For the first time since the pre-recession boom, golf courses are being built at a serious clip in the United States. The National Golf Foundation is tracking over 140 new courses in the pipeline — 69 under construction and another 47 in planning — the highest level of new development in more than a decade.
The headlines are predictably dominated by the glamour projects: Tom Doak's Wild Spring Dunes on 2,400 acres in East Texas, Coore & Crenshaw's sandy Rodeo Dunes outside Denver, and Streamsong's upcoming fifth course in Central Florida by David McLay Kidd. These are stunning projects, and they'll deserve every word of praise they get when they open.
But the more interesting story in 2026 isn't happening at private destination clubs. It's happening at municipal courses, short courses, and public facilities — the places where the vast majority of golfers actually play.
The Augusta Municipal Story
The single most symbolically significant project in golf right now is the renovation of Augusta Municipal Golf Course, known locally as "The Patch."
Augusta National — the most exclusive club in golf — is bankrolling a complete overhaul of the city's public course. Tom Fazio and Beau Welling are handling the 18-hole renovation, which is expected to reopen ahead of the 2026 Masters. But the real headline is Tiger Woods' involvement: TGR Design is building a nine-hole par-3 short course called The Loop, designed so kids can finish a round in under an hour.
The project also includes plans for a TGR Learning Lab offering STEM programming to local students, expected to open in 2028.
Think about what this represents. Augusta National is arguably the most guarded, invitation-only institution in all of sports. And they're investing in a public muni — not a vanity project, not a branded resort, but an affordable course for Augusta locals and their kids. That's a real statement about where the game needs to go.
Muni Renovations on a Budget
Augusta has deep pockets, obviously. But the more encouraging trend is what's happening at municipal courses without a billionaire patron.
In Garden City, Kansas, superintendent Clay Payne partnered with architects Todd Clark and Zach Varty to rebuild all 18 greens at Buffalo Dunes Golf Course for approximately $600,000. That's not a typo. In an era when private club renovations routinely run into the tens of millions, a scrappy Kansas muni found a way to dramatically improve its putting surfaces for less than the cost of a single hole at most high-end projects.
In Kansas City, Swope Memorial — an A.W. Tillinghast design and one of the most historically significant municipal courses in America — is receiving a renovation led by Todd Clark and Ron Whitten that's informed by the course's original architectural intent. Tillinghast designed some of the greatest courses in the world (Winged Foot, Baltusrol, Bethpage Black), and the fact that one of his municipal layouts is getting serious restoration attention is overdue.
In south Florida, Bruce Hepner's renovation of Miami Lakes Golf Club has been a financial success story — November 2025 was the course's best month on record. Good architecture, it turns out, is good business even at the muni level.
The Short Course Explosion
One of the defining features of this construction cycle is the rise of short courses. Not par-3 courses in the old sense — weedy afterthoughts with flat greens next to the driving range — but thoughtfully designed, architecturally ambitious layouts that happen to be shorter.
Sand Valley in Wisconsin is adding a 12-hole short course. Tiger's Loop at Augusta will be nine holes. In Mocksville, North Carolina, a six-hole par-3 called Old Field is doing soft-launch events before a full opening this spring.
Short courses address the two biggest barriers to growing the game: time and intimidation. A 12-hole loop takes 90 minutes. A six-hole par-3 takes 45. You don't need a full bag. You don't need to be good. You just need to show up.
For years, the golf industry talked about "growing the game" while building 7,400-yard championship courses surrounded by $2 million homes. Short courses are the first honest attempt at making golf accessible to people who don't have four hours and a full set of Titleists.
What's Still Missing
Let's be honest about the limits of this boom. The NGF data shows that nearly three-quarters of new courses built in the past five years have been connected to resorts, high-end communities, or private destination clubs. About a third of all new projects are concentrated in Florida and Texas.
The municipal side of the equation is improving, but it's still dramatically underfunded relative to where the actual demand is. Rising land costs, regulatory hurdles, and the general "premiumization" of the American economy make it genuinely difficult to build new affordable public courses from scratch.
The bright spot, as The Fried Egg's Andy Johnson has pointed out, is that there's a surplus of young, talented architects who are affordable and willing to take on municipal work. The design talent exists. What's often missing is the funding and political will to let them do it.
Why This Matters for Your Game
If you're an average golfer who plays public courses, here's why you should care about all of this:
Better conditions are coming. The success stories at Miami Lakes and Buffalo Dunes show that even modest renovations — better greens, improved drainage, smarter routing — can transform the playing experience without pricing you out.
Short courses are your friend. If you've been struggling to find time for golf, look for a short course near you. The quality of these facilities is leapfrogging what was available even five years ago. And they're great for working on your short game in a real on-course setting, not just at the practice green.
Public golf has advocates. From Augusta National's investment in The Patch to organizations like the National Links Trust working to improve municipal course management, there are people with resources and influence who are fighting for affordable golf. Support the public courses in your area — play them, tell your friends about them, show up at city council meetings when their budgets are on the line.
The Bottom Line
The golf construction boom of 2026 has something for everyone. If you've got the means and the invitation, Wild Spring Dunes and Rodeo Dunes will be spectacular. But the projects that will have the most lasting impact on the game are the ones happening at your local muni — new greens on a shoestring budget, a short course where a 10-year-old can play her first round, a Tillinghast design finally getting the restoration it deserves.
Golf is building again. And for the first time in a long time, it's not just building for the wealthy.
