ANGUILLA, British West Indies – Billionaire businessman Richard D. Schulz, founder of retail giant Best Buy, wants the International Course here at his Aurora Anguilla Beach Resort & Golf Club to achieve Top 100 status in the next two years. That’s a big task, but one way to achieve that goal, Schulze figured shortly after he acquired the 300-acre Caribbean resort in December 2020, was to build a short course.
A keen observer of such revered places as Augusta National and Pebble Beach (where he was among 110 owners until three years ago), Schulze knew that short courses – par-3 courses and layouts, in general, less than 18 holes and holes no greater than 300 yards – were a growing common denominator among the world’s elite courses.
Schulze acquired the former CuisinArt Resort from the estate of Conair Co., Co-Founder Lee Rizzuto, who died in December 2017. Basically unwanted and unkept by Rizzuto’s heirs, the property had fallen into disrepair. But Schulze could see unlimited potential – even through the thick, overgrown brush and trees that grew unchecked and blocked views of the blue/green waters of Rendezvous Bay on Anguilla’s southwest side.
So in early 2021, on a private plane flight with Greg Norman to look over the latter’s original layout of the International Course, which opened as Temenos Golf Club in 2006, Schulze popped the question about a short course along a 19-acre piece of land between the International’s sixth and seventh holes.
Thus began, for all practical purposes, the story of two golf courses – the renovated Norman Signature International and the new Avalon Links short course – each being rebuilt and built, respectively at essentially the same time as the world was recovering from the Covid pandemic.
The International (7,165 yards, par 72) fully opened this past April, complete with new bunkering, and Latitude 36 bermudagrass and TifEagle greens fully opened this past April. The nine-hole Avalon Links (1,315 yards, par 28) opened this past Nov. 11 with Sculze hitting the inaugural 95-yard tee shot high into the Caribbean Ocean backdrop.
A pure walking course with views of the Caribbean and the neighboring island of St. Martin, Avalon Links perfectly complements the International. Players can carry their bags or use pull carts on Avalon Links’ lush grounds. .There are no powered golf cars.
“We‘re pulling a cart or carrying a bag. That’s really the way the game was made to be played,’’ said Schulze. “I’m excited to be able to play just that way.’’
The name “Avalon Links,’’ Schulze said, was chosen to represent a place to rest and rejuvenate.
“Avalon is the king’s playground,’’ he said.
A frustrated 15-handicap, Schulze, 81, plays from the forward tees of the two tees on Avalon Links. Those “Sand’’ tees combine to 1,091 yards, par 28. The “Sunrise’’ tees play 1,1315 yards also to a par of 28, Why 28? Avalon Links’ second hole is a par-four – a short-course rarity that plays 345 yards from the back tees and 272 yards from the forward tees.
Because drivers are discouraged on Avalon Links, the second-hole basically is unreachable in one shot for players anyone but the longest hitters. And those hitters have to be accurate. The large, sandy waste area on the right side will catch any errant shot and make recovery difficult. Schulze, by the way, had a hand in working with Norman in Avalon’s bunkers.
Avalon Links, also grassed with Latitude 36 fairways and TifEagle greens, gives you a chance to recover on the 90-yard (back tees) third hole, before getting more challenging on the next two holes at 131 yards and 169, respectively.
Like the International, Avalon Links’ biggest protector are the winds that nearly always blow from the southeast. The more courage and confidence you show to the wind, the better you’re likely to score.
Avalon Links does give you an opportunity to finish strong, with none of the sixth through eighth holes playing longer than 121 yards. The clincher, however, is the 164-yard ninth hole. Even from the forward tees, it’s 144 yards, so a par here is an excellent finish to a course you’ll want to play again.
“The original design was made to allow beginners to be able to hit shots and just have fun,’’ said Scott DeLong, the resort’s director of golf operations. “It’s also made for skilled golfers to hit different clubs and never just play the same clubs. But most of all, just have fun.’’