Course Tour of Erin Hills
The USGA provides a pictorial tour of Erin Hills, host of the 80th U.S. Women’s Open in 2025.
Miakka Golf Club: You won’t forget it
A wealthy benefactor, a couple visionary architects, a talented maintenance team and a challenging turf variety are bringing a bold vision to life in the Sunshine State.
USGA announces Erin Hills will host 5 more national championships in next 15 years, including both men's and women's U.S. Amateurs
The USGA announced Tuesday that it will bring five of its national championships to Erin Hills over the next 15 years, in addition to the already-scheduled 2025 U.S. Women’s Open presented by Ally.
After the ’25 U.S. Women’s Open, scheduled for May 29-June 1, Erin Hills will play host to the 2027 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball; the 2030 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball; the 2033 U.S. Women’s Amateur; the 2035 U.S. Amateur, and the 2039 U.S. Junior Amateur.
By the end of that run, Erin Hills will be the rare course that has played host to the USGA’s four signature events: the Open and Amateur championships for both men and women.
Florida’s Best Golf Courses: There’s more to the Sunshine State than theme parks and beaches
Travelling to the sunshine state and planning a break from the theme parks and beaches? These are the best golf courses in Florida for you to get your golfing fix.
Despite being home to some of the best golf courses in the USA, the Sunshine State invariably gets a pretty bad rap for its golf courses as a large percentage of them exist only to sell houses. Couple that with Florida’s lack of elevation (its highest point – Britton Hill – if just 345ft above sea-level) and the fact outsiders tend to associate it with sweaty swampland and it’s no great surprise many won’t give its golf the time of day.
Read the article to see which Fry/Straka courses made the list.
Valencia Country Club Renovation Earns Accolades from Golf Inc.
Valencia Country Club has been awarded first place for “Renovation of the Year” in Golf Inc. magazine’s private club category.
The architectural firm of Fry/Straka Global Golf Course Design worked closely with Arcis Golf’s construction and agronomy teams to restore Jones’s original intent and historic significance, reduce water use and enhance the strategic options that were the centerpiece of Jones’s vision.
Project Curracloe: A design in the works in South East Ireland
It is an incredible project, but what about the men behind the work going into Curracloe Beach?
Jason Straka and Dana Fry are the architects that are constructing a soon-to-be world class golf facility in and amongst the dunes and linksland of south east Ireland.
Straka, a former President of the American Society of Golf Course Architects (ASGCA), had worked with Fry for two decades before the pair formed Fry/Straka Global Golf Course Design in 2012.
The pair have an incredible body of work, which includes the venue for the 2017 US Open, Erin Hills.
I was fortunate enough to speak to Jason Straka about the project, one that he is very excited about bringing to the Irish public.
The best links courses in the U.S. (or at least ones that look the part)
The definition of a links course fluctuates wildly depending on the golfer. Some apply the strictest criteria: hugging the coastline, built on the sandy terrain that links farmland to the sea, holes cut primarily by wind and saltwater. And there are those with looser parameters: few trees, some wispy fescue, occasional bagpipe music in the grill room.
In the U.S., where the vast majority of golf is played inland, the courses in the conversation could be divided primarily into two categories: those that play like a links, and those that at least look the part. Both have their appeal, but only one would allow you to attempt the ground game on display each year in the Open Championship.
Turning up the contrast
Five years ago, The Club at Quail Ridge in Boynton Beach, Florida, invested $7.5 million into a Bobby Weed renovation of its South course. In 2022, the club hired Fry/Straka for a $21 million revamp of its North course and practice facilities.
Erin Hills prepping for 2025 U.S. Women's Open, 'absolutely' ready for more majors
The 80th playing of the U.S. Women’s Open, and the state’s third, will be at Erin Hills from May 26-June 1, 2025 and the course hopes to be the canvas for another memorable chapter in women’s major golf.
Miakka Golf Club to shine along a Florida river, but another course feature comes from Down Under
Some of the best bunkers in the world caught the eyes of course architects Dana Fry and Jason Straka, who plan to model their traps at Miakka in the form of Australian Sandbelt courses.
Belleair CC (West) Rockets into Rankings Following Fry/Straka Restoration
Fry/Straka Global Golf Course Design is pleased to announce the West Course at Belleair Country Club has zoomed into the rankings following our restoration work after previously being unranked. Golfweek ranked the course #77 in the list of Top 200 Classic Courses in the USA and the #4 Best Private Course in the State of Florida.
Exclusive golf course breaks ground in Myakka City
Miakka Golf Club will not be like most golf courses. A tee time won’t be required because the club will be so exclusive that they’re not necessary. Membership is invite only, and every prospective member must meet with Herrig first.
The Restoration of Donald Ross’ Design at Florida’s Oldest Club
In 2020, Belleair Country Club hired Fry/Straka Global Golf Course Design to oversee the restoration of the West Golf Course. To restore the course to Ross’ 1924 design, Jason Straka turned to historical records stored at the Tufts Archives at Pinehurst Resort (Pinehurst, North Carolina) and The Bellview Inn (Belleair, Florida).
Playing golf in Phoenix? This linksy desert course needs to be on your list
Back in 2013, the property’s three-decade-old Indian Bend course underwent a major $10 million renovation via Jason Stracka of Hurdzan/Fry Environmental Golf Design to improve both playability and flooding. Indian Bend was extremely flat, which meant it was harder to drain after big rains. Flat courses are also less fun, so there was plenty of work to do. About 365,000 cubic yards of material was removed from the water much of the course butts up against and used to raise parts of the layout, improving not only the fun factor but the ability to properly drain. They also removed trees and added more native/desert areas. Only 90 acres of the course is now considered maintained turfgrass, which also helps the maintenance team (not to mention saves millions of gallons of water annually). When it reopened it was renamed Ambiente, which means “environment” in Spanish.
Dana Fry, Jason Straka to design course alongside Irish beach used in 'Saving Private Ryan'
The American design team of Dana Fry and Jason Straka is headed to Ireland with plans to lay out a new course adjacent to Curracloe Beach in the southeast of the island.
Announcing Curracloe Links: Ireland’s next great golf course
The world’s next great seaside links is coming to Ireland. Curracloe Links, located adjacent to the white sands of Curracloe Beach, is designed by the renowned team of Dana Fry and Jason Straka and developed by the Neville Hotel Group. Ground breaking for the new golf links takes place in February, with an expected opening in 2026. The golf course is in the same location as Neville Hotels’ newest property, Ravenport Resort.
Union League National Golf Club
Ask any golfer what their idea of the perfect golf course would be. Most would say some combination of perhaps the two most iconic courses, and most regarded, in America: Pine Valley and Augusta National. If you can imagine that, then you are imagining Union League National Golf Club. The Union League of Philadelphia, which owns Union League National, was founded in 1862 to support President Abraham Lincoln and The Union in the United States’ Civil War.
Fry/Straka and Paul Azinger to design new course in southwest Florida
Golf architecture firm Fry/Straka has partnered with former PGA Tour player and Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger on the design of an eighteen-hole course for the new Miakka Golf Club in Myakka City, Florida.
Staying the Course with Dana Fry
Who is Dana Fry you ask? A quick google search conjures entries that read like the curriculum vitae of a very accomplished man. We meet for lunch on the clubhouse patio at Naples National Golf Club on a picture-perfect day. After talking for two and a half hours, I conclude that the first entry that answers my query proves to be a fitting description of the affable gentleman: “Fry is one of the most creative and successful golf course architects in the world.”
Fry/Straka studies classics for renovation at Valencia
The private course, located north of Los Angeles, was originally designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr and opened in 1965. The purpose of this year’s project, led by Jason Straka, was to restore Jones’s original design intent and classic features and enhance strategic options, while turf replacement, on all areas except greens, has reduced irrigation needs by 30 percent.