What Courses Has Tom Doak Designed?

We take a look at some of the stunning courses Doak has designed.

What Courses Has Tom Doak Designed?

Perhaps a designer with some of the most striking golf courses in the world on his resume, Doak has had influences from legendary architects Pete Dye and Alister MacKenzie in a lot of his work.

The American who lives in Michigan, studied Design and Landscape Architecture at Cornell University and is more than happy to ruffle a lot of feathers in the golf design industry. Regardless, we have taken a look at some of his finest work below.

Bandon Dunes (Old Macdonald and Pacific Dunes Courses)

Doak designed two stunning courses at the Bandon Dunes resort in Oregon, the critically acclaimed Pacific Dunes, and the slightly newer Old Macdonald. The former opened in 2001 and has become a firm fixture of at the top of lists on the top courses in the United States. The latter opened in 2010 and is a world-class course in its own right and both combine to make Bandon Dunes a must-stay on the West coast.

Barnbougle (Dunes Course)

Those of you not up to date with your Tasmanian golf may not have heard of the Dunes course at Barnbougle. As you can see from the above picture it is stunning and Doak’s genius here is by designing the course around the humps, bumps and twists of the land. This is probably the closest Australia gets to a seaside links course.

Cape Kidnappers

Not a lot needs to be said here because this is probably Doak’s most famous course. Completed in 2004, the back-nine in particular is outrageous as the holes are situated on top of fingers of land as you can see from the image above.

Pasatiempo

Doak didn’t design Pasatiempo, that was the work of Alister MacKenzie, however he was entrusted to do restoration work with the objective of returning the course to one that is more in line with MacKenzie’s original design. Speaking after it was completed in 2007 Doak said; “The restoration project was unusual in that we did the work over a period of years in order to keep the course in play throughout. We had the challenge of working with several green committees through the process, but their vision was always clear and consistent – to restore MacKenzie’s design as closely as possible.”

Renaissance Club

In 2008 Doak added to his portfolio by designing Renaissance Club, which hosted the 2019 Scottish Open won by Bernd Wiesberger.

Streamsong (Blue)

A tract of land that had been heavily mined by Mosaic corporation, the company eventually decided to make it into a golf facility. As a result they looked to hire several golf architects to design courses – the Red was put together by Coore and Crenshaw, the Black by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner, and also the Blue by Tom Doak. The finished product is a resort that includes 54 stunning holes with Doak’s Blue being the more open compared to the Red. At one stage Doak thought about putting a zip-wire on the 7th hole but the presence of alligators in the water put an end to that idea.

Tara Iti

The number one course in New Zealand, Tara Iti had been a heavily forested area before Doak was asked by developer John Darby to build a course on the land. After clearing was done, Doak laid out a beautiful course that is a once in a lifetime experience. In fact, whilst the course is a private member club, there is a one-off access option that is definitely worth researching.

Other notable courses: Atlantic City, Ballyneal, Ballyneal (Mulligan), Bel Air, Camargo, Cherry Hills, Concord Golf Club, Garden City, Grand Saint-Emilionnais, Medinah No.1, Rock Creek Cattle Company, San Francisco, Sebonack, Shoreacres, St Andrews Beach, St George’s Golf and Country Club – Ontario, Valley Club of Montecito

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