Aiken, South Carolina
This course is new, so its scores are based on early play and scouting. Scores will be automatically rerun once more user and panelist data becomes available.
21 Golf Club’s first course is a modern interpretation of Alister MacKenzie’s never-built El Boquerón concept, adapted to dramatic South Carolina Sand Hills terrain by Brian Zager, Eric Iverson and the MacKenzie Architectural Committee. The defining idea is extraordinary: 18 holes routed to nine expansive double greens, with deception, angles and ground movement doing more of the work than brute force. Eleven holes opened in 2026, with the full course expected to follow in the fall.
This is not a renovation and it is not the Hammer course. The first course at 21 Golf Club is a new-build interpretation of Alister MacKenzie’s lost El Boquerón concept from Argentina. Brian Zager, Eric Iverson and the MacKenzie Architectural Committee are translating MacKenzie’s ideas rather than trying to build a literal replica. The headline feature is nine massive double greens for 18 separate holes, laid across rumpled Sand Hills terrain with dramatic elevation. The appeal is less about copying old drawings line-for-line and more about bringing MacKenzie’s strategic principles — angles, deception, width, contour and options — to a modern site.
MacKenzie supplied the original concept; Brian Zager is the architect leading its modern interpretation, with Eric Iverson shaping and the MacKenzie Architectural Committee guiding fidelity to MacKenzie’s principles.
A newly opening course still moving through grow-in and staged completion during 2026; expect the presentation to evolve as all 18 holes come online.
Private member-and-guest environment; confirm the day’s format and loop with your host while the course is in staged opening.
Architecture-obsessed, intimate and deliberately golf-first.
Private club; confirm current guest and dress policies with your host before arrival.
The MacKenzie Course is opening in stages during 2026, so check with your host on the current playable loop before you arrive.
Nine expansive double greens are central to the concept. Knowing which portion serves your hole will matter.
The Sand Hills site has major elevation and MacKenzie-inspired camouflage. Trust lines, angles and ground contours more than first impressions.
Alister MacKenzie creates plans for El Boquerón in Argentina; the course is never built.
21 Golf Club advances plans for a modern interpretation of the lost MacKenzie concept in the South Carolina Sand Hills.
Eleven holes open; the remaining holes are expected to be completed for a full-course opening in the fall.
The core idea is almost absurdly good: take one of Alister MacKenzie’s most intriguing never-built concepts and give it a new life in the Carolina Sand Hills nearly a century later. 21 is not claiming to reproduce Argentina. It is trying to preserve the strategic DNA of the original idea on a completely different piece of ground.
The feature that separates this project from almost anything new in American golf is the use of nine enormous double greens for 18 separate holes. The scale should create constantly changing angles, pin relationships and visual confusion — exactly the kind of thing architecture people will obsess over.
The property sits on prehistoric Sand Hills terrain with dunes and elevation changes that can reach roughly 150 feet. That movement gives the modern interpretation room to feel bold without needing to manufacture drama.
The King-Collins-Dormer connection is real — just not on this course. Their Hammer Club is planned as 21’s second course, built around match play, flexible routings and adjustable holes. Keep the two course identities separate.
MacKenzie’s original El Boquerón concept was never built in Argentina.
The MacKenzie Course uses nine double greens for 18 separate holes — an unusually ambitious organizing idea for a modern championship course.
The club sits on dramatic South Carolina Sand Hills terrain with elevation changes reaching roughly 150 feet.
King-Collins-Dormer is involved at 21 Golf Club, but on the planned second course — the Hammer Club — not the MacKenzie Course.
Strategic Golden Age routing; historic and accessible.
Storied, historic gem with Ben Hogan lore.
Strong public play and well-regarded conditioning.
Stay in Aiken, South Carolina for quick access to the region’s best.
Courses with the most similar DNA profile — matched by deviation shape across all eight playing characteristics.
Why it matches: If 21 Golf Club is your kind of course, The Country Club of Scranton is worth a look because it demands the same precision once you reach the putting surface.
Why it matches: If 21 Golf Club is your kind of course, Streamsong Black is worth a look because it demands the same precision once you reach the putting surface.
Why it matches: Capital City Club, Brookhaven Course is a natural next stop after 21 Golf Club: it a comparable balance of challenge, variety, and character.
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