Designed by the same man who created Gamble Sands, David McLay Kidd, Quicksands is a fun, 14-hole par three layout set upon roughly 12-acres of land adjacent the full championship course. Holes vary from 60 to 160 yards, and feature wild contours, generous turf areas, rolling sand dunes and buried speakers that play music for golfers the whole way around the course.

According to Kidd, “a lot of ‘one-shotters’ in the world don’t allow for a ground game … you have to carry it to the target. With Quicksands, we are encouraging the ground game with giant slopes and movement to allow golfers to be creative and use the ground. If four golfers play a hole four different ways, that will be fun and differentiate the experience.”

Quicksands will open for preview play in late 2020, and offer flexibility in terms of pin positions and the actual number of holes played. On some days there will only be 12 flags out, making the experience different for each loop.

David Kidd has designed the Quicksands course to accommodate bouncing approach shots and even long putts rather than stock-standard pitching wedges. Said Kidd, “Being a Scotsman, a short course in my vision is one where the last thing I want you to do is pull out a wedge and hit it stiff to the pin. I’m going to do everything in my power to make that a high-risk option. I want you to instead think of all the other options —- to use a side slope, or a backboard, or a kicker, or even putt one from way off. Just like Scotland, I want you to think about all the different ways you could get from 100 to 150 yards in without pulling your stock wedge.”

The course will have no formal tee markers and teeing areas will often feature sloping, uneven ground to make shots more interesting. There will be a bar area in the middle of the course, and drink holders will direct golfers from one hole to the next.

We look forward to a return visit to Gamble Sands in the future, to check out the Quicksands project.