Post by theclv24 on Jan 22, 2018 15:25:21 GMT -5
It's been awhile since I published a course, and even longer since I posted a comprehensive preview of a course, so I put together a little write-up here for my newest release from a few weeks back, Doak Island Resort. I will look to add photos of each hole soon, hopefully tonight. Please enjoy the write-up, if not the course, or ideally both.
The idea for the course began in TGC1, in response to reading Tom Doak’s Anatomy of a Golf Course. The concept was to use some of the holes presented in his book to build a compilation course, either based on actual data for existing holes, or based on his drawings for holes that no longer exist. The original course was named Doak Valley CC, and was published in the Autumn theme during the early stages of the game’s life.
As the game and designer improved, the course was reimagined in the Countryside theme, with a few notable changes to make the course more playable. The resulting course was simply named Doak Valley, and experienced a short run of notoriety during the CC Championship.
The course always had one major shortcoming, however. The signature holes on the course were the 15th, representing hole #8 at Pebble Beach, and the 16th, representing hole #16 at Cypress Point. I have always been very happy with how these holes came out, but they simply do not belong in the Countryside theme.
As TGC2 approached, the final reconcepting of this course started to take shape, and the result is a new, more cohesive course built in the Tropical theme, with multiple holes in the course evolving from strictly copycat versions of Doak’s holes into more original creations that fit together better, and are more fun to play through the course of a round (or 4 rounds). The final version of the course, Doak Island Resort, is presented below.
Hole #1
Inspiration: Hole #1 at Long Cove (Dye)
Tee to green this hole remains very close to the real life counterpart, minus the addition of a long left bunker off of the tee, which will be in play for those playing Tour Clubs. As a Tour Club player myself who struggles to hit the ball straight, I can attest that this is a tough fairway for me to hit. Avoiding the water on the right is key to starting a good round, so I frequently bail left into the first bunker. The green here features multiple bowls and collection areas to feed your ball to the pin, assuming you find the right quadrant of the green.
Hole #2
Inspiration: Hole #3 at Sunningdale Old Course (Park/Holt)
The tee shot here remains the same as it always has, with a more generous landing area for Tour Club players. Shorter hitters will need to decide if they want to play a safer tee shot out left, creating a difficult approach angle, or challenging the cross fairway bunkers on the right for a better angle. Multiple tiers have been added to the green, allowing for more interesting pin positions on the left-to-right tilted surface.
Hole #3
Inspiration: Hole #10 at Black Forest at Wilderness Valley (Doak/Hanse)
This par 5 hole in real life cuts through a dense forest, with trees pinching in the fairway on both sides near the landing area. That hole simply was not possible in this theme, so the hole has evolved into an original. One tree still plays a key role, though, just beyond the landing zone in the right-center. Avoiding this tree requires either challenging a left side bunker off of the tee, or laying back along the right side of the fairway. The 3-tiered green could represent a scaled-back version of the 9th green at Augusta.
Hole #4
Inspiration: Hole #7 at Royal Liverpool
This one-shotter has evolved significantly from the original, as fitting a links hole into this course concept is quite difficult. The long, narrow green with large waste bunkers flanking either side is now more inspired by the 8th at Muirfield Village. The green contours pay homage to the 18th at Augusta. For someone who strays in both directions, this may be the most difficult par 3 on the course for me.
Hole #5
Inspiration: Hole #16 at St. Andrews
The Principal’s Nose remains along the leftside of the fairway, challenging all tee shots, while a new OB area on the right represents the tightness of #16 at St. Andrews more faithfully now. The green here has evolved into a fairly original creation, as the terrain simply did not allow a true replica of the St. Andrews green. The new green now allows for 4 pin locations much better than the previous version. The tee shot remains the most important element here, with good shots being rewarded with an easy approach.
Hole #6
Inspiration: Hole #11 at Oakland Hills South (Ross)
The land that the 11th at Oakland Hills sits on is pretty spectacular, but unfortunately the original hole did not fit the layout of Doak Valley very well, so it did not present many good strategic elements in its original form. The tee shot now dictates how difficult the approach will be here now, as OB and bunkers challenge the right side, and water challenges the left, which is the best angle of approach. It is a long hole, but a fairly receptive green still allows for great shots in to be rewarded.
Hole #7
Inspiration: Hole #11 at St. Andrews Old Course
Having finished my creation of St. Andrews between the publishing of Doak Valley and Doak Island, I was able to more accurately recreate this green (minus the shared 7th green at St. Andrews, of course), and the result is an excellent homage to the Eden Hole. The challenge here is all in the heavily back-to-front sloping green, so keeping your short iron approach below the hole is key.
Hole #8
Inspiration: Hole #16 La Cumbre (Bryce)
This hole has evolved multiple times, as the real life hole no longer exists and was built solely based on Doak’s drawing. The new addition of a central hazard makes the decision off of the tee more challenging, while the theme change allows this hole to fit more naturally into its surroundings. Tee shots to the left of the central bunkers will have a wider landing area, but will face a more challenging approach angle. The fairway to the right of the central bunkers is narrow (unless you choose the very viable option of laying up short and right), but provides the best angle to any pin on this green, which slopes from left to right along with the land.
Hole #9
Inspiration: Hole #3 at Pacific Dunes (Doak)
The first version of this hole came from Royal Troon, before I decided to switch to a Doak original for the second version. I enjoyed how this hole plays, so the only changes made here were to the green to provide more interest to a relatively easy hole. The back-to-front green now allows for some heroic shot attempts to back right pins behind the bunker, but shots that go long or left face a tricky return shot that threatens to roll into the front bunkers if played too aggressively.
Hole #10
Inspiration: Hole #10 at Riviera (Thomas)
Simply put, this is one of the best short par 4’s in America and does not need to be changed. You are likely during tournament week at Riviera to witness the pros play from one bunker to the next on either side of the green, and I find myself often doing the same here at the tenth. The new theme and layout to the course has also allowed the right side of this hole to play to a beautiful backdrop.
Hole #11
Inspiration: Hole #10 at Highlands CC (Ross)
This highlight of this hole remains the stream cutting through the fairway, which is a Ross classic, and creates all kinds of problems for me off of the tee. Finding the fairway is a true challenge for me, and I often lay back with a 3 wood just to target a wider piece of fairway. This all new green plays to a backdrop of a small bay on the right, and sloping 12th hole beyond. I love the look of this corner of the property. The angled green and short left runoff area favor a tee shot that challenges the creek, or lays back to the small fairway on the right.
Hole #12
Inspiration: Hole #4 at Riviera (Thomas)
The new backdrop to this par 3 makes it one of the most scenic holes on the course, while the hole itself has not changed. The new fairway physics in TGC2 make this hole play much closer to its Redan nature, with the rightside fairway slope feeding balls to the green. The length of this hole from the back tee makes it yet another challenging par 3 on a course that contains 4 such holes.
Hole #13
Inspiration: Hole #16 at Blackwolf Run River Course (Dye)
This par 5 plays essentially the same as it always has, with a large diagonal bunker on the left side daring the golfer to take an aggressive line off of the tee to bring the green in play on the second shot. A palm tree in front of the green provides much less of a threat than a more deciduous tree provides in the original, so this hole should provide some eagle opportunities if players can navigate the bumpy green.
Hole #14
Inspiration: Hole #4 at Yale University (MacDonald/Raynor)
For those familiar with the MacDonald/Raynor template design process, this original hole at Yale was intended to be a Road Hole template, but complications with the green site required them to flip the green 180 degrees. I had trouble finding the challenge in this green design, so I went ahead and flipped it back with my own green design. This hole is much less challenging than the real Road Hole, however, so avoiding water off of the tee is the main threat. The fairway narrows at the ideal landing area, so I frequently take a 3 wood to try and reach a safe landing spot.
Hole #15
Inspiration: Hole #8 at Pebble Beach (Neville/MacKenzie)
Like the 10th hole, nothing needed to be changed with this hole, only the surroundings needed to be adjusted to make it feel like a part of the course. The Tropical backdrop now fits this hole nicely, and the approach shot provides an enticing look at the tee shot awaiting on the 16th.
Hole #16
Inspiration: Hole #16 at Cypress Point (MacKenzie)
Perhaps the most photogenic hole in America, if not the world, this hole ruined the overall flow of the course in each of the previous renditions of the course. Thankfully this hole should now find a home on Doak Island, with a great backdrop of the ocean along with the 111th and 12th holes in the distance. It probably still doesn’t do the the original justice, but it makes for a long and fair challenge, and is the last of a collection of stout par 3’s in the round. The safest play here is to aim for the center of the green and putt to the edges.
Hole #17
Inspiration: Hole #17 at Muirfield (Colt)
The last of the very gettable par 5’s on the course, this is inspired by one of my favorite par 5’s in the world. Your aggressiveness off of the tee will determine your ability to reach the green in two, and a missed fairway here brings the cross bunkers into play on the second shot. Any shot in the bunkers or heavy rough will likely require a lay-up before the cross bunkers. A small green wedged in between two dunes makes for a difficult but fun approach at any length.
Hole #18
Inspiration: Hole #4 at Myopia Hunt Club (Leeds)
This closing par 4 features one of the more difficult drives on the course between two cross bunkers and a ravine on the left. A miss to the right is better than left, as the right to left sloping fairway and green can be used to try and steer the ball towards the pin. Misses to the left must clear the fronting bunkers but stop on the heavily back-to-front sloped green. The improved view with the ocean on the left and less trees impeding the view of the hotels/clubhouse makes for a better conclusion to the round than in previous iterations.
The idea for the course began in TGC1, in response to reading Tom Doak’s Anatomy of a Golf Course. The concept was to use some of the holes presented in his book to build a compilation course, either based on actual data for existing holes, or based on his drawings for holes that no longer exist. The original course was named Doak Valley CC, and was published in the Autumn theme during the early stages of the game’s life.
As the game and designer improved, the course was reimagined in the Countryside theme, with a few notable changes to make the course more playable. The resulting course was simply named Doak Valley, and experienced a short run of notoriety during the CC Championship.
The course always had one major shortcoming, however. The signature holes on the course were the 15th, representing hole #8 at Pebble Beach, and the 16th, representing hole #16 at Cypress Point. I have always been very happy with how these holes came out, but they simply do not belong in the Countryside theme.
As TGC2 approached, the final reconcepting of this course started to take shape, and the result is a new, more cohesive course built in the Tropical theme, with multiple holes in the course evolving from strictly copycat versions of Doak’s holes into more original creations that fit together better, and are more fun to play through the course of a round (or 4 rounds). The final version of the course, Doak Island Resort, is presented below.
Hole #1
Inspiration: Hole #1 at Long Cove (Dye)
Tee to green this hole remains very close to the real life counterpart, minus the addition of a long left bunker off of the tee, which will be in play for those playing Tour Clubs. As a Tour Club player myself who struggles to hit the ball straight, I can attest that this is a tough fairway for me to hit. Avoiding the water on the right is key to starting a good round, so I frequently bail left into the first bunker. The green here features multiple bowls and collection areas to feed your ball to the pin, assuming you find the right quadrant of the green.
Hole #2
Inspiration: Hole #3 at Sunningdale Old Course (Park/Holt)
The tee shot here remains the same as it always has, with a more generous landing area for Tour Club players. Shorter hitters will need to decide if they want to play a safer tee shot out left, creating a difficult approach angle, or challenging the cross fairway bunkers on the right for a better angle. Multiple tiers have been added to the green, allowing for more interesting pin positions on the left-to-right tilted surface.
Hole #3
Inspiration: Hole #10 at Black Forest at Wilderness Valley (Doak/Hanse)
This par 5 hole in real life cuts through a dense forest, with trees pinching in the fairway on both sides near the landing area. That hole simply was not possible in this theme, so the hole has evolved into an original. One tree still plays a key role, though, just beyond the landing zone in the right-center. Avoiding this tree requires either challenging a left side bunker off of the tee, or laying back along the right side of the fairway. The 3-tiered green could represent a scaled-back version of the 9th green at Augusta.
Hole #4
Inspiration: Hole #7 at Royal Liverpool
This one-shotter has evolved significantly from the original, as fitting a links hole into this course concept is quite difficult. The long, narrow green with large waste bunkers flanking either side is now more inspired by the 8th at Muirfield Village. The green contours pay homage to the 18th at Augusta. For someone who strays in both directions, this may be the most difficult par 3 on the course for me.
Hole #5
Inspiration: Hole #16 at St. Andrews
The Principal’s Nose remains along the leftside of the fairway, challenging all tee shots, while a new OB area on the right represents the tightness of #16 at St. Andrews more faithfully now. The green here has evolved into a fairly original creation, as the terrain simply did not allow a true replica of the St. Andrews green. The new green now allows for 4 pin locations much better than the previous version. The tee shot remains the most important element here, with good shots being rewarded with an easy approach.
Hole #6
Inspiration: Hole #11 at Oakland Hills South (Ross)
The land that the 11th at Oakland Hills sits on is pretty spectacular, but unfortunately the original hole did not fit the layout of Doak Valley very well, so it did not present many good strategic elements in its original form. The tee shot now dictates how difficult the approach will be here now, as OB and bunkers challenge the right side, and water challenges the left, which is the best angle of approach. It is a long hole, but a fairly receptive green still allows for great shots in to be rewarded.
Hole #7
Inspiration: Hole #11 at St. Andrews Old Course
Having finished my creation of St. Andrews between the publishing of Doak Valley and Doak Island, I was able to more accurately recreate this green (minus the shared 7th green at St. Andrews, of course), and the result is an excellent homage to the Eden Hole. The challenge here is all in the heavily back-to-front sloping green, so keeping your short iron approach below the hole is key.
Hole #8
Inspiration: Hole #16 La Cumbre (Bryce)
This hole has evolved multiple times, as the real life hole no longer exists and was built solely based on Doak’s drawing. The new addition of a central hazard makes the decision off of the tee more challenging, while the theme change allows this hole to fit more naturally into its surroundings. Tee shots to the left of the central bunkers will have a wider landing area, but will face a more challenging approach angle. The fairway to the right of the central bunkers is narrow (unless you choose the very viable option of laying up short and right), but provides the best angle to any pin on this green, which slopes from left to right along with the land.
Hole #9
Inspiration: Hole #3 at Pacific Dunes (Doak)
The first version of this hole came from Royal Troon, before I decided to switch to a Doak original for the second version. I enjoyed how this hole plays, so the only changes made here were to the green to provide more interest to a relatively easy hole. The back-to-front green now allows for some heroic shot attempts to back right pins behind the bunker, but shots that go long or left face a tricky return shot that threatens to roll into the front bunkers if played too aggressively.
Hole #10
Inspiration: Hole #10 at Riviera (Thomas)
Simply put, this is one of the best short par 4’s in America and does not need to be changed. You are likely during tournament week at Riviera to witness the pros play from one bunker to the next on either side of the green, and I find myself often doing the same here at the tenth. The new theme and layout to the course has also allowed the right side of this hole to play to a beautiful backdrop.
Hole #11
Inspiration: Hole #10 at Highlands CC (Ross)
This highlight of this hole remains the stream cutting through the fairway, which is a Ross classic, and creates all kinds of problems for me off of the tee. Finding the fairway is a true challenge for me, and I often lay back with a 3 wood just to target a wider piece of fairway. This all new green plays to a backdrop of a small bay on the right, and sloping 12th hole beyond. I love the look of this corner of the property. The angled green and short left runoff area favor a tee shot that challenges the creek, or lays back to the small fairway on the right.
Hole #12
Inspiration: Hole #4 at Riviera (Thomas)
The new backdrop to this par 3 makes it one of the most scenic holes on the course, while the hole itself has not changed. The new fairway physics in TGC2 make this hole play much closer to its Redan nature, with the rightside fairway slope feeding balls to the green. The length of this hole from the back tee makes it yet another challenging par 3 on a course that contains 4 such holes.
Hole #13
Inspiration: Hole #16 at Blackwolf Run River Course (Dye)
This par 5 plays essentially the same as it always has, with a large diagonal bunker on the left side daring the golfer to take an aggressive line off of the tee to bring the green in play on the second shot. A palm tree in front of the green provides much less of a threat than a more deciduous tree provides in the original, so this hole should provide some eagle opportunities if players can navigate the bumpy green.
Hole #14
Inspiration: Hole #4 at Yale University (MacDonald/Raynor)
For those familiar with the MacDonald/Raynor template design process, this original hole at Yale was intended to be a Road Hole template, but complications with the green site required them to flip the green 180 degrees. I had trouble finding the challenge in this green design, so I went ahead and flipped it back with my own green design. This hole is much less challenging than the real Road Hole, however, so avoiding water off of the tee is the main threat. The fairway narrows at the ideal landing area, so I frequently take a 3 wood to try and reach a safe landing spot.
Hole #15
Inspiration: Hole #8 at Pebble Beach (Neville/MacKenzie)
Like the 10th hole, nothing needed to be changed with this hole, only the surroundings needed to be adjusted to make it feel like a part of the course. The Tropical backdrop now fits this hole nicely, and the approach shot provides an enticing look at the tee shot awaiting on the 16th.
Hole #16
Inspiration: Hole #16 at Cypress Point (MacKenzie)
Perhaps the most photogenic hole in America, if not the world, this hole ruined the overall flow of the course in each of the previous renditions of the course. Thankfully this hole should now find a home on Doak Island, with a great backdrop of the ocean along with the 111th and 12th holes in the distance. It probably still doesn’t do the the original justice, but it makes for a long and fair challenge, and is the last of a collection of stout par 3’s in the round. The safest play here is to aim for the center of the green and putt to the edges.
Hole #17
Inspiration: Hole #17 at Muirfield (Colt)
The last of the very gettable par 5’s on the course, this is inspired by one of my favorite par 5’s in the world. Your aggressiveness off of the tee will determine your ability to reach the green in two, and a missed fairway here brings the cross bunkers into play on the second shot. Any shot in the bunkers or heavy rough will likely require a lay-up before the cross bunkers. A small green wedged in between two dunes makes for a difficult but fun approach at any length.
Hole #18
Inspiration: Hole #4 at Myopia Hunt Club (Leeds)
This closing par 4 features one of the more difficult drives on the course between two cross bunkers and a ravine on the left. A miss to the right is better than left, as the right to left sloping fairway and green can be used to try and steer the ball towards the pin. Misses to the left must clear the fronting bunkers but stop on the heavily back-to-front sloped green. The improved view with the ocean on the left and less trees impeding the view of the hotels/clubhouse makes for a better conclusion to the round than in previous iterations.