81 to build Landmand in Nebraska, the firm’s first 18-hole course. And, although there was some sandcapping where the soils were clay – the team discovered a large seam of straight sand by the course’s seventh hole – it is hardly the same sort of scale of operation as the sand spreading that built Sweetens Cove. But Purebred Farm is still a KCD course, and golfers can expect a fair bit of the firm’s trademark wildness. Perhaps the most obvious element is on the par-five seventh, which Collins spotlights as a high point of the course. “The seventh is going to be one of the favourites out there,” he says. “It’s a cool par five through a meadow that climbs up to a giant cross hazard inspired somewhat by the bunker on the fifteenth hole at Royal West Norfolk in Brancaster, England. We’re going to put some railroad ties in the face and make it really gnarly.” Then there’s the eighth hole. If internal mounds in greens are referred to as ‘buried elephants’, this green must have a whole herd under its surface: I don’t think anyone who plays it will ever forget it. In the woods near the fourth hole is the Tomczyk Cabin, a hundred-year-old log cabin that for some years has been marketed as off-grid accommodation by Destination Kohler: extremely off-grid, as the cabin has no electricity, running water or indoor plumbing. It will be repurposed as a rest station for the new course, one of the world’s more unusual halfway houses. Like every KCD course, Purebred Farm has been built by the firm’s in-house construction team, led by partner Tad King. Trev Dormer has also been a big part of the design process, and has shaped four greens. The speed of the build is perhaps evidence that this has been a relatively simple project by comparison with some earlier KCD jobs, but nonetheless, its shapers and machine operators have had plenty of chances to show off their skills. And, appropriately, the lead shaper, Abe Wilson, worked with Pete Dye for many years, so there is still some Dye DNA at Purebred Farm. “Abe has been the rock star on this one – he does amazing work,” says Collins. “We first worked with him at Bounty Club outside Nashville, and he’s now an important part of our team. Scottish designer Benjamin Warren did a couple of greens, the eleventh and twelfth, which are really good. It is a huge honour to be the first golf designers other than Pete Dye to build a full-sized course at Kohler, and we are very proud of the work that we have done here.” Image: King Collins Dormer
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