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Moose Jaw to Augusta, followed by excursions to mountainous Italy, far northeast Florida, and New Brunswick, isn’t the usual April trek for any golf course architect. But these often-remote destinations display the unique and harried focus for Beau Welling’s burgeoning golf course business and presidency of the World Curling Federation. The Olympic motto “Faster, Higher, Stronger” applies to the 55-year-old native South Carolinian.
A late April visit to Amelia Island Resort, tucked amongst the live oaks, marsh, and resort homes of coastal northeast Florida at the Georgia border, allowed Welling to relax for just a bit. His reworking of a Pete Dye original, the Oak Marsh Golf Course, was revealed to a small group this week before its May 16 grand opening.
“March and April are always a busy time for golf course architects because you’re trying to get everything done so you can grow grass,” Welling said. “You add going to Augusta and the curling, it’s a bit frenetic and crazy. You just make it work. I enjoy it all, love it all.”
Beau Welling first tee Oak Marsh at Omni Amelia Island Resort & Spa.Credit: Omni Amelia Island Resort
Welling’s Oak Marsh project is with Omni Resorts, the parent company of Amelia Island Resort, and the company that hired him to build a course at PGA Headquarters in Frisco, Texas. The small greens and narrow fairways remain in place from Dye’s original 1972 design. But there are now vast sandy and coquina shell areas on the periphery of the fairways, mainly because the trees are much larger than 50-plus years ago, and grass was difficult to grow in the shady spots. There are more chipping areas, run-up shot opportunities, and restored Dye bunkering with ribbon teeing grounds that allow for multiple tee positions. The entire course, renovated for $7.4 million, has been rebuilt with bermudagrass, consisting of a single fairway cut in most places.
Most notable is the ability to see more and play the walkable course more readily with improved drainage and grasses. Two back-nine holes serve as an example – the par-3 16th and par-4 17th that jut out into the marsh of the Amelia River and Intracoastal Waterway, similarly to the finish of Dye’s Harbour Town Golf Links 175 miles north. The 16th could be a simple pitch shot or a 180-yard par 3 into a deep green with marsh on the left. The 17th has a thin peninsula tee that extends out into the marsh for its 430-yard back tee, offering a 360-degree view and a clearer view of the fairway after the tee and fairway were raised 3 feet in the renovation. The course tops out at 6,471 yards but will be affected by weather off the coast and overhanging trees that require some shot shaping even from the fairway.
Oak Marsh presented another stop in a crowded course listing schedule, with a quick flip of the calendar promising increased limelight.
In early April, he was in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada, for the World Curling Championship. Instead of presenting medals on the evening of Sunday, April 6, Welling had to leave early for two flights and a drive to reach Augusta, in time for the Monday announcement that his design team, in concert with Tom Fazio, and with the breaking news of Tiger Woods’ work on a new short course, would be completing the Augusta Municipal Course project. The accelerated schedule, to be completed in time for the 2026 Masters, was enhanced by Woods’ involvement and Welling’s long design partnership with the five-time Masters champion. It promises to be fascinating because of the principles: the world’s foremost private club funding a municipal golf project, for a property affectionately called “The Patch,” with ties to Augusta Tech and The First Tee. Affordability and accessibility are the mantra for the facility. Drainage and irrigation of the course will be upgraded substantially, with wall-to-wall bermudagrass and no winter overseeding.
The Patch Logo and MapCredit: Augusta National
“What I’m excited about is that it will be golf with a purpose,” Welling said. “The purpose is multifold. It’s the home course for many of the great caddies at Augusta. Pay homage to them. It’s very much a reaching out to Augusta as a place of aggregation and congregation of people. There will be a large putting green that anybody can use and a large driving range. Add in The First Tee and Augusta Tech and envision making golf more accessible, creating a life in golf.”
Also, Welling’s side job as the second American to lead World Curling will be mainly in focus earlier in 2026. The Winter Olympic Games are scheduled for Feb. 6-22 in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, a destination that Welling visited the Monday after the Masters for the World Junior Curling Championships, a virtual testing of site and officials before the Olympics. That flight came the same day as a site visit to Greenville (S.C.) Country Club’s Chanticleer course, the track he grew up on, is being renovated, and he lives nearby. Finally, it was off to New Brunswick, Canada, for the World Mixed Doubles Curling Championships following the Amelia Island trip.
It seems as if Welling’s work is never done and is about to get even busier.
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A late April visit to Amelia Island Resort, tucked amongst the live oaks, marsh, and resort homes of coastal northeast Florida at the Georgia border, allowed Welling to relax for just a bit. His reworking of a Pete Dye original, the Oak Marsh Golf Course, was revealed to a small group this week before its May 16 grand opening.
“March and April are always a busy time for golf course architects because you’re trying to get everything done so you can grow grass,” Welling said. “You add going to Augusta and the curling, it’s a bit frenetic and crazy. You just make it work. I enjoy it all, love it all.”
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Beau Welling first tee Oak Marsh at Omni Amelia Island Resort & Spa.Credit: Omni Amelia Island Resort
Welling’s Oak Marsh project is with Omni Resorts, the parent company of Amelia Island Resort, and the company that hired him to build a course at PGA Headquarters in Frisco, Texas. The small greens and narrow fairways remain in place from Dye’s original 1972 design. But there are now vast sandy and coquina shell areas on the periphery of the fairways, mainly because the trees are much larger than 50-plus years ago, and grass was difficult to grow in the shady spots. There are more chipping areas, run-up shot opportunities, and restored Dye bunkering with ribbon teeing grounds that allow for multiple tee positions. The entire course, renovated for $7.4 million, has been rebuilt with bermudagrass, consisting of a single fairway cut in most places.
Most notable is the ability to see more and play the walkable course more readily with improved drainage and grasses. Two back-nine holes serve as an example – the par-3 16th and par-4 17th that jut out into the marsh of the Amelia River and Intracoastal Waterway, similarly to the finish of Dye’s Harbour Town Golf Links 175 miles north. The 16th could be a simple pitch shot or a 180-yard par 3 into a deep green with marsh on the left. The 17th has a thin peninsula tee that extends out into the marsh for its 430-yard back tee, offering a 360-degree view and a clearer view of the fairway after the tee and fairway were raised 3 feet in the renovation. The course tops out at 6,471 yards but will be affected by weather off the coast and overhanging trees that require some shot shaping even from the fairway.
Oak Marsh presented another stop in a crowded course listing schedule, with a quick flip of the calendar promising increased limelight.
In early April, he was in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada, for the World Curling Championship. Instead of presenting medals on the evening of Sunday, April 6, Welling had to leave early for two flights and a drive to reach Augusta, in time for the Monday announcement that his design team, in concert with Tom Fazio, and with the breaking news of Tiger Woods’ work on a new short course, would be completing the Augusta Municipal Course project. The accelerated schedule, to be completed in time for the 2026 Masters, was enhanced by Woods’ involvement and Welling’s long design partnership with the five-time Masters champion. It promises to be fascinating because of the principles: the world’s foremost private club funding a municipal golf project, for a property affectionately called “The Patch,” with ties to Augusta Tech and The First Tee. Affordability and accessibility are the mantra for the facility. Drainage and irrigation of the course will be upgraded substantially, with wall-to-wall bermudagrass and no winter overseeding.
You must be registered for see images attach
The Patch Logo and MapCredit: Augusta National
“What I’m excited about is that it will be golf with a purpose,” Welling said. “The purpose is multifold. It’s the home course for many of the great caddies at Augusta. Pay homage to them. It’s very much a reaching out to Augusta as a place of aggregation and congregation of people. There will be a large putting green that anybody can use and a large driving range. Add in The First Tee and Augusta Tech and envision making golf more accessible, creating a life in golf.”
Also, Welling’s side job as the second American to lead World Curling will be mainly in focus earlier in 2026. The Winter Olympic Games are scheduled for Feb. 6-22 in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, a destination that Welling visited the Monday after the Masters for the World Junior Curling Championships, a virtual testing of site and officials before the Olympics. That flight came the same day as a site visit to Greenville (S.C.) Country Club’s Chanticleer course, the track he grew up on, is being renovated, and he lives nearby. Finally, it was off to New Brunswick, Canada, for the World Mixed Doubles Curling Championships following the Amelia Island trip.
It seems as if Welling’s work is never done and is about to get even busier.
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Related: Bryson DeChambeau Isn't Answering the Bell
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