Most news stories about Tiger Woods these days involve speculation as to his playing future. Will he peg it in the Hero World Challenge next month? What about the Masters? Or the Old Course at St. Andrews, which will host the Open Championship in July?
Those answers are TBD.
Meantime, here’s something we know Woods will be doing: redesigning a golf course on Long Island.
On Monday, Woods announced that he and his design firm, TGR Design, have been tapped to reimagine an 18-hole private course in Brookville, N.Y., in partnership with the Armchair Collective, a private golf club company seeking to build a national network of architecturally distinctive courses in sought-after destinations.
The latest from Woods is also the newest twist in the long, winding life of Tam O’Shanter Club, a North Shore property that opened in 1962, only to be remodeled by Robert Trent Jones Sr. in 1968. In 1999, it was redesigned again, this time by David Postlethwait.
In 2019, the club was sold to a development company that planned to build homes on the course. Those plans were abandoned, though, after arsenic was discovered in the topsoil. The club closed in 2021, and no golf has been played on the property since.
Last year, Brookville amended its zoning code to allow for-profit golf clubs to operate in the village, clearing a hurdle for a return to golf. The Armchair Collective acquired the 148-acre property in September for an undisclosed sum.
Now, its vision for the property is taking shape. Plans call for a clubhouse, member cottages, a golf performance center and a 20,000-square-foot putting green inspired by the Himalayas course at St. Andrews. Clearing has already begun, with course construction set to start next spring.
The club sits in a golf-rich area, roughly 13 miles from Bethpage Black, where Woods won the U.S. Open in 2002 — a feat he referenced in a statement Monday.
“I have great memories of competing on Long Island, especially at Bethpage,” Woods said. “This region has an extraordinary golf course architecture tradition, and we look forward to contributing to that legacy with a course that players can enjoy for generations.”
Woods’ own playing future remains less certain. The winner of 15 majors and a veteran of seven back surgeries, among other physical setbacks, Woods hasn’t competed in an official PGA Tour event since the 2024 Open Championship at Royal Troon, where he missed the cut. The last time the public saw him hit a competitive shot was at the TGL Finals in March. Three days later, he was arrested after rolling his Land Rover SUV on Jupiter Island and charged with driving under the influence with property damage. Whether Woods will compete next month in the Hero World Challenge, the tournament he hosts in the Bahamas, has not yet been determined.
With other activities in a holding pattern, Woods has stayed busy with TGR Design, the firm he founded in 2006 whose high-profile projects include The Hay at Pebble Beach, Bluejack National in Texas and Trout National in New Jersey.
