Sheep Ranch
TGJ Podcast 166

Bill Coore Goes to Antarctica

The designer of some of the planet’s greatest courses details a hair-raising trek through one of its most inhospitable climes

As half of the team behind legendary far-flung layouts like Cabot St. Lucia, Te Arai in New Zealand and Tasmania’s Barnbougle Lost Farm, Bill Coore has spent his career crisscrossing the globe. He’s built epic golf at every stop—but not even Coore can conceive of 18 holes at the South Pole. Earlier this year, host Tom Coyne sat down with Coore at Bandon’s 25th anniversary celebration to discuss not just his builds in Bandon, but his recent travels to Antarctica and Patagonia. Whales and sea lions make an appearance, as does a plane with a steel-plated underbelly (and a custom penguin paint job) capable of negotiating gravel runways. Seeing this alien continent through the eyes of a seasoned traveler is illuminating—and frightening, as Coore details in his harrowing experience of nearly being blown clean off a mountain in the Patagonian wilderness. If you’re wondering what golf architects do in their spare time, tune in.