Michigan, USA
Tom Doak returns to resurrect his first solo design. The only question is: How high will High Pointe go?
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Tom Doak returns to resurrect his first solo design. The only question is: How high will High Pointe go?
Tom Doak, anticipation and expectation run high. Rarely does a project set a bar so high with regard to deliverables and then exceed them. High Pointe has it all - a history, a story of triumph then loss, and the resurrection of a master's first and purest expression in his oeuvre.
In 1988, east of Dr Alister MacKenzie's now-famous Crystal Downs, Tom Doak was given the opportunity to find his first golf course - High Pointe. He describes himself as a 'novice' at the time of construction. He landed a client willing to take a chance and gave him the opportunity to put golf first - at the expense of housing plots and even practice facilities.
Without the fanfare of a now typical Tom Doak course opening, an unknown 26-year-old golf course architect would start a career that would change the face of golf for all and for the better. 30-plus years later, proprietor Rod Trump, has engaged Tom Doak himself to restore his own work whilst adding land which Tom wanted at the beginning.
A gentleman by the name of Don Hayden hired Tom to deliver the project for $1.4 million USD. The 320-acre parcel of land was used for agriculture and had previously been pasture land, a cherry orchard and contained a wetland. An additional 40 acres of sandy hills reminded Tom of the London heathlands and Pine Valley.
Tom Doak's original ethos delivered a great golf course and set the stage for a career defined and established on the principles at High Pointe. He writes in Getting to 18: "I planned to do all the shaping myself… My mantra was to err on the side of moving too little earth… so I could retain control over the whole process." The most earth moved on the original construction was on the original 12th hole, where a little D3 dozer took three days to reduce blindness on the two-shot hole.
Tom was breaking the mould and didn't stick to convention at the time. Faux links were en vogue in America at the time - Tom went in a completely different direction. The conviction and confidence shown by a young mid-twenties enthusiast would become a hallmark of Tom's career in the decades to come. Before width and angles were common knowledge amongst the golf course architecture Illuminati, Tom Doak had established a fairway that required five rows of irrigation on the 14th!
It was the 13th hole that would become the favourite and most celebrated. The green was the first built by Tom Doak himself, on his first solo project and described by Tom as 'a true original.' The design feature here would serve Tom later in his career and become a bit of a hallmark of his designs. The steep bank to the rear of the green could be used as the ramp to access pins from the bunker, chipping from the right side of the green or even on an approach from the fairway. The concept of hitting away from the target to access the inaccessible was the epiphany Tom had while shaping his first green on his first solo project.
Tom wrote later that he regretted his design on the 18th. Routed on the lowest part of the property, a double dogleg that was strategic in design but penal in nature after forced carries were introduced because of planning constraints imposed on him by the authorities surrounding the wetlands. Tom would call the final hole High Pointe's 'Achilles Heel.'
Tom Doak would also break with convention in sowing the course with Fescue. Experts lined up to point out this was foolhardy and was doomed to failure. It succeeded but was lost in time to superintendents less ambitious than Tom had envisioned. Today, most would prefer to play fescue than anything else and most high-profile courses with the best turf in America are carpeted with the same.
The original owner passed away in 2006. His son would later close the course in 2008 and turn it into a hop farm. It was Tom's only course where he shaped all 18 greens and still claims several holes would qualify as his best work. The two holes he identified in the original Confidential Guide as standouts were the 13th and 14th, which he awarded the rare !! However, the 8th, 11th, and 12th also received the honour of a single! All of these holes have been retained in the reimagined High Pointe.
In the interim between 2008 and 2022, the front nine had been bulldozed with 6 holes on the 'Back 40' still intact. The new owner, Rod Trump, called Tom and his team back to restore six holes and rebuild 12 more on an adjacent parcel of land. Described as the 'spark of youth in the hands of an old master' the golf world is waiting for the eventual unveiling of the masterpiece in 2025. All 18 holes were opened for play on September 6, 2024, and two club competitions have been played with giddy members lauding the layout.
The original six-hole hole stretch from 10 to 15 is considered by some, including Ran Morrisett, to be some of the best built by Tom with the 13th considered one of the best greens he's ever built.
The second iteration takes a little explaining but we have done our best to describe the changes below:
The first seven holes are brand new, before flowing seamlessly into two of the original six holes. The dog-leg 10th hole - which still plays down the hill and back up to a raised green - becomes the 8th and is followed by the short par 3 that previously played as the 11th, but now completes the front nine.
Two sweeping new holes play as 10 and 11, before rejoining the much-lauded stretch of holes from 12 to 15, which are played in their original order and number. 16 is the first of three new homeward holes and takes you back up to the site of the old clubhouse, before crossing back over to the newer parcel of land for 17 and 18. The original front nine and the three closing holes are no longer in play.
The 3rd hole is of note and in typical Doak fashion it is completely different. Drawing inspiration from Tom Fazio and Pacific Dunes, the hole features two greens that can used for play as a short (130 yards) or long par 3 that plays 230 yards. The original opening 9 holes and the original three closing holes are no longer in play. The new High Pointe will play as a Par 71 and checks in at just under 7000 yards.
The new clubhouse is on the east side of the property, with the return to the clubhouse on the 18th green. There will no doubt be shorter members loops or boozer loops. The 1st, 6th, and 7th, coupled with the 17th and 18th could be a compelling 5-hole loop that begins and ends at the clubhouse. Another could be the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 2nd again. No doubt the members will enjoy finding the courses within the course.
The original owners had asked Tom to find an additional nine holes in 1988… It appears that has now come good decades later. Where Tom Doak did all the greens on the original course, his trusted shapers have played a part on the second iteration, with Brian Slawnik playing a role. Tom did do the first iteration of all the new greens and had a little help to finish them off. Tom himself describes Brian as one of the best people ever to operate a bulldozer.
The bunker sand is also of note - you won't be seeing flashed white quartz here… the sand is harvested on-site and is exactly the same material you play off, minus the turf. This might be a small detail but when it comes to pure golf, this minor detail tells the purest all they need to know about what kind of golf and golf club this is destined to be.
On Friday the 19th of July, 2024, the 1st tee officially opened. All 18 holes were open for play on September 6, 2024. The inaugural season came to a close on October 13, 2024. 2025 will be a decidedly big year with much more play on a new but fully grown in golf course to be played on.
They have one of the very best in the business on site to manage the grow in and establish the course. Dan Lucas, a fescue specialist who made a reputation for himself at nearby Kingsley Club, has been brought in to get it right from the beginning. Pure golf on firm ground with tight lies from fescue turf is the destination.
Rod Trump's original vision was not only to create a world-class golf course but also to craft a curated membership to build one of the world’s truly great golf clubs.
What are the defining characteristics of a High Pointe member? Rod Trump answers: "Our members will be bound together by a shared love of the greatest game, a respect for its traditions, and an extremely high golf IQ." Explaining further, he continues: "They understand how the game is expected to be played. They have a draw to walking the golf course with a caddie because that the best way the game is experienced. Playing in 4 hours or less, but not at the expense of telling a joke or listening to a story." High Pointe members will get that golf is about the experience.
When you hear Rod speak about the role he's played, you can tell it means more than just being the man who brought back Tom Doak's first solo design. He understands the gravity of what he's done, what he is doing and what it means to golf. It is obvious this isn't just ambition and pride - it is more meaningful and pure than that and that passion shines through in abundance.
Tom Doak says that a great golf course is 75% the land you're given to begin with… it needs drama, and variety and is relatively easy to walk. Can greens and tees be located close to each other? Does it have the right kind of vegetation? The resounding answer to all those questions is a triumphant yes. In Tom Doak's original Confidential Guide, he awarded himself a 7… 'an excellent course, worth checking out if you get anywhere within 100 miles.' We have no doubt High Pointe 2.0 will climb even higher, the question is: "How high?"
We owe Tom Doak a lot for his contributions to this great game. He has cemented his legacy in the pantheon of golf course architects, but it may just be Don Hayden who we need to thank the most for taking a chance on a young twenty-something who had the conviction to do something that would become the genesis of an entire movement in golf.
The vision to purchase the land, buy additional land and convince Tom to come back is down to Rod Trump who, in time, we will need to thank and remember for reinstating what will no doubt become the mecca of golf course architecture pilgrims for decades to come.
In northern Michigan, there lies a parcel of land where these three men have all played a role in making the landscape of golf what it is and will be for millions of golfers around the world. With Crystal Downs, Kingsley Club and now High Pointe, Traverse City may just become golf's latest golf must-get to destination.
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