In Florida, big-name courses abound, and another is now in the works.
Dream Golf, the developer of Bandon Dunes and Sand Valley, among other headline destinations, has announced that it has received approval to move forward with Old Shores, a new golf development on the Florida Panhandle, anchored by an 18-hole public course. Like other Dream Golf properties, Old Shores will put an A-list architect to work on a primo site. Tom Doak has been hired to design the course, on sandy acreage, tasked with creating what Dream Golf’s Michael Keiser said will be a “golf experience similar to our favorite places in Scotland.”
“It’s a prehistoric site that feels otherworldly because of its uniqueness,” Keiser said. “Old Shores is designed to feel geographically ambiguous — you can’t really tell where you are. That helps to create an exciting experience.”
The news comes in the midst of a busy time for Keiser and his brother, Chris, who run day-to-day operations at Dream Golf, a company that owes its origins to their father, Bandon Dunes developer, Mike Keiser. Under the Keiser brothers’ direction, Dream Golf has continued adding courses and amenities to Bandon Dunes on the Oregon coast, and Sand Valley in central Wisconsin, while embarking on two other resort developments: Rodeo Dunes in Colorado, and Wild Spring Dunes in Texas, both of which are now under construction.
With a development order recently green-lit by Washington County, Fla., Dream Golf can continue to build on its bulging portfolio. The property is situated roughly 30 miles north of the Panama City airport, readily accessible from the 30A corridor, which runs along Florida’s golf-rich Gulf Coast.
A timetable for construction has yet to be announced. For more information, visit oldshores.com
