Featured architects
Tom Doak
The minimalist who walked the world's great courses first
- Born
- 1961, New York, USA
- Years active
- 1988–present
- Works
- 40+ original designs and restorations
- Era
- Contemporary
Why the name endures
Doak spent a Cornell travelling fellowship walking and measuring the courses of Britain and Ireland, caddied at St Andrews, and then built Renaissance Golf Design around the idea that the best holes are found rather than made. His Confidential Guide made him famous; Pacific Dunes and Tara Iti made the argument unanswerable.
“The best courses are the ones that were found, not built.”
Tom Doak
Design principles
- Move as little earth as the site allows
- Greens that are wild where the ground gives permission
- Variety of length and angle over uniform difficulty
Surviving work
Courses to see
Pacific Dunes
Oregon, USA
Cliffs, gorse and a routing that refuses to repeat itself.
Tara Iti
Northland, New Zealand
Pure sand, transitional dunes and almost no rough.
Barnbougle Dunes
Tasmania, Australia
With Mike Clayton: linksland on the Bass Strait.