a golf course from what the land gives us. Players will have an experience that’s unique to Alabama.” Photo: Mike Mulholland | mlive.com Nicklaus Design has transformed the former Grand Haven Golf Club in Michigan into the American Dunes Golf Club, a new public course that has opened for play. ASGCA Fellow Jack Nicklaus and his team worked on the project alongside 2014 ASGCA Donald Ross Award recipient Lt. Col. Dan Rooney, the founder of the Folds of Honor charity, which provides educational scholarships to spouses and children of America’s fallen and disabled service members. Work has included the removal of more than 2,000 trees that previously lined fairways, revealing hidden sand dunes. Clearing work has opened vistas, with seven holes in view at once on the back nine. “Other than sitting on the same site, it’s a complete reimagination,” said Rooney. “And it’s a next-level, amazing design and nothing like the bowling alley, target golf we used to play out here.” Transformed Michigan course opens for play Work begins on new course at Lake Martin Photo: Russell Lands