The iconic Teeth of the Dog course at Casa de Campo Resort, photographed by Pat Koenig, features on the cover of the April 2026 issue of Golf Course Architecture. Jerry Pate Design has overseen a restoration of the Pete Dye layout in the Dominican Republic, rebuilding course features to withstand the impact of the harsh costal climate.

In the main feature of this issue, ‘Doing it tough’, we speak with architects about the most difficult sites of their careers. Designers Steve Smyers, Neil Crafter, Jason Straka and Adrian Stiff share their experiences of creating golf courses on challenging sites.

Elsewhere, Adam Lawrence reports on a trip to South Carolina to see Brandon Johnson’s work on the King’s North course at Myrtle Beach National (MBN), one of the earliest Arnold Palmer designs.

Adam also spoke with Jan Bel Jan, one of the few female golf course architects in the industry, for our feature interview. Jan describes how her interest in golf was piqued by the enthusiasm her dad and uncles had for the game, how Tom Fazio gave her a start in golf course design, the courses that were pivotal in her career, and a desire to see more women in golf course architecture. “I want to mentor other women in the industry – I want them to believe they can be golf architects, but understand how much work it is,” she says.

We have contributions from Rogelio Abarca of Greg Norman Golf Course Design, who talks about the firm’s least-disturbance approach to design projects in Mexico; and Hunter’s Carl Eberts, who discusses how Centro Nacional de Golf in Madrid, Spain, revamped its golf course irrigation to meet a sustainability target.

We also report on the Fry/Straka-designed Plover Cove course that is being built in Hong Kong; WinStar World in Oklahoma, which is set to reopen following a $22 million renovation; and Dhoho Golf Club, Brian Curley’s new layout in the East Java region of Indonesia.

Before all that, the issue opens as always with our Tee Box section, a round-up of news from around the globe, which this issue covers the reopening of Yale Golf Course in Connecticut following a restoration by Hanse Golf Design; the new Bone Valley course at Streamsong, designed by David McLay Kidd; and an interview with Vijit Nandrajog about the redesign and extension of Kharghar Valley golf course near Mumbai, India.

We hope you enjoy the read!