JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jim Furyk points in the distance at a slab of dirt destined to be a back tee at the par-3 17th at Glen Kernan Club, designed largely for one golfer.
“That’s Cam’s tee,” he says, referring to 2022 British Open and Players Championship winner Cam Smith, who is a minority investor in the club. “If he really wants to, he can stick a tee at 230 yards.”
Glen Kernan Club in Jacksonville, Fla., re-opened in September 2025 after a refresh by Jim Furyk.That was a year ago and Smith already is busting long irons over water fronting the green from the back tee – now dubbed the Jaguar tees in homage to the local NFL franchise – at the private club, which reopened in September after a $25 million course renovation by Furyk. The course originally was designed in 1999 by Robert Walker and Furyk stuck to much of the original routing, which sits on a 260-acre plot with 64 acres of lakes and 166 acres of playing area (of which 122 are under irrigation).
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementFuryk did build options for the rest of us at 17 – “Jim’s tee” at 210 and another at 185 yards for those who don’t want to take off a headcover. He also stretched 18 to 450 yards from the Jaguar tees, adding what he termed “the pucker factor” for Smith and other long bombers.
Furyk faced an age-old dilemma of how to make the course play challenging for the better player but also fair and friendly to the majority of the clientele.
“Our goal was to make the golf course challenge our stronger players at the Jaguar tees and make the course more playable for the folks playing the forward tees,” Furyk said. “That is difficult to do. I tried to leave areas to run the ball up on the green and benign pins but also present a left pin over the bunker with a backstop you’ll have to putt over if you miss it.”
Furyk, who works in partnership with architect Mike Beebe, lengthened the back tees by 400 yards to just over 7,200 yards but shortened the course from the forward tees by about 500 yards. Angles are tougher for the stronger player and friendlier from the forward tees.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“We realized we had tour professionals as members, but we wanted all of our members to be proud of the course and be able to enjoy it,” Furyk said.
The par-3 17th hole at Glen Kernan features a tee box designed specifically for major champion Cam Smith.The ability to travel the world has shaped his architectural preferences. For the first time, Furyk got the chance to leave his mark on a course in his adopted hometown. No. 6 is Furyk’s favorite hole, an uphill approach to a green set 10 feet lower than it previously was – elsewhere greens were lowered and redone with firmer and faster TifEagle bermudagrass surfaces — and carved out a collection area left of the green that allows a view to a pond behind the green.
"You couldn't see the rooftops of those houses behind the greens, couldn't see the water left of the green," said Andy Allen, CEO or Corner Lot Development, whose company was one of the principals in the purchase of the club from the estate of the previous developer. "Now you can see all the way down to the seventh green. It's stunning."
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementFuryk also removed the cement cart paths and added some screenings. The effect? More straw, less grass, which gives a pleasing contrast of colors.
Furyk also was excited about the risk-reward elements at the short, par-4 fourth hole, saying, “We don’t have a great drivable par-4 in town – and I’m not counting 12 at TPC Sawgrass.” He is also a fan of par 5s that present a safe route and a second shot that tempts an aggressive play and the 11th hole is a perfect example. "It says, here I am, come and get me," Furyk said. In addition, he moved the 14th green forward and left about 25 yards to allow the 15th tee to be moved too and strengthen the par-5 hole into a double dogleg. The course builds to a crescendo with the finishing kick nicknamed “the Fox Den.”
Jim Furyk shares his design philosophy for Glen Kernan Club in Jacksonville, Florida.Glen Kernan already held a special place in his heart – he had been a member for decades and played it often with his father – and he had added pressure to deliver on the design because his parents recently moved into the residential community. Furyk produced a course that is parkland golf the way it used to be, taking Glen Kernan back to a natural look and using the rolling topography. The club’s general manager and COO Bill Hughes described it as “old-school golf at its finest,” with arguably the fastest greens in town.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“If this course isn’t the Oakmont of Jacksonville, I don’t know what course can be,” he said. “They are tailor-made to be running 14 (on the Stimpmeter) every day and they are today and they have been every day since we opened.”
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Glen Kernan reopens after Jim Furyk renovation in Jacksonville
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