By Richard Humphreys |
Construction has started on a Tom Doak-designed course at Old Shores, a new golf resort community developed by Michael Keiser in northwest Florida.
The course will be part of a community that will eventually include a hotel, restaurants and cottage and estate homesites.
“This site is unlike anything I’ve seen,” said Keiser. “The contours are incredible, and there is a deep beauty in the forests and the flowing water. The Old Shores vision includes outdoor recreation, food, art and land restoration, inspired by the towns I’ve fallen in love with in Scotland.”
Doak’s 18-hole routing, which has several holes playing along Long Lake (Image: Old Shores)
Doak’s routing highlights the site’s diverse terrain, which includes longleaf pines, open savannas, clear spring-fed rivers, rolling hills and wide, inverted dunes. “The site for Old Shores is not at all what people expect when they think of golf in Florida,” he said. “There is about 40 feet of elevation change from high to low on our site, and even more on the site for the second course, with big sweeping hills providing a variety of stances. Then there are the sinkholes, which are unlike anything I’ve seen on a golf course; in some cases there are abrupt banks 30-50-feet deep, and the largest of them, Long Lake, is something like 50 acres in size.”
Shaping is under way, with Doak’s associate Angela Moser leading the work.
The new course will be part of a golf resort community, developed by Michael Keiser, which includes a hotel, restaurants and homesites (Image: Old Shores)
Preview play on select holes is expected to be available in late 2026, with a grand opening anticipated for autumn 2027. A second 18-hole layout is in design, and a short course is also planned.