Tom Doak's Sedge Valley at Sand Valley contrasts with both Mammoth Dunes and Sand Valley. With the legendary London heathland golf courses and Rye being used as inspiration, Doak's second course (alongside The Lido) fills a niche - not only at the resort but also in America, of golf that is interesting rather than simply long.
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Tom Doak's Sedge Valley at Sand Valley contrasts with both Mammoth Dunes and Sand Valley. With the legendary London heathland golf courses and Rye being used as inspiration, Doak's second course (alongside The Lido) fills a niche - not only at the resort but also in America, of golf that is interesting rather than simply long.
Sand Valley (Sedge Valley)
Sand Valley Sedge Valley is the second Tom Doak-designed golf course after the acclaimed Lido. Sedge Valley sits alongside Bill Coore and Ben Crenhshaw's Sand Valley and David MacLay-Kidd's Mammoth Dunes.
A Coore & Crenshaw short course called Sandbox is a 17-hole par 3 golf course that sports templates such as Maiden, Road, Biarritz, Lion's Mouth and Redan. Here famous holes from Royal St George's, The Old Course, North Berwick and Prestwick are channelled to create a pure golf playground.
Sedge Valley also has taken inspiration from the British Isles. Rather than from the Scottish links, Tom Doak credits the London heathlands and English links for his motivation. Michael Keiser claims Sedge Valley is 'a golf experience different from anything else on property.' He also says the green sites may be the best on the property… high praise indeed.
Tom Doak (and the Sand Valley website) cite the following London heathlands as his inspiration:
- Swinley Forest
- Rye
- Woking
- The Addington
- New Zealand
- Berkshire Golf Club - Red
- St George's Hill - Red, Blue, and Green Nines
- Sunningdale Golf Club - New
- Sunningdale Golf Club - Old
Where scale and length are used by McLay-Kidd and Bill Coore at Mammoth Dunes and Sand Valley respectively, Tom Doak uses the finest green sites, native ground cover, open expanses and natural features (including rock outcroppings) to create a course that is first of all fun but more 'classic' in design and scale.
The par 68, 6200-yard golf course will be the perfect afternoon 18 after a pre-lunch 17 on Sandbox. Reports from early play seem to indicate length won't give you the advantage here you may enjoy elsewhere.
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