The unicorn, a creature once confined to fantasy and childhood fairytales, has migrated into the real world of adults. It’s long been a familiar term in tech, shorthand for a privately held startup valued at more than a billion dollars.
More recently, the “unicorn” has found a place in golf architecture, too.
David McLay Kidd used the term earlier this week when referencing his latest project, which was announced Wednesday: River Ranch Golf Resort, a destination-in-the-making in southwest Washington. “When I first set foot on the site for River Ranch, I knew I’d found another unicorn,” he said in a statement that accompanied the news.
Of course, no architect has ever bad-mouthed a site they’ve been hired to design. But this one does seem legitimately intriguing.
Set on bluffs of the Snake River near Pasco, the property has features that are catnip for architecture buffs: ample movement, sweeping vistas and sandy soil ideal for fescue. Ancient floods carved the terrain and winds swirl across the river corridor — elements McLay Kidd said he plans to fold into his routing, which is slated to debut in August 2027.
The project comes amid a boom in golf course development, particularly high-end resorts and private clubs. It also deepens the Scottish-born architect’s ties to the Pacific Northwest, which first formed more than a quarter-century ago with Bandon Dunes on the Oregon coast. That property was a unicorn in its own right. Many in the business thought developer Mike Keiser’s plans for a remote resort were so far-fetched they didn’t stand a chance. McLay Kidd subsequently put down roots in the Pacific Northwest, settling in Bend, Ore., where he added Tetherow to his resume. Now, he has returned to rare-site territory four hours north.
Behind River Ranch stands a homegrown ownership group. Their collective vision includes overnight accommodations in guest cottages, a clubhouse with river views, and a residential component. KemperSports, which has been with Bandon Dunes from the start, will handle operations.
Like many architects these days, McLay Kidd has been busy. Among his other duties: attending to a new course at Streamsong, a yet-to-be-named layout that will sit beside the Black Course and is set to open late this year.
“The older I get, the choosier I become,” McLay Kidd said this week. “With probably more courses behind me than ahead, I look even harder for those unique sites and opportunities.”
Unicorns, that is.
3 Things I’m thinking
50 Shades of Streamsong: Actually, not 50. But with a fourth 18-hole course in the works at Streamsong, I can’t help wondering which color will be chosen as a name. It’s gotta be a color, right? That would make the most sense, given that the resort’s other three biggies are Red, Blue and Black. Then again, when I expressed as much to an executive at Kemper (which owns Streamsong), he smiled and said cryptically: “Who knows? Maybe we’ll go with something entirely different.”
Maybe. But I doubt it. Like swinging a golf club, naming a course lends itself to overthinking. But in the end, it usually comes back to basics. Consider, for instance, what Pinehurst honcho Tom Pashley told me when I asked him how the resort names its courses: “I always joke that we hire expensive consultants and then decide to name the next course sequentially.”
For its most recent course, Pinehurst went with “No. 11.” With that in mind, it seems only sensible to predict that at a ribbon cutting later this year, we’ll be introduced to Streamsong Green.
The view from the 1st tee of Streamsong Blue.
Jack Hirsh/GOLF
What’s in this name? With the PGA Tour in the California desert this week, I’ve been scrolling around for golf news in the Palm Springs area. This item caught my eye: Trilogy Golf Club at La Quinta, a former Skins Game host that was renovated a year ago has a newly unveiled restaurant, Kitchen Ten Eleven. Do they think they’re Pinehurst, naming an amenity after a number? Actually, not. The name has local roots. It nods to the 1,011 homes within the Trilogy community, whose owners voted overwhelmingly in favor of the property redo.
A PGA Show No Show. Again. The PGA Merchandise Show is in its 73rd year. I am in my 58th year, more than half of them spent in the golf industry. Odd, then, that the big shindig and I have never overlapped. I’m not sure whether this should be a source of pride or embarrassment, but I am a PGA Show virgin. I have never been there, done that. And this week, as another iteration of the gathering unfolds in Orlando, I’m continuing my no-show streak. Some colleagues tell me that I’m lucky; others insist I’m missing out. Whatever the case, I have spies at the convention center this week who will be scouring the travel pavilion for me. I’ll be sharing any news that springs from their reports.
