Why Cabot Citrus Farms’ new course is like playing an old version of Augusta National

Something very uncommon happened in the design of Cabot Citrus Farms’ Roost course. A collaboration between three architects from different firms—Mike Nuzzo, Kyle Franz and Rod Whitman (plus architecture guru Ran Morrissett)—worked together to reimagine the second 18-hole course at Cabot Citrus Farms on the site of the old Rolling Oaks at World Woods.

Franz did the original design on the Karoo course, Cabot’s first course, and Nuzzo worked on the property’s alternate courses. Rather than being hyper-competitive about their solo work, they combined forces.

“To collaborate the way we did, it’s extraordinarily rare,” Nuzzo said. “I’ve certainly supported other projects before, and I’ve always had great respect for [Franz] with his work on so many projects. And working with [Whitman], that was one of the highlights of the project.”

One of the highlights for golfers is the variety presented with the Roost. Towering oaks sitting on gentle, rolling land with native wild flowers provided Tom Fazio an Augusta National-like aesthetic when he designed the old Rolling Oaks. The trio of Cabot designers took it a step further, tying the Roost to an older Augusta aesthetic when the bunkers were more of an Australian sand-belt theme when Alister MacKenzie first designed the course.

Nuzzo and his team kept many of the same hole corridors but shifted the position and angles of many of the holes to achieve a routing that’s easier to walk and feels more connected to Karoo. Clearing of trees up to the crest of the high point of the Roost has led to having a nearly 1,000-yard view across the entire property.

“You can see almost all the golf from that high point on the Roost,” Nuzzo said. “And there are now more “peek-a-boos” between the Karoo and the Roost, and the roost and the Karoo. So there’s visibility and a lot more intrigue to when you’re on one part of the property that you can see the other and you want to go explore it.”

The exploratory nature of the Karoo course led Franz to dub his design “adventure golf.” There’s an element of that with expansive sandscapes at the Roost but with more of a traditional aesthetic—akin to what 1932, 1933 Augusta National would’ve looked like. Crews from the property’s other designs came together on the Roost, and the result is a complementary feel to all of it.

Nuzzo called walking the fairways of the Roost with Franz and Morrissett as getting to walk with two walking golf-design encyclopedias. We’re fortunate the designers recalled the “old Augusta” feel to the Roost, as now public golfers have the rare opportunity to play a course inspired by one of the toughest invitations in the sport.

We recorded a video to capture the essence of Cabot Citrus Farms here with drone footage and analysis:

@golfdigestofficialTake a closer look of Cabot Citrus Farms, one of golf’s most exciting properties right now.

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