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Tom Doak is a golf course architect. He has 6 courses ranked among the top 100 in the world according to the "Top 100 Courses in the World" March 2021 list compiled by ''
Golf Magazine ''Golf Magazine'' is a monthly golf magazine. It was started in April 1959 by Universal Publishing and Distributing, who sold it to Times Mirror in 1972. Time Inc. acquired it in 2000. It was acquired by Howard Milstein in 2018. It was the worl ...
.'' These include Pacific Dunes in
Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
, Ballyneal in
Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...
,
Barnbougle Dunes Barnbougle Dunes Golf Links is a golf course located near the seaside village of Bridport in Tasmania's North-East. The 18 hole championship layout was designed by course architects Tom Doak and Mike Clayton, and is set among sand dunes overlooki ...
in
Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...
and Cape Kidnappers in
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...
. Doak lives in
Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...
. He was a student of golf course designer
Pete Dye Paul Dye Jr. (December 29, 1925 – January 9, 2020), known as Pete Dye, was an American golf course designer and a member of a family of course designers. He was married to fellow designer and amateur champion Alice Dye. Early life Dye was ...
, although perhaps his greatest influence comes from
Alister MacKenzie Alister MacKenzie (30 August 1870 – 6 January 1934) was a golf course architect whose course designs span four continents. Originally trained as a surgeon, MacKenzie served as a civilian physician with the British Army during the Boer War ...
(whom Doak wrote a book about), designer of Cypress Point, Royal Melbourne, and consultant to Bobby Jones at
Augusta National Augusta National Golf Club, sometimes referred to as Augusta or the National, is a golf club in Augusta, Georgia, United States. Unlike most private clubs which operate as non-profits, Augusta National is a for-profit corporation, and it does no ...
. In 2007, Doak restored Alister MacKenzie's home course, Pasatiempo, a ''Golf Magazine'' Top 100 course located in
Santa Cruz, California Santa Cruz ( Spanish for "Holy Cross") is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, in Northern California. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 62,956. Situated on the northern edge of Monterey Bay, Santa Cruz is a po ...
. Doak is the author of ''The Confidential Guide to Golf Courses'' which is a guide to famous and obscure golf courses around the world. The original version of the book was intended for a select group of friends and golf course architects. The sanitized version became a coffee table book which also included Doak's photography. Despite being toned down, the book includes several extremely critical reviews of golf courses and alienated several well-regarded golf course architects. For example, in his entry for Talamore Golf Club in Pinehurst, North Carolina, designed by Rees Jones, Doak wrote that the "dull layout" made him "want to spit."


Education

Doak attended
Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...
after a semester at
MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...
where he studied Design and Landscape Architecture. After graduating Cornell, he won the Dreer Award from the Department of Floraculture and Horticulture. He used the Dreer Award to travel to Great Britain and Ireland, between 1982 and 1983, to study their best golf courses. He caddied at St. Andrews during the summer of 1982.


Career

Doak is a "minimalist" designer. Minimalism is a school of golf design that focuses on concentrating design of a golf hole (or routing) around the natural features of the land. His most successful courses have been built on sand dunes, taking advantage of the sandy soil for drainage also allowing for the reuse of native elements. Doak credits most of his accomplishments and success to golf course designer
Pete Dye Paul Dye Jr. (December 29, 1925 – January 9, 2020), known as Pete Dye, was an American golf course designer and a member of a family of course designers. He was married to fellow designer and amateur champion Alice Dye. Early life Dye was ...
. Doak worked with Dye to learn how to construct golf courses during graduate school. Doak was exposed to several different schools of design on multiple continents in a variety of conditions. Jim Urbina taught him how to run a bulldozer allowing for Doak to think in three dimensions and how to use the materials around him. In 2015 he announced he would spend a significant amount of time during the ensuing few years, researching for a new edition of his book, ''The Confidential Guide to Golf Courses''.


Books

Doak has written four books about Golf Course Design: *''The Anatomy of a Golf Course'
Independent Book Publisher , Publish , Book Publisher
(1992). *''The Confidential Guide to Golf Courses'' (1996) *''The Life and Work of Dr. Alister MacKenzie'
New Pop Music, Pop Music Videos, Pop News - Clock Tower
(2001) by Tom Doak, James S. Scott, Raymund M. Haddock, Ray Haddock, and James Scott *Tom Doak's Little Red Book of Golf Course Architecture (2017) *Getting to 18 (2020) *''The Making of Pacific Dunes'' (2021)


Courses


Public and resort courses

* Aetna Springs Golf Club - Pope Valley, CA - ''Closed''
Apache Stronghold Golf Club - Globe, AZ
- Closed *
Atlantic City Country Club The Atlantic City Country Club is a golf club located in Northfield, New Jersey, west of Atlantic City. In addition to a golf course, the club offers banquet and dining facilities. The course resides on in a coastal setting with skyline view ...
- Northfield, NJ
Barnbougle Dunes Golf Links - Bridport, Tasmania, AustraliaBeechtree Golf Club - Aberdeen, MD - ''Closed''
*Black Forest at Wilderness Valley - Gaylord, MI ''Closed'' *Cabot Highlands, Scotland (Future)
Cape Kidnappers Resort - Napier New ZealandCharlotte Golf Links - Charlotte, North Carolina - ''Closed''

Common Ground Golf Course - Aurora, ColoradoHigh Pointe Golf Club - Williamsburg, MI - ''Closed''
* Memorial Park Golf Course - Houston, TX *Old Macdonald, one of the courses at
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort Bandon Dunes Golf Resort is a complex of five links and a par-3 golf course on the West Coast of the United States, located alongside the Pacific Ocean in southwest Oregon, just north of the city of  Bandon. Courses The first course at the ...
-
Bandon, Oregon Bandon () is a city in Coos County, Oregon, United States, on the south side of the mouth of the Coquille River. It was named by George Bennet, an Irish peer, who settled nearby in 1873 and named the town after Bandon in Ireland, his hometown ...
*Pacific Dunes, one of the courses at
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort Bandon Dunes Golf Resort is a complex of five links and a par-3 golf course on the West Coast of the United States, located alongside the Pacific Ocean in southwest Oregon, just north of the city of  Bandon. Courses The first course at the ...
-
Bandon, Oregon Bandon () is a city in Coos County, Oregon, United States, on the south side of the mouth of the Coquille River. It was named by George Bennet, an Irish peer, who settled nearby in 1873 and named the town after Bandon in Ireland, his hometown ...

Pasatiempo Golf Club (restoration) - Santa Cruz, CAQuail Crossing Golf Club - Evansville, INRiverfront Golf Club - Suffolk, Virginia
*Sand Valley (Lido), Wisconsin
Streamsong Golf Course Blue - Central FLThe Golf Club at St. Andrew's Beach - Rye, Victoria, AustraliaThe Legends Golf Club - Heathlands Course - Myrtle Beach, SC
*The Loop at Forest Dunes, Roscommon, MI (Reversible 18 hole golf course) * The Rawls Course at
Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sy ...
-
Lubbock, TX Lubbock ( ) is the 10th-most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of government of Lubbock County. With a population of 260,993 in 2021, the city is also the 85th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the northw ...
br>The Rawls Course at Texas Tech


Private courses


Ballyneal - Holyoke, CODismal River - The Red Course - Mullen, NELost Dunes Golf Club - Bridgman, MIRock Creek Cattle Company - Deer Lodge, MTSebonack_Golf_Club_-_Southampton,_New_York_(with_Jack_Nicklaus
).html" ;"title="Jack Nicklaus">Sebonack Golf Club - Southampton, New York (with Jack Nicklaus
)">Jack Nicklaus">Sebonack Golf Club - Southampton, New York (with Jack Nicklaus
)*Sedge Valley, Wisconsin (2024)
Stone Eagle Golf Club - Palm Desert, CAStonewall - North Course - Elverson, PennsylvaniaStonewall - Old Course - Elverson, PennsylvaniaTara Iti - New Zealand
*Te Arai North
The Renaissance Club - Lothians, ScotlandThe Village Club - Sands Point, New YorkTumble Creek at Suncadia - Cle Elum, WA


Golf Course (Restoration/Renovation)

*Camargo, Ohio *Commonwealth, Victoria, Australia *Dornick Hills, Oklahoma *East Potomac, Washington D.C. (Future) *Pasatiempo, California *San Francisco Golf Club, California *Valley Club of Montecito, California


References


External links


Golf by Tom DoakPalm Spring Life interviewRenaissance Golf Design
{{DEFAULTSORT:Doak, Tom Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences alumni Golf course architects American landscape architects Living people Year of birth missing (living people)