Update on Tom Doak Projects


For Tom Doak and his crew, 2005 was a banner year. Doak’s Renaissance Golf Design opened two new courses, put the finishing touches on two others, and started work on three more, which will keep them busy through 2006.

Doak will also have trouble surpassing the critical acclaim afforded Pacific Dunes in Oregon, Cape Kidnappers in New Zealand, and Barnbougle Dunes in Tasmania, designed in association with Australian Michael Clayton.

His latest projects include:

Tumble Creek Golf Club at Suncadia, in Cle Elum, Wash., which opened last fall. Located 90 miles east of Seattle, the hilly, wooded layout serves as the centerpiece of a second-home community. Tumble Creek is the private course of the three 18-hole venues, with Suncadia's Prospector course (by Arnold Palmer) and Rope Rider course (by Jacobsen-Hardy, now under construction) part of the resort portion of the development.

Stone Eagle Golf Club, in Palm Desert, Calif., opened for play last Thanksgiving weekend, and has quickly become the talk of the Coachella Valley. A small development component is set near its clubhouse, but the golf course sits apart on a plateau 400 feet higher, right up against the Santa Rosa Mountains. Stone Eagle's jagged bunkers, dramatic elevations and lack of surrounding housing are unlike other courses in the area. The layout has been well-received by members for its playability and stunning visuals.

Sebonack Golf Club in New York, the highly anticipated design collaboration with Jack Nicklaus, has received an enormous amount of attention. Ballyneal Golf Club lies in the quiet northeastern Colorado town of Holyoke. Ballyneal is set within 1,000 acres of dramatic dunes and valleys. The 18-hole course will open this summer.

Other Doak projects on tap include Rock Creek Golf Club, a private golf and fishing retreat in Deer Lodge, Mont., where shaping has already commenced; The Bay of Dreams, south of La Paz, Mexico, which started construction in January; the Renaissance Club at Archerfield, a resort golf course being developed by an American/Scottish partnership in Gullane, Scotland, adjacent to the famed Muirfield links, started construction in March; and Wicked Pony for Winchester Golf Development, in the hot golf market of Redmond/Bend, Oregon, which will start construction this fall.

Doak’s firm, Renaissance Golf Design, is based in Traverse City, Mich. For more information, visit www.renaissancegolf.com.