Sandhill cranes are large birds with long necks and toed feet. True to their name, they favor sandy environments, where they spend most of their days in groups and pairs. Their color is gray. Their diet is plant-based. And their call, which has been compared to a rushing noise, is spelled karoo.
In southwest Florida, where sandhill cranes reside in large numbers, karoo is also a colloquial word, often said in Cabot Citrus Farmsa marquee player in destination golf. Along with two short courses, a putting course and a tricked-out practice facility, the luxury resort and residential community has a pair of outstanding 18-hole layouts. Their eldest, who is already approaching his second birthday, is called Karoo.
The course was designed by Kyle Franz, who cut his teeth down under Tom Doak AND Gil Hanse on projects ranging from Pacific Dunes in Oregon on the Olympic course in Rio before striking out on his own. His resume features acclaimed restorations of Mid Pines, Pine Needles and Southern Pines, a trio of Donald Ross gems in the Carolina Sandhills. Franz has a great personality. He is wild, expressive and not afraid to color outside the lines. His work in Cabot Citrus Farms follow suit.
By his own account, Franz decided to do something different in the Karoo. His goal was to be creative, not to imitate his mentors. He came out to make a statement. Above all, he told GOLF.com, “I wanted to build something really fun.”
As entries go, Karoo’s opening hole is less of a handshake than a face salute. A par-4 that goes 475 yards, it plays over a sand minefield into a fairway separated by centerline bunkers. There is plenty of space on both sides, but the corners matter. When the flag is bowled to the left, the ideal attack is from the right – and vice versa. Green, a massive and swirling space, foreshadows the theme to come: scale, movement and multiple choices.
Optionality It’s an embarrassing word, but it’s valid. The par-3 3 can stretch to a monstrous 292 yards, or shrink to a slender 125 from the tee. Either way, a tee shot in front of the green offers a user-friendly alternative to an aerial attack, feeding balls into the target. The par-5 fourth, with its split fairway and a shortcut over the sand, requires decisions off the tee: play it safe and long, or cover a shorter distance with greater risk.
Then comes the par-5 6th, a hole that captures the bountiful spirit of the Karoo. It falls over undulating ground to a large double green shared with the 10th. Two heavy shots may have you eyeing eagle, but the contours around the green are dramatic and challenging. Play the wrong angle and a two-shot will look like a heroic feat.
;)
Sophie McFaul
Later in the round, the par-4 12th offers something of a change of pace. A hard, immediate two-putt putter, it plays downhill from the tip to a wide fairway down, then climbs back onto a set green. It’s a test of old-fashioned execution before the round sinks back into its grandest terrain.
For all his powerful personality, Karoo does not punish with penalties. It’s hard to miss a golf ball. The challenge lies in finding the best path forward, with different routes along the freeways and different paths to the top.
Franz achieved his goal. This course is a bold statement: a maximalist design in a minimalist era. And it complements the rest of the Citrus Farms menu. These days, it’s a given in golf development that multiple courses turn a property from curiosity to destination. But variety is also essential. The Karoo rounds out the list as a counterpoint to the Roost, the resort’s other 18-hole course, which moves more leisurely across a sparkling canvas of streams, lakes and old trees. Add the short courses – Squeeze and Wedge – and you have a symphony of styles.
But the Karoo has a voice of its own, not unlike the bird that gave the course its name.
