What's at stake?
The golf star estimated in January a 12-15 month timeline to obtain permits, but other similarly ambitious projects in Clovis have taken years.
Golf star Bryson DeChambeau wants to expand the size of Clovis by 30%, but he has yet to file a single permit application for the ‘mega-project’ with local authorities, raising questions about when – or if – the development will materialize.
Despite DeChambeau’s January announcement that he had acquired “massive amounts of land” for a sprawling golf-centered community in Clovis, city and county officials confirm no documentation has been submitted for the housing portion of the project.
“Currently there are no applications, and as a result, no timeline to share,” said Chad McCollum, Clovis’ economic development, housing and communications director.
Fresno County spokesperson Sonja Dosti confirmed that aside from a 22-acre golf training facility at Nees and Thompson Avenues east of Clovis, whose application was filed earlier this June, no permits have been submitted for the larger development.
The two-time U.S. Open champion, who recently was appointed chair of President Donald Trump’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition, has outlined ambitious plans to build more than 200 acres of residential housing, a multi-sport complex, driving range, golf course and community center northeast of Clovis.
Local officials appear to be in the dark about specifics. DeChambeau’s ballpark 30% expansion of Clovis on Joe Pompliano’s sports and business podcast would amount to 5,000 acres – far more than the 200 acres mentioned by DeChambeau. For someone with the nerves and appetite to speculate on a piece of land that big – it could cost you about $100 million.
Fresno County Supervisor Nathan Magsig said he hasn’t heard anything recently about the project.
“I would imagine that they’re having to figure out layouts and all that kind of stuff, of what they wanted to do,” Magsig said. “Housing, I’m not aware of that. Originally, I think this was kind of being pitched as some type of a complex.”
When DeChambeau attended a 9/11 memorial in Clovis, Magsig said they only “exchanged pleasantries” without discussing the project.
The speculative mega-project could face substantial regulatory hurdles that could delay it for years. If the site is outside Clovis’ sphere of influence, it would require approval from the Local Agency Formation Commission for a boundary change before the city could annex the land – a process that typically takes years in California.
That’s just the beginning. Just down the street from DeChambeau’s proposed golf complex, Vista Ranch, a comparable 507-acre, 3,330-home development just outside of Clovis, has been navigating the approval process since 2016. After eight years of meetings, environmental studies and revisions, the project only released its draft environmental impact report for public comment in July 2024.
DeChambeau acknowledged the challenges of his golf and housing mega-project in his interview with Joe Pompliano, saying the bureaucracy involved makes it “difficult to do.” He estimated permits would take 12 to 15 months, though Vista Ranch’s experience suggests that timeline is optimistic.
The golfer credits his $125 million contract with LIV Golf, a new golf league financed primarily by Saudi Arabia, for providing the capital for the project. DeChambeau’s is partnering with Fresno-based Cook Land Co. for the development, the Business Journal reported.
Fresnoland reached out to Cook Land Company for comment.
“In California, we are doing a ‘mega project,’ DeChambueau said to Pompliano. “It has been in the works for a couple of years now, and we’re at the place where we are getting permits.”
