Hideout Lake is one of roughly 300 signature courses designed by Nicholas.
On Tuesday, Nicklaus made a trip to the course to evaluate the progress and offer suggestions to its builders and contractors. It was his third visit since the beginning of construction, and while the course is still at least a year away from being playable, Nicklaus seemed happy with its progress thus far.
  
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In the nine holes he toured, Nicklaus devoted the majority of his attention to the design of the course’s greens. On the first hole, Nicklaus spent roughly 15 minutes offering design tips to course architects to assure both the quality and variety in the greens.
While Nicklaus is the first and final say over the course’s design, he was adamant about the builders using their own judgement and creativity in building each hole.
“I’m just giving a concept of what I think,” he told the roughly 18 people in attendance for the tour. “I’ll leave it up to you guys to play with it. That’s how you create variety in every course you do.”
The course is expected to have 11 holes ready to play by as early as August of 2009, with the front nine and holes 17 and 18 complete. The entire course is expected to be completed by the spring of 2010.
The entire Hideout Lake project will span nearly 1,200 acres and run a total cost of around $300 million. The majority of the funding was covered by Nicklaus’ investment firm, Nicklaus/Guggenheim Partners, while the rest came from equity and private investors.
As for how the course’s location was decided, Hideout Lake managing partner and developer Mike Kettell said it offered a perfect combination of aesthetics and practicality.
Also, because of its location, it also allowed for the 374 residential units the group plans to use for summer homes. Nicklaus has already purchased 43 of the lots for future sale.
Hideout Lake has already confirmed 130 reservations out of 374 lots and custom cabins in the first phase of the course.
With a $50,000 membership fee and cabins starting at $1 million, the course should be well on its way in funding the community-style club. Future plans for the area include a “Kids Camp” that offers a full-size movie theatre, bowling alley and fully-stocked pond for fishing.
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