The Next Jaw-Dropping Course From Coore & Crenshaw Is Coming to Saint Lucia

When Point Hardy Golf Club opens on the north shore of Saint Lucia in 2023, it will raise the bar for dramatic golf not just in the Caribbean but around the world.

In mid-November 2021, I stood on a small plot of terrain that jutted out into the Caribbean Sea—a spit of land that will eventually serve as the teeing ground for the 15th hole at Point Hardy Golf Club in Saint Lucia. It was late morning on the northern shore of the island and the midday sun shone brightly as waves crashed into the rocky base of this exposed tee box. A steady breeze blew in off the ocean, which tempered the hotness of the day; however, occasional stronger gusts triggered thoughts of tee shots ballooning in the wind and mid-iron approaches drifting offline. It was clear then that on this future Coore & Crenshaw-designed golf course, ocean breezes will serve as a primary defense against low scores.

The already dramatic nature of the setting intensified once I glanced out across the cove and up to an elevated plateau of land running along the cliff’s edge. That corridor of terrain, then just barren earth shaped by dozers and other equipment, represented the future fairway of this short par 4.

At the time, the course was still more than a year away from consummation, which meant the 15th hole was also far from complete. Yet, it wasn’t difficult to imagine the fairway grassed with paspalum or a flag fluttering out on the ridge’s peak some 300 yards in the distance. What I couldn’t envision was the ideal shot to be hit from the tee. Standing there, looking out and up to a largely hidden landing area, only a small portion of the right side of the fairway was visible.

Fortunately, Ben Crenshaw also stood next to me and gazed out at the hole. The night before, the two-time Masters champ had told me that this tee shot was one of the few that he was most excited to hit once the course was ready for play. If anyone knew where to aim the tee shot on this hole, it was him.

“I’m looking right there,” Crenshaw said, pointing to a section of mesh fencing positioned on the right side of the fairway not far from the cliff’s edge and near the base of a contour that gradually climbed up toward a flatter shelf of land where the green complex was also taking shape. At the time, Coore and Crenshaw—aided by their lead shapers Trevor Dormer and Keith Rhebb—were still sculpting the finer details of the putting surface, not to mention the two bunkers that flanked either side of the green.

“And you’re hitting it on that line?” I asked. As I raised the question I could hear the tone of my voice—a blend of surprise and skepticism—which I knew seemed ludicrous given that I was talking to someone who had 19 career victories on the PGA Tour. He should know the correct shot to hit, I thought.

Nevertheless, my question seemed valid, if only because the drive that must be hit from that tee box is so visually intimidating. With few landmarks to provide scale or depth, it appeared that a shot hit on the target line that Crenshaw proposed would need to fly at least 260 yards. Maybe more.

“I’m saying that’s 230 yards,” Crenshaw suggested.

On cue, Dormer took out a rangefinder. “It’s 236,” he said, “to be exact.”

Similarly, the front edge of the fairway just over the cliff face about 50 yards to the left looked to be at least 160 yards away. However, reaching the short grass on that line, I learned, only requires a shot hit 125 yards in the air. Such a design feature—the deceptive nature of hazards positioned to look much farther than they are—is one that Coore and Crenshaw often implement, so long as it makes sense for the hole and fits with the natural topography and shape of the land. “There’s nothing more thrilling for the average golfer than to hit your ball and see it fly over something,” Coore says. “That’s a thrill that’s not forgotten.”

Without saying as much, Crenshaw echoed those sentiments as he stood on the 15th tee box and evaluated the different shots that a player could choose to hit from that vantage point. “You could have a lot of fun standing right here and hitting balls,” he declared.

Making It Happen

It’s not an exaggeration to say that the site of Point Hardy Golf Club represents some of the most spectacular land upon which Coore and Crenshaw have ever worked. In fact, both men readily acknowledge that. “We’ve been given some amazing sites [over the years],” says Coore, “but this one visually is probably the most spectacular. The holes that are along the ocean are just so stunningly beautiful. They so quickly come into focus, you naturally get excited about them.”

“To provide a test of golf in some of the most spectacular surroundings that you’d ever want to find is a tall order,” adds Crenshaw. “But it’s an honor to do.”

As shocking as it may sound—especially in light of such glowing commentary from both designers—Coore & Crenshaw likely would’ve passed on the opportunity at Cabot Saint Lucia had it not been for three key individuals who were involved in the project.

It starts with Ben Cowan-Dewar, the CEO of Cabot, whom Coore & Crenshaw had worked closely with to build Cabot Cliffs back in 2016. Coore also points to Mike Keiser, Cabot’s co-founder and an investor in the Saint Lucia property, as someone whose influence persuaded him to seriously consider the opportunity. But according to Coore, the most influential person was Jim Barger of Oncore Principals, who serves as the general contractor and construction manager for the Point Hardy Golf Club. Without Barger’s involvement, Coore and Crenshaw likely would have turned down the job.

As Coore recalls, when he and Crenshaw first visited the site and saw the extreme elevation changes, they knew that a lot of earth would need to be moved to make several of the holes playable. “It’s a hugely complicated job, and we knew it was beyond our experience and our abilities,” Coore says, referencing all of the technical work involved in constructing golf holes on such an extreme site.

“There’s a million things ancillary to doing this job,” Crenshaw adds. “It’s not just going out and shaping [earth] where we see it. It’s the infrastructure and how things work and drainage. It’s a lot.”

Fortunately, Jim Barger brought decades of Caribbean work experience, which meant he not only had the confidence to handle a project defined by extreme changes in elevation, but he also had connections to easily get the right supplies and to hire an equally experienced and talented team that would handle the heavy lifting on—and in—the ground. “More than anything,” says Coore, “he would manage the big aspects of the construction and that gave us the freedom to work in our space of making the land playable for golf.”

An Incredible Journey

When Coore and Crenshaw set out to design Point Hardy Golf Club, they knew that they had at least seven, possibly eight sites for compelling oceanfront holes. The challenge was uncovering the remaining 10 or so that needed to be built farther inland and then discovering the best way to link them all together. To do that, Coore started near the future site of the clubhouse and looked up, carving a par 5 into the unrelenting hillside. That opening hole presents a challenging start to the round, and while it lacks striking views and likely won’t produce many dramatic shots, it’s integral for bringing golfers up to the top of the ridge. From there they’ll play along a plateau that offers sweeping vistas of both the Caribbean Sea and the rest of the Cabot Saint Lucia property before beginning their descent toward the ocean. (When golfers make the turn, they’ll embark on a similar uphill journey, beginning with the 334-yard 10th hole.)

“He’s the absolute best at looking at a piece of land and discovering its possibilities,” Crenshaw says of Coore. “He envisions it across the land, and he can route a course across a property in interesting fashion.”

Such routing expertise is on full display in Saint Lucia, where the 6,575-yard layout at Point Hardy Golf Club boasts two nines that build toward dueling crescendos as golfers make their way to the coast and play along—and occasionally over—the ocean. Even the most well-traveled golf enthusiasts will be awestruck when they reach the 7th, 8th, and 9th holes on the front; and that visceral reaction returns later in the round once players crest the hill on the 14th hole—an almost 600-yard par 5 that plays downhill to cliff’s edge with the Caribbean Sea sparkling in the background. From that point forward, golfers will encounter a handful of sensational golf holes, each one seemingly more dramatic than the last. It’s a thrilling conclusion to the round and one that Mike Keiser experienced firsthand when he first visited the property in March 2020.

Cabot Saint Lucia is scheduled to open sometime in 2023.

Courtesy of Michael Marcellin

During that introductory visit, Keiser did what he always does when touring a site and evaluating its potential for world-class golf. He walked the proposed layout, scoring each hole on a scale of one to 10, judging them on the emotional impact that they’re likely to have on golfers who play the course.

“On every hole, I imagine that you and I are teeing off and what we’re thinking,” he says. “When we get the ‘holy sh--,’ moments, the score I give that hole is at least a seven. And when [the first impression] is really ‘holy sh--!’ the score would be an 8 or 9. I don’t go much higher than that.”

Except that he did in Saint Lucia.

Prior to touring the site of the Point Hardy Golf Club, Keiser had awarded only one hole in the world a 10—the 16th at Cypress Point. But as Keiser approached the final few holes on the back nine in Saint Lucia, his amazement had reached an unprecedented level. The aforementioned 15th hole earned a nine, as did the subsequent short, slightly downhill par-3 16th, which plays over a cove to a beautifully sculpted green complex set out on a small peninsula only 144 yards away. The next hole, another par 3, plays much longer and uphill—over a rocky inlet to a green perched out on the point.

In a vacuum, Point Hardy’s 17th hole would have earned a nine in Keiser’s scoring system. But given its positioning in a jaw-dropping sequence of three holes, the 186-yard par 3 was awarded only the second perfect score that Keiser has ever bestowed.

“In my opinion, par 3s are the most important thing about a golf course,” he says. “It’s what we remember because it’s only one shot, and the par 3s here are as good as anything that you have dreamed of. There are five par 3s [on this course]. One of them is pretty good, and the other ones are out of sight. If one of those par 3s—just one—was on a golf course that was right on the verge of the Top 100, it would push it over the edge. And we have four.”

After those back-to-back par 3s, Coore & Crenshaw’s first foray in the Caribbean culminates with a gettable, crescent-shaped par 5 that hugs the coastline and plays alongside or—for the aggressive player—over a small stretch of sandy coastline. It’s not unlike the 18th hole at Pebble Beach, albeit inverted, only in Saint Lucia the approach (not the drive) is the more daunting of the shots that golfers must hit. And of all the spectacular golf holes that comprise the layout at Point Hardy, it’s this final one that Cowan-Dewar is most interested to watch play out once the course opens.

As for when that will be, the club is taking a conservative approach, only saying sometime in 2023. It seems likely, however, that the opening will occur before the midpoint of the year. When the course does open, it will do so alongside the first phase of private homes, some of which will be available for nightly rental. In this way, Cabot Saint Lucia will operate like a resort just as Cabot Cape Breton has done since it opened in 2011. Next year will also mark the debut of some of Cabot Saint Lucia’s dining venues, not to mention tennis courts, a smattering of shops and boutiques, and on-course comfort stations.

The property’s master plan is teeming with world-class amenities, including a superlative beach club, that have yet to be built. But even when Cabot Saint Lucia is fully developed, the golf course will remain the property’s crown jewel. Such a distinction is a reflection not only of the course’s location but also of Coore & Crenshaw’s ability to maximize the playing experiences that the site can offer. “We know that Mother Nature gave us the canvas,” Cowan-Dewar says, “but to watch Bill and Ben and their team get so much out of it and to get the details so right, it’s pretty exceptional.”