BOWLING GREEN, Florida – Streamsong Golf Resort fourth course will be called “The Chain.’’ The newly released layout by the legendary design team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw (Coore & Crenshaw Design) shows six- and 12-hole loops, with the first tees a short walking distance from the Lodge at Streamsong. The Chain gets its name from the remnants of a piece of mining equipment used to hold a dragline bucket in place that was discovered on the site during the routing process.
The Mosaic Company, which owns Streamsong in Bowling Green, FL., mined the 16,000-acre site for phosphate ore for decades, leading to the incredible sand formations that make the topography at this location unique. Special edition merchandise featuring The Chain logo will be available online and on site at Streamsong beginning in August.
The Chain routing uses every nuance of a site encompassing roughly 100 acres. The 3,000 yard layout will be a walking course, with holes ranging from 90 to nearly 300 yards. This new concept, with options of six-, 12- and 18-hole loops, does not require a full set of clubs, and will present guests with a quicker option than its larger and longer siblings.
The first six-hole loop is designed to be playable for any level of golfer, meandering through a grove of native live oak trees, with the longest hole at around 145 yards. The 12-hole loop sprawls across decades old mining cuts and along the banks of Little Payne Creek. These holes stretch from around 125 to nearly 300 yards, providing more challenge and opportunities for risk and reward.
Namesake large dragline chain links will mark the beginning and end of each tee box, but specified tee markers and a score relative to par will be conspicuously absent from each hole and scorecard. Players will be able to tee off wherever they would like on each hole.
A two acre putting course, called “The Bucket” (roughly twice the size of the existing Gauntlet putting course at Streamsong Black) is a featured part of the new design. It also pays tribute to the large dragline buckets used to excavate phosphate from the site.
“Ben and I have wonderful memories of working with our talented associates and the Mosaic Company to create Streamsong Red and we appreciate the opportunity to return to one of America’s most sought out golfing destinations,” said Bill Coore. “Although diminutive in size, we believe The Chain, when combined with the anything-but-diminutive Bucket putting course, has the potential to complement, perhaps even enhance, Streamsong’s reputation for must-be-experienced golf.”
Coore and Crenshaw Design created Streamsong’s Red Course. The Blue Course was designed by Tom Doak and the Black Course by Gil Hanse.
“Having the opportunity to spend time with Bill Coore and his team as they walked the site and now seeing that vision come to life in the course routing is really special,” said Ben Pratt, Mosaic senior vice president of government and public affairs. “Finding the old dragline chain on the site gave us a great way to pay homage to the site’s origins while creating unusual golf branding opportunities.”
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