Part of the land that will hold the future five Old Shores golf courses in the Florida Panhandle
Michael Keiser has big plans for the family’s first destination property in golf-rich Florida, revealing details of five very different courses at the Panhandle property that will no doubt have many traveling golfers giddy with anticipation.
With news of construction starting on the first course at Old Shores — a Tom Doak design that could see limited preview play at the end of this year and open fully in fall of 2027 — Keiser shared that four more courses will follow in the coming years. It only makes sense. After all, it was Keiser’s dad, Bandon Dunes founder Mike Keiser, who coined the wise words in golf circles that “one course is a curiosity and two makes a destination.”
The younger Keiser is now the one overseeing the portfolio of highly anticipated resort projects such as Sand Valley (WI), Rodeo Dunes (CO), Wild Spring Dunes (TX), and Old Shores. After navigating the permitting process — including environmental approvals on the 4,000-acre sand-based parcel that used to be on the Gulf and is now 30 miles inland from Panama City — shovels are finally in the ground at Old Shores. Angela Moser is the on-site point person for Doak, as she was recently during construction of Pinehurst No. 10, and is working on the first five greens on the first course.
Renderings of parts of the future Old Shores resort in the Florida Panhandle
Given the look of the land, Keiser said he asked Moser to visit Australia just over a year ago and tour some of the great courses in the Melbourne Sandbelt for inspiration on green sites and bunker styles. Doak has called the site one of the most dynamic he’s ever seen, with broad rolling hills, rivers, lakes and streams, bright white sand, longleaf pines and moss-draped live oaks, and most notably deep sinkholes that create considerable drama for the routing.
And while the first course is in the works, the second has been designed by architect Brian Schneider (a co-designer of Old Barnwell). It has a routing inspired by Augusta National from the 1930s and the topography for it, with significant elevation change that provides the opportunity for huge heaving fairways. “It’ll be very different from the first course,” says Keiser, “And as dramatic as anything we’ve ever built.”
Part of the land that will hold the future five Old Shores golf courses in the Florida Panhandle
As found at many top golf resorts today, there will also be a par-3 course along the lines of the Sandbox at Sand Valley. The number of holes hasn’t yet been determined, but it will be centrally located near the planned lodge and homesites, which include a mix of cottages and estate homesites. The first of those are on sale now, with pricing starting at $1.3 million for estate plots. Owners will be able to design a custom retreat that has up to eight bedrooms not far from the final holes of Doak’s course. In addition to real estate sales — many of the homes will be in a rental pool for resort guests — Old Shores is actively seeking founding members who get preferred access to tee times and events and help fund the project’s continued growth.
The rest of that long-range vision includes a 12-hole “precision” course that’s like the newest addition at Sand Valley, The Commons, along with a standalone 9-hole course. The latter is exceptionally rare at resort properties. While some have 9-hole layouts that are combined to play 18-hole or 27-hole rounds — think Bay Harbor (MI) or Waikoloa (HI) — a dedicated 9-hole offering of championship quality is a bit of an out-of-the-box approach for a golf destination. But leave it to the Keisers, who really ushered in the era of remote destination golf with Bandon Dunes on the Oregon coast and helped start the resort short course movement with the par-3 Bandon Preserve, to try something different.
Renderings of parts of the future Old Shores resort in the Florida Panhandle
“We’re trying to innovate a little bit,” said Keiser. “In this country, there are a lot of nine-hole courses, but very seldom does somebody get a phenomenal piece of land and say, ‘I want to build a nine-hole course on it.’”
Having five new courses finished at Old Shores is still a long way out, but it’s an exciting prospect within the world of destination golf.
The Keisers have undoubtedly found a model that resonates, as evidenced by heavy demand at Bandon Dunes and Sand Valley, and the aggressive growth with projects like Rodeo Dunes, Wild Spring Dunes and now Old Shores.
With its East Coast location and proximity to popular resort communities on the Florida Panhandle, not to mention the variety of course offerings and remarkable land, Old Shores is strongly positioning itself to be the next big thing when it comes to golf getaways.
Part of the land that will hold the future five Old Shores golf courses in the Florida Panhandle