Scottish architect David McLay Kidd, designer of dozens of courses around the world that include the original layout at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Oregon and the highly ranked Gamble Sands in Washington, has signed on to build his first course in the southern United States.
Kidd will design the course for the new, private Loraloma community in the Lake Travis area outside Austin, Texas. The layout is scheduled to open to preview play in late 2024 with a full opening in the spring of 2025. Kidd will break ground on the course this month.
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Loraloma will be a 2,200-acre masterplan community in the Hill Country, built with a goal of respecting the land’s natural beauty, as stated in a news release announcing the plans for golf. Areté Collective is the development company in charge, and plans call for premium amenities including fitness, wellness, culinary, equestrian and nature-based experiences along with golf. Turnkey homes will range from two-bedroom to five-bedroom cottages, villas and estates, with a selection of custom homesites.
An artist’s rendering shows how the David McLay Kidd-designed course at Loraloma will look near Austin, Texas. (Courtesy of the Areté Collective)
“The Loraloma landscape is vastly more visually inspiring than most of what exists in the Austin area today,” McLay Kidd said in the news release. “Our goal is to open up this compelling landscape to golfers for a world-class experience, and I will tread very lightly to preserve and protect this land so that it can be enjoyed and embraced for generations to come.”
Several of the holes will play along cliffs above the Pedernales River while others are placed atop peaks offering dramatic elevation changes and views of the Hill Country and Balcones Escarpment. The course is slated to play to a par of 72 at 7,060 yards across 120 acres. The greens will be bent grass, and the fairways will be zoysia.
An artist’s rendering shows how the clubhouse at Loraloma will look near Austin, Texas. (Courtesy of the Areté Collective)
“Areté Collective is thrilled to partner with such an accomplished architect to bring this course to life, and we hope that every member and resident who plays golf at Loraloma feels McLay Kidd’s sense of exploration and adventure while exploring this vibrant landscape,” said Tom Hogan, co-founder and CFO of Areté Collective and a former CFO of Augusta National Golf Club. “The rules of golf require the player to play the ball as it lies, and the beauty of the Loraloma course is the fact that he has designed a sustainable course around the existing lay of the land.”