First Look: Cabot Citrus Farms Barrens & Oaks Plan
Cabot’s portfolio continues to grow worldwide, including new properties in Scotland, St. Lucia, Canada, and the United States, where the Canadian golf development company has undertaken the revitalization of the once-celebrated World Woods Golf Club. The two courses, once referred to as Pine Barrens and Rolling Oaks from Tom Fazio, are currently undergoing a re-imagined golf experience from Kyle Franz and the trio of Mike Nuzzo, Kyle Franz, & Ran Morrissett, respectively. The plans for both courses are below.
Cabot Barrens
Once celebrated among the world’s top 100 golf courses, Tom Fazio’s Pine Barrens, a homage to Pine Valley, of sorts, is reborn under the vision of Kyle Franz. Franz, who resides in the Pinehurst, North Carolina area, worked under Rod Whitman at Cabot Links as a shaper, while his name has become synonymous with the North Carolina sandhills for his restorations at Pine Needles, Southern Pines, and Mid Pines.
Fans of the old layout will see some similarities to Tom Fazio’s Pine Barrens, largely the same routing with a few differences. Some of Fazio’s best holes, such as the 4th, 10th, 14th, and 15th will feature similar design elements as the previous iteration, whereas the 2nd & 17th, as well as the 3rd and 16th have been flipped for a better routing experience. On the ground, the dramatic 18th is perplexing and intimidating, but not without its options, featuring three fairways. To read more from the ground, click here.
Cabot Oaks
In contrast to Pine Barrens and its ode to Pine Valley, Rolling Oaks was a much more conventional aesthetic. The sandy expanse of Pine Barrens was traded in for a homage of sorts to Augusta National, Tom Fazio’s other big-name consulting gig alongside Pine Valley. The ethos of Rolling Oaks remains, but the trio of Kyle Franz, Mike Nuzzo, and Ran Morrissett have reimagined what that means with Cabot Oaks.
The scale of Barrens is apparent from the first tee, where a wide, expansive golf course awaits. Opposing that is the more quaint, traditional tree-lined course on a hillier piece of ground rollicking through the Floridian countryside at Cabot Oaks. The opening four holes do have some run off from the Barrens property—located directly to the left of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd—but from there, a sparse use of bunkering showcases the restraint of the three gentlemen, who let the land do the talking.
Of particularly interest, the flipped routing of 12-14 is sure to improve the layout, where the 13th is an excellent two-shot hole, and the par 3, 14th over an old sinkhole has the makings of its Instagram-worthy photo opportunity. That is, until the 17th (the old 8th), dropping into the valley with the 18th in the background over a creek. To read more from the ground, click here.
Joining Oaks and Barrens is The 21 from Mike Nuzzo, a combination of a ten-hole, full-sized loop and an eleven hole short course, nicknamed “The Ace.” More details, including the plan from January, can be viewed here.
Which of the two courses (or perhaps three) are you most excited for? The juxtaposition between the two was always a popular selling point of World Woods; it comes as no surprise the plans lean into that, though less of a direct homage and more of a loose interpretation.
For more information on Cabot Citrus Farms, click here.
