Modern golf resorts aren’t the only ones adding short courses as an engaging complement to their championship courses. One of the most historic properties in the game has unveiled plans for a new 9-hole Par 3: Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia.
Golden Horseshoe Golf Club, part of Colonial Williamsburg Resorts, is set to break ground next month on The Shoe, a Rees Jones design that will have nine holes ranging from 40 to 120 yards.
The scenic short course will be nestled within the grounds of Golden Horseshoe’s Gold Course and is meant to provide a fun and accessible experience that appeals to golfers of all skill levels, particularly groups and families looking to get in a quicker round.
While Par 3 courses comprise less than 5% of overall U.S. golf supply, these short courses have accounted for more than one-third of new openings over the past five years, according to the National Golf Foundation.
In many instances, its resorts and high-end private clubs that have been adding Par 3 courses as an amenity beyond their traditional 18-hole regulation-length courses, giving guests and members the opportunity for a round of golf that takes less time. Bandon Dunes Golf Resort on the Oregon coast, for example, opened its second Par 3 course — a 19-holer called Shorty’s — earlier this year, while Cabot Citrus Farms in Florida recently debuted its 11-hole Par 3 layout known as The Wedge.
The Shoe is expected to open in 2025, giving Golden Horsehoe 45 holes of golf in total. The resort’s Gold Course was originally designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. and later updated by his son, Rees Jones, who also created the Green Course in 1991.
Golf in Colonial Williamsburg started as just nine holes, with John D. Rockefeller Jr. originally commissioning a 9-hole course on the land behind the Williamsburg Inn in 1947. In 1963, Jones Sr. — at the time the most prolific golf course architect in the industry — reimagined that 9-hole layout, which was renamed The Spotswood Course (no longer in play) before later adding the 18-hole Gold Course.
Five unique hotels are part of the resort offering in Colonial Williamsburg, which is best known for the world’s largest living history museum, featuring authentic 18th-century experiences and programming.
