Jim Craig brushes away the notion of becoming the next superstar among golf course architects as if it were just dirt and sand from his days growing up in West Texas.
“I don’t believe that will happen. But if somebody has some intentions for the game and finds my number, I’d be willing to look.’’
Whoever that is might have to wait in line. Craig, a design associate for the legendary team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, is embarking on his first solo design at Michael and Chris Keiser’s recently-announced Rodeo Dunes resort along Colorado’s Front Range. Any new course developed by the Keiser family – developers of Bandon Dunes and Sand Valley – brings a lot of attention from the media and golfers. Rodeo Dunes, which also will include at least one Coore & Crenshaw course (the property can support up to six courses), will be no exception. Much of that attention likely, however, likely will fall on Craig, who spent his childhood mowing fairways with his father.
Craig’s design career began in earnest in the early 1990s when he reshaped the bunkers at Shady Oaks CC in Fort Worth – home course to Ben Hogan. He has been with Coore & Crenshaw for more than 25 years and . recently completed work as lead associate of the new Coore & Crenshaw course at ultra-private McArthur Golf Club in Hobe Sound, FL.. Craig currently is finishing “The Chain’’ short course for Coore & Crenshaw at Streamsong Resort in Bowling Green, FL.
“I have a really good time finding golf holes and playing in the sand,’’ said Craig, who was largely responsible for The Sandbox short course at Sand Valley in Nekoosa, WI. “Those things go pretty well together. But as far as shining as bright as Coore and Crenshaw, I don’t think anyone will ever top them.’’
Each of the first two routings at Rodeo Dunes are complete, with construction scheduled to begin this summer. A short course and putting course are expected to follow shortly.
Set on 2,000 acres 50 miles from downtown Denver, Rodeo Dunes is expected to open in the 2025 season.
“It’s a special place,’’ Craig said. “It’s fun to stumble around – there are golf holes in every direction. Linking the holes together probably is the hardest part. There are lots of ways to configure holes. I came up with four ways to go about it, then narrowed it two and then to one.’’
Craig did have a good inspiration, of sorts, to draw from – the Coore & Crenshaw layout at Sand Hills Golf Club in Mullen, NE. Built in 1995, Sand Hills is the first of the great modern “sand’’courses that dot Nebraska, Wisconsin, Oregon and now Colorado.
“There are some similarities between Sand Hills and my course,’’ Craig said. “But the course I’m working on is choppier and the dunes tail off to be more flat.
“I’ve always thought that in our business, there are no new notes, just new compositions. You’re really just mimicking Mother Nature and what the really great architects of our time have done so well. It’s a discovery process. You just don’t want to mess up and let it slip through your fingers.’’
Photo Credits: Brandon Carter
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