If you've watched any professional golf on television over the past four decades, you've heard the letters "TPC" attached to a course name. TPC Sawgrass. TPC Scottsdale. TPC Harding Park. TPC stands for Tournament Players Club — a network of golf courses owned, operated, and licensed by the PGA Tour. The branding is everywhere in the sport, but most travelling golfers don't fully understand what it means, where it came from, or why it should matter to them when planning a trip.
The story behind TPC is one of the shrewdest business moves in the history of sport. It reshaped the economics of professional golf, created a network of courses that the public can actually play, and pioneered a design philosophy that remains divisive among architecture enthusiasts to this day.
Today, the TPC network comprises 30 properties across three countries — the United States, Canada, and Mexico — plus the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. Here's what you need to know.
For most of its history, the PGA Tour operated as a travelling circus. Each week, the Tour would pitch up at a different private club, stage a tournament, and move on. The host club controlled the course setup, the infrastructure, the hospitality, and the revenue. The Tour was a well-known guest renting somebody else's living room.
By the late 1970s, that arrangement was breaking down. Spectator experiences at many venues were poor — cramped viewing corridors, limited sightlines, zero infrastructure for grandstands or broadcast equipment. Private clubs weren't designed for crowds of 30,000 or more. And the Tour had almost no control over the commercial revenue being generated at its own events.
PGA Tour Commissioner Deane Beman saw the solution: the Tour needed to build and own its own courses. It was a radical idea — a professional sports league constructing its own stadiums. In American football or baseball, that model was well established. In golf, nobody had attempted it.
Beman enlisted architect Pete Dye, and in 1980, they opened TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. It would become the permanent home of The Players Championship and, in time, one of the most recognisable golf courses on earth.
The signature concept behind TPC courses is what Beman and Dye termed "stadium golf." The premise was straightforward: design the course so that spectators can actually see what's happening. In practice, that meant sculpting enormous mounds around greens and along key fairway corridors, creating natural amphitheatres where thousands of fans could watch the action from elevated vantage points.
At Sawgrass, Dye committed fully. The course was carved from flat Florida swampland, with earth-moving equipment fabricating elevation changes the terrain never provided naturally. Waste bunkers, railway sleeper walls, bulkheaded lakes, and the now-iconic island green par-3 17th hole were all part of a layout that felt like nothing else in American golf.
Tour professionals initially loathed it. The original routing was brutally penal, with water swallowing balls on seemingly every hole. J.C. Snead famously described the course as "90% horse manure and 10% luck." But Beman hadn't built Sawgrass to please the players. He'd built it for fans, for television cameras, and for the Tour's financial independence.
The design philosophy has always split opinion. The weaker TPC courses feel very much manufactured — rows of uniform berms that bear no relationship to the landscape, constructed purely to give galleries somewhere to stand. That distinction matters if you care about golf course architecture, and it explains why some TPC courses rank among the best in their state while others go unranked entirely.
Here's the part that's most relevant if you're building a trip itinerary: a significant portion of TPC courses are open for public play. Unlike the storied private clubs that host major championships, the TPC network was designed with accessibility at its core.
Of the 30 TPC properties, 14 are resort or daily-fee courses where you can book a tee time and pay a green fee without any membership. These include the flagship venues — TPC Sawgrass, TPC Scottsdale, TPC San Antonio, TPC Harding Park, TPC Las Vegas, TPC Louisiana, and TPC Dorado Beach, among them. The remaining 16 are private clubs, including notable tournament venues like TPC Southwind, TPC River Highlands, TPC Craig Ranch, and TPC Boston, where access is restricted to members and their guests.
Just under half the network is genuinely accessible to travelling golfers, but that still represents a rare opportunity in professional golf — if you want to play a course where Tour events take place, TPC's pay-and-play venues are often your best, and sometimes your only, realistic option.
The trade-off is price. Green fees at flagship TPC courses regularly sit between $300 and $500, sometimes considerably more during peak season. You're paying for the brand, the conditioning, and the bragging rights. Whether that represents value depends on what you want from a round of golf.
Conditioning across the network is consistently strong. Because TPC courses are PGA Tour-owned, they're maintained to professional standards year-round rather than being polished for one event week per year. Greens are quick, fairways are tight, bunkers are pristine. If immaculate course conditioning is a priority for you, TPC venues will rarely let you down.
We've reviewed and ranked every TPC course in the network. These are the five that stand above the rest; whether they are worth a green fee is up to you.
Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
The flagship of the entire network and the course that started it all. Home of The Players Championship — which carries the largest purse on the PGA Tour outside the four majors — Sawgrass is the definitive TPC experience. The island green 17th is the single most televised hole in professional golf, and regardless of what you think about it architecturally, standing on that tee with a wedge in your hand is one of the great bucket-list moments in the game.
Pete Dye softened the routing significantly after its brutal early years, and the course has matured beautifully through the Florida wetlands. The conditioning is immaculate, the practice facilities are world-class, and the entire experience — from check-in to the 18th green — is polished in a way that justifies the premium green fee. Playing Sawgrass feels like an event. That's exactly what it was designed to be.
Norton, Massachusetts
A Gil Hanse design that hosted the Dell Technologies Championship (formerly the Deutsche Bank Championship) for over a decade as part of the FedEx Cup Playoffs. It's worth noting that TPC Boston operates as a private club, so access is limited to members and their guests — but it earns its place on this list on the strength of the design alone. TPC Boston stands apart from most courses in the network because of Hanse's reputation as one of the most respected modern architects in the game — his portfolio includes Merion's restoration and the Olympic Course in Rio.
The routing moves through mature New England woodland with subtle, strategic bunkering and green complexes that reward creativity. It's a course that feels more considered than many TPC venues — less reliant on the stadium mounding formula and more focused on the quality of the golf itself. For golfers who appreciate design substance alongside Tour pedigree, Boston is a standout.
Berthoud, Colorado
One of the newer additions to the TPC network, TPC Colorado was designed by Art Schaupeter and sits against the dramatic backdrop of the Rocky Mountain Front Range. The course hosted the Korn Ferry Tour's TPC Colorado Championship and offers something that many TPC courses lack: a genuine sense of place. The mountain views are spectacular, the layout uses the rolling terrain intelligently, and the conditioning meets the standard you'd expect from the brand.
It's a course that demonstrates what the TPC model looks like when it embraces natural landscape rather than imposing manufactured features onto flat ground. For golfers passing through Colorado, it's a compelling option that many overlook.
San Antonio, Texas
Home of the Valero Texas Open, which holds the distinction of being the longest-running event on the PGA Tour at the same course. The Oaks Course, designed by Greg Norman with Sergio Garcia's input, threads through the Texas Hill Country landscape of live oaks and native grasses, with the rock outcroppings and elevation changes giving the layout a character that feels authentically Texan.
The resort complex at JW Marriott San Antonio also houses the Canyons Course (a separate TPC-branded layout by Pete Dye), making it a strong multi-round destination. The Oaks is the stronger of the two designs and earns its place among the top TPC courses for its combination of tournament pedigree, natural setting, and accessibility as a resort course.
San Francisco, California
If there's one TPC course that transcends the brand entirely, it's Harding Park. Originally built as a municipal course in the 1920s, it was renovated and brought into the TPC fold, and has since hosted the PGA Championship, the WGC-Match Play, and the Presidents Cup. Set among towering Monterey cypress trees along the shores of Lake Merced, it possesses a sense of history and atmosphere that purpose-built TPC courses simply cannot replicate.
The fact that it remains a public course in a major American city — one that has hosted a major championship — makes it almost unique in the sport. It barely feels like a "TPC course" in the traditional sense, and that's precisely what makes it special. The architecture predates the stadium golf era by half a century, and the Monterey cypress corridors give it a gravitas that no amount of manufactured mounding could create.
Several TPC courses outside our top 5 deserve mention for travelling golfers.
TPC Scottsdale's Stadium Course hosts the WM Phoenix Open and its infamous par-3 16th hole stadium — the most raucous atmosphere in professional golf.
TPC River Highlands hosts the Travellers Championship and features one of the best finishing stretches on Tour.
TPC Southwind is home to the FedEx St. Jude Invitational — the PGA Tour's only private club in Tennessee.
TPC Louisiana and TPC Deere Run are strong options that often fly under the radar.
The TPC network extends beyond the continental U.S. into two additional countries and one U.S. territory. In Puerto Rico, TPC Dorado Beach is a 54-hole resort complex with the East Course ranked #1 on the island.
In Mexico, TPC Danzante Bay in Loreto, Baja California Sur is ranked #17 nationally — a stunning coastal layout in one of the country's most beautiful settings.
In Canada, TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley offers three courses (Hoot, Heathlands, and North), all ranked within the Canadian top 80 and all sharing the same Alton, Ontario facility.
The TPC network deserves credit for something that often gets overlooked: access to professional-calibre golf courses used for tournament play. Before TPC, if you wanted to play a course where Tour events took place, your options were virtually nonexistent. TPC created a pathway for everyday golfers to experience tournament conditions/
The business model was visionary. The PGA Tour transformed itself from an organisation dependent on the goodwill of private clubs into a property portfolio generating year-round revenue through green fees, memberships, hospitality, and event hosting. It gave the Tour financial independence and brand control that it simply didn't have before.
The TPC name implies a certain standard, but the network includes everything from world-class tournament venues to facilities that are essentially well-maintained daily-fee courses carrying a premium marque. Not every TPC course hosts or was ever intended to host a Tour event.
From an architectural standpoint, the ‘stadium’ build that defines most TPC designs can feel formulaic — manufactured berms that serve no strategic purpose and have no relationship to the natural landscape.
If a TPC course falls on your travel route, it may be worth considering. Our top 5 (Sawgrass, Boston, Colorado, San Antonio Oaks, and Harding Park) offer experiences that are difficult to replicate elsewhere: exceptional conditioning, memorable holes, and the chance to walk fairways you've watched on television.
For the remaining TPC courses, weigh the green fee against what else is available in that market. In some cases, you'll find that a similarly priced course without the TPC badge offers a more interesting, more characterful round of golf.
What Deane Beman started in 1980 was more than a golf course. It was a business model that altered an entire sport. Whether or not every TPC venue lives up to the ambition of that original vision, the concept itself remains one of the most consequential innovations in the modern game.
See our TPC Ranking, you would actually want to play.
You don't need a four-figure budget, a private-club connection or an invitation from a member to play a course in the World Top 100. Top100 has collated the 10 cheapest visitor-accessible courses on our current World Top 100 Ranking, based on standard green fees. From a world-class links in Tasmania to a U.S. Open and Ryder Cup venue in New York, these courses offer the chance to play some of the best golf on the planet without the eye-watering green fees attached to many of their World Top 100 counterparts. 1. St Andrews Beach Golf Course (Victoria, Australia) World Ranking: 89th | Australia ranking: 6th | Green fee: A$139 (£74) Tom Doak’s first Australian mainland design, St Andrews Beach opened in 2004 on the Mornington Peninsula and has since become one of the country’s best-value, ranked courses. The public-access layout occupies 175 hectares of former grazing land, with wide fairways, rolling terrain and sandy natural contours that give several holes a links-like feel. Measuring just over 6,000 metres from the back tees, it is playable for a broad range of golfers, though the subtle greens ensure there is still plenty to think about. In a region known for outstanding golf, St Andrews Beach stands out not only for its quality but also for its accessibility, offering everyday golfers the chance to experience a Tom Doak design without the premium price tag often attached to courses of this calibre. 2. Bethpage Black (New York, USA) World Ranking: 58th | USA ranking: 28th | Green fee: From US$140 (£106) Bethpage Black has the rare distinction of being a World Top 100 course, a major championship venue and a public golf course. Located within Bethpage State Park on Long Island, the A.W. Tillinghast design opened in 1936 and has since hosted two U.S. Opens and the 2025 Ryder Cup. The Black is renowned for its difficulty, with narrow fairways, deep rough, large sculpted bunkers and elevated greens making accuracy essential. It is a demanding test, but one that remains remarkably accessible to everyday golfers. That combination of championship pedigree and public access is what makes Bethpage Black so unusual. Few golfers get the chance to play a course of this stature without needing a private-club connection or resort stay. 3. Paraparaumu Beach Golf Club (Wellington, New Zealand) World Ranking: 91st | New Zealand ranking: 2nd | Green fee: NZ$275 (£118) Set on the Kapiti Coast, north of New Zealand's capital city Wellington, Paraparaumu Beach has been one of the country’s most celebrated golf courses since Alex Russell designed it in 1949. The links has hosted 12 New Zealand Opens and has long been regarded as one of the country’s finest layouts. It is a relatively short course by modern championship standards, but the coastal wind, firm fairways, deep bunkers and undulating greens provide plenty of challenge. The split-fairway 17th is a particular highlight, forcing golfers to choose between two very different routes to the green. For international golfers, Paraparaumu offers the chance to experience a genuine piece of New Zealand golfing history without needing access to a private resort. 4. Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge Golf Course (Alberta, Canada) World Ranking: 73rd | Canada ranking: 2nd | Green fee: C$280 (£149) Set among the Canadian Rockies in Jasper National Park, Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge is one of Stanley Thompson’s most celebrated designs. Opened in 1925, the course winds through the valley beside Lake Beauvert, with snow-capped peaks providing a backdrop to almost every hole. The course combines wide fairways, elevated tees and strategically placed bunkers with the natural contours of the landscape. Thompson’s design rewards thoughtful play rather than simply demanding power, making it a course that can be enjoyed by golfers of different abilities. The result is a rare combination of classic golf and Canadian wilderness, with the surrounding mountains and forest making the journey between shots almost as memorable as the golf itself. 5. Barnbougle - The Dunes Course (Tasmania, Australia) World Ranking: 25th | Australia ranking: 3rd | Green fee: A$285 (£151) Barnbougle Dunes is about as close as Australia gets to a traditional seaside links. Set on Tasmania’s northeast coast, the course was designed by Tom Doak and Australian Mike Clayton and opened in 2004, establishing Barnbougle as one of the country’s premier golf destinations. The layout runs through towering coastal dunes, with wide fairways, natural contours and greens that follow the movement of the land. The wind is an ever-present factor, while the strategic design rewards golfers who think their way around the course rather than simply relying on power. For golfers seeking a genuine links experience outside the British Isles, Barnbougle Dunes is about as compelling as it gets, combining world-class golf with the rugged coastline of Tasmania. 6. Cape Wickham Golf Links (Tasmania, Australia) World Ranking: 47th | Australia ranking: 4th | Green fee: A$315 (£167) Cape Wickham occupies a spectacular stretch of coastline on King Island, sitting in Bass Strait between Tasmania and mainland Australia. Designed by American architect Mike DeVries, the links opened in 2015 and quickly established itself as one of the country's standout modern courses. The course makes the most of its remote coastal setting, with the opening five holes winding around Cape Farewell before the layout moves through sand hills and limestone outcrops. Several holes hug the shoreline, while the closing stretch heads towards the imposing Cape Wickham Lighthouse. The 18th provides a fitting finale, with the fairway doglegging around a sandy bay before reaching the home green, making Cape Wickham a memorable links experience from start to finish. 7. St Enodoc Golf Club - Church Course (Cornwall, England) World Ranking: 49th | England ranking: 4th | Green fee: £175 Set among towering dunes overlooking the Camel Estuary in Cornwall, St Enodoc’s Church Course is one of James Braid’s most distinctive designs. Founded in 1891, the course was transformed by Braid in the early 20th century and remains a spectacularly natural links. It is a relatively short par 69 at 6,010 metres, but its undulating fairways, dramatic elevation changes and formidable dunes create a test that demands imagination. The famous 6th is the standout, with the enormous Himalaya dune obscuring the green and making club selection particularly difficult. The course also has an unusual piece of history, with the 13th hole running alongside the churchyard where poet laureate John Betjeman is buried. 8. South Cape Owners Club (Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea) World Ranking: 63rd | South Korea ranking: 2nd | Green fee: From KRW 350,000 (£195) Set on Namhae Island off the southeast coast of South Korea, South Cape Owners Club is a dramatic Kyle Phillips design where the ocean is visible from all 18 holes. The course opened in 2013 as part of a luxury resort development and has quickly established itself among Asia's most striking modern layouts. The course is framed by granite outcrops, coastal cliffs and rolling terrain, with bluegrass fairways contrasting against fine fescue rough. The standout stretch comes from the 11th onwards, culminating in two spectacular waterside par threes at the 14th and 16th. For golfers willing to make the journey to Namhae Island, South Cape offers a rare combination of world-class golf, dramatic coastal scenery and a luxury resort experience. 9. Utrecht De Pan Golf Club (Utrecht, Netherlands) World Ranking: 56th | Netherlands ranking: 1st | Green fee: From €235 (£198) Dating back to 1894, Utrecht De Pan is the second-oldest golf club in the Netherlands, with Harry Colt designing the current course in 1929. Set in secluded woodland near Utrecht, the layout is a classic heathland course, winding through pine, birch, oak and chestnut trees. De Pan has hosted the Dutch Open three times and is built around strategic rather than power golf. Several of its most memorable holes play over valleys of heather and sand, while the sixth and seventh demand particularly thoughtful tee shots and approaches. Recent restoration work by Frank Pont has helped return the course towards Colt’s original design, making De Pan a fascinating example of Golden Age heathland golf in the Netherlands. 10. Cruden Bay Golf Club - Championship Course (Aberdeenshire, Scotland) World Ranking: 70th | Scotland ranking: 10th | Green fee: From £205 Cruden Bay is one of Scotland’s most distinctive links, winding through towering dunes on the Aberdeenshire coast with the North Sea providing a constant backdrop. The course opened in 1899 after being laid out by Old Tom Morris and Archie Simpson, before Tom Simpson and Herbert Fowler remodelled it in 1926. Cruden Bay makes spectacular use of its natural terrain, with elevated tees, blind drives, punchbowl greens and fairways that rise and fall between the dunes. The 193-yard 4th, played from an elevated tee across a deep hollow, is one of several standout holes. There is plenty of character, too, from driveable par fours and back-to-back par threes to the feeling that every hole reveals something different. It is exactly the sort of course that rewards golfers willing to embrace its quirks. Green fees are based on standard 18-hole visitor rates, using international visitor rates where applicable. All prices are peak-season rates and do not take twilight, off-season or promotional rates into account. Prices are correct at the time of writing and are subject to change.
The Golden Age greats are admired and applauded for the legacy they left the game. Deservedly so, as they brought us out of darkness and into the light. Sadly, within a few decades, the momentum was lost. Despite a period of enlightenment, golf had retreated into a second dark age. Then, the emergence of Tom Doak... Renaissance Golf Design A French word meaning rebirth, renaissance could not be more fitting for the resurgence in strategic, minimalist golf championed by Tom Doak but also the period ushered in by him and his team since 1989. Tom Doak will often point to his tutelage under Pete Dye as the genesis of the movement. He also counts Ben Crenshaw and Walter Woods as mentors. But make no mistake, Tom Doak (amongst a handful of others which we will cover in due course) set in motion a movement that has set golf on a heading back to its second golden age. In this article, we look at Tom Doak's current projects, the portfolio that he and his team have created, and sadly, projects that no longer exist. (His restoration projects and consulting work will be covered in another article.) Tom Doak's Current Projects East Potomac (Blue) - USA - Washington DC - Expected 2028 A rare Tom Doak restoration. Walter Travis originally designed a reversible course in the 1920's - something he has pulled off before at Forest Dunes in 2016. As well, it's a municipal so there's a good chance you'll be able to play it. The finished project will also include a 9-hole executive course, a par 3 course, mini golf, and a practice facility. Crooked Stick - USA - Indiana - Expected 2025 Tom Doak's connection to Crooked Stick dates back to his days with Mr Pete Dye. Eric Iverson, one of Renaissance's principals, is helping out as well. All 18 greens are being reworked and is expected to reopen for play on schedule in 2025. Cabot Highlands - Old Petty - Scotland - 2025 The second 18-hole golf course at Cabot Highlands, with the first being Gil Hanse' Cabot Highlands Castle Stuart. Will Old Petty challenge the new builds in Scotland for title of best yet? Sandglass Golf Club (Rolling Sands) - USA - Florida - Expected 2025 A flat, sand-based site is the perfect canvas for template holes from Tom's favourite courses around the world. Holes from St Andrews, Muirfield, North Berwick, and Pine Valley make an appearance. Childress Hall - USA - Texas - Expected 2025 A sand-based site in the north-west of Texas with quartz dunes with a unique crescent shape. Wild Spring Dunes - USA - Texas - Expected 2025 Another Mike Keiser destination golf resort, the property will consist of 36 holes - 18 from Tom Doak and 18 from Coore & Crenshaw. 'Initially' is the key word here as 2400 acres are on hand for potential further development. Tom describes the property as resembling LACC, Pasatiempo and Pine Valley... Punta Brava Golf & Surf Club - Mexico - Expected 2025 A peninsula with ocean on three sides. A very elite private club on a very challenging site make it a once in a lifetime opportunity. CGI Courtesy Harris Kalinka Tom Doak's New Build Portfolio High Pointe - USA - Michigan - 2024 A restoration of 6 of Tom Doak's best original holes from 1989 along with 12 new holes. Pinehurst No. 10 - USA - North Carolina - 2024 The first 18-hole golf course at Pinehurst in the parcel of land known as the Pinehurst Sandmines. Sand Valley - Sedge Valley - USA - Wisconsin - 2024 Tom Doak pays homage to the London heathlands at Sand Valley. The Tree Farm - USA - South Carolina - 2023 Tom with PGA Tour player Zac Blair on a routing which was then built by Kye Goalby. It has been a rousing success with the masses, debuting in the USA Top 100. Photo Courtesy Tree Farm/ Marsh Te Arai Resort - North Course - New Zealand - 2023 A public, 18-hole golf course sandwiched between Tom Doak's own Tara Iti and Coore & Crenshaw's Te Arai South. The Lido - Sand Valley - USA - Wisconsin - 2022 Tom Doak recreates CB MacDonald's long-lost Long Island golf course. Boundaries were pushed in the making of the course - a triumph of engineering, technology, artisanship and skill. St Patrick's Links - Ireland - 2021 One of Tom Doak's best, it was a long ambition to build a links in Ireland. Kilshannig in Ireland almost happened and then didn't... So good it has entered the World Top 100 in most rankings universally and then continued to rise. Memorial Park Golf Club - USA - Texas - 2020 A municipal golf course in Houston, Texas that also acts as a PGA Tour destination once a week a year... A tour player was involved again but not Jack - this time Brooks Keopka. Gunnamatta Course at The National - Australia - 2018 Tom Doak returned to Australia more than a decade after Barnbougle Dunes and St Andrews Beach. The Loop at Forest Dunes - USA - Michigan - 2016 Two courses for one with the reversible layout known as The Loop. Red and Black are played on the same course in opposite directions. Stoatin Brae Golf Course - USA - Michigan - 2016 From Tom's stable at Renaissance Golf Design: Brian Schneider, Don Placek, Brian Slawnik, and Eric Iverson collaborated on the course that has escaped attention and fanfare in Renaissance's backyard. Grand St Emilionnais Golf Club - France - 2015 A fescue playing surface in Bordeaux amongst heather and gorse. An affordable tee time on a Tom Doak design in the famous wine region of France. Tara Iti Golf Club - New Zealand - 2015 Could this be Tom Doak's greatest design? He counts it amongst his 10 best and it is his his ranked golf course almost universally. Photo Courtesy Ricky Robinson / Tara Iti Medinah Country Club (Course One) - USA - Illinois - 2014 A new course with an old name. With coffers full following the Miracle at Medina, several holes were kept but the majority were lost in a re-route and a new set of greens. Dismal River Club (Red Course) - USA - Nebraska - 2013 One of the Renaissance top 10 best... as they see it. Contrasting with the Nicklaus design next door and lying west of Coore and Crenshaw's (and perhaps the greatest modern golf course in the world) greatest design. Streamsong Resort (Blue Course) - USA - Florida - 2013 The home of destination golf. Bill Coore and Tom Doak worked together on two 18-hole layouts before deciding which firm would build each one. A third Gil Hanse design would follow in 2017. Old MacDonald - USA - Oregon - 2010 Designed in the style of CB MacDonald through a collaboration between Jim Urbina and Tom Doak. CommonGround - USA - Colorado - 2009 A 'commoner's course' so to speak. A low green fee on a great golf course - in the spirit of Scottish golf - it's for the people. Rock Creek Cattle Company - USA - Montana - 2008 A very private golf club in Montana. It is one of Tom Doak's best and the best within two states in either direction. Photo Courtesy E Schiller The Renaissance Club - Scotland - 2007 Tom Doak's first golf course in the shadow of Muirfield. His second links at Cabot Highlands will no doubt rival his first layout. Sebonack Golf Club - USA - New York - 2006 A quite unusual collaboration between Jack Nicklaus and Tom Doak. It was never going to be an easy road and perhaps a missed opportunity by Michael Pascucci. One of the most expensive memberships in the world, it lies beside NGLA and Shinnecock. Ballyneal Golf Club - USA - Colorado - 2006 The golf course that Tom Doak calls perhaps his most fun. What has become a trademark (if he has one) of bold slopes and contours feeding the ball to the intended target are found here in abundance. Stone Eagle Golf Club - USA - California - 2005 It wasn't a natural site for golf but the desert provides a striking landscape and canvas. It narrowly misses out on USA Top 100. Tom calls it his most complex and difficult job to date. Tumble Creek at Suncadia - USA - Washington - 2005 One of Tom Doak's few golf & residential developments in a state not known for golf. St Andrew's Beach - Australia - 2004 For an architect known for his minimalist approach, this has been the most natural of all his projects. Just three holes were touched by earth-moving equipment and the rest were found... Barbougle Dunes Golf Links - Australia - 2004 One of Tom Doak's greatest works, it paved the way for Tasmania to become the destination golf capital of the southern hemisphere. Cape Kidnappers - New Zealand - 2004 The most audacious land used for golf perhaps ever. The 400-foot cliff-top course is a marvel and is perhaps enjoyed most by those who have a minor understanding of designing golf where it probably wasn't destined to be... this is an architect's golf course. Photo Courtesy Gary Lisbon Stonewall Golf Club - North - USA - Pennsylvania - 2003 When you are a member of both Pine Valley and Merion, what else could you want? 36 holes from Tom Doak where full tee sheets are never an issue... The first 18 were delivered in 1993 before he returned for an encore in 2003. Pacific Dunes - USA - Oregon - 2001 The course that made Tom Doak an overnight success 20 plus years in the making. Tom Doak describes this site as perhaps the best site for golf since the 1920's. Only Sand Hills ranks higher with regard to modern golf courses worldwide. Photo Courtesy Patrick Koenig The Village Club at Sands Point - USA - New York - 2000 The Guggenheim family owned the estate from 1918 until 1953. IBM used it for corporate retreats until 1994. The Village of Sands Point bought the estate in 1994 and invited Tom Doak to redevelop the 9-hole Robert Trent Jones Sr 9-hole course into the 18-hole course that exists today. Atlantic City Country Club - USA - New Jersey - 2000 A renovation of a historic classic. Evolution was the name of the game here with old holes improved and new holes found in land raised from the marsh. Lost Dunes Golf Club - USA - Michigan - 1999 The most complex greens of any design ever built by the Renaissance team. An early Doak design that flies under the radar. Riverfront Golf Club - USA - Virginia - 1999 Tom Doak says this is one of the best sets of greens and bunkers built by his team in an insipid landscape... Quail Crossing Golf Club - USA - Indiana - 1997 The cost for a green fee in 2024 was $24... Tom Doak's first golf and residential project. Stonewall Golf Club - Old - USA - Pennsylvania - 1993 36 holes of Tom Doak design on a single site. The first 18 were established in 1993. The Legends - Heathlands - USA - South Carolina - 1990 Tom Doak's second design took inspiration from St Andrews Old Course. The minimalism seen here would later cement his legacy in the pantheon of all-time greats. Tom Doak's Lost Golf Courses Apache Stronghold Golf Club - USA - Arizona - 1999-2021 Lure in travelling golfers 90 miles north of Phoenix to play golf and unwind at the casino... that was the idea until it wasn't. The Sheep Ranch - USA - Oregon - 2002-2020 The natural, write-your-own-story layout was cannibalised for the new Coore & Crenshaw Sheep Ranch. Aetna Springs Golf Club - USA - California - 2008-2018 The only 9-hole golf course in Tom Doak's portfolio. The resort is scheduled to reopen in 2026 but no golf is mentioned... Black Forest at Wilderness Valley - USA - Michigan - 1991-2018 Once a bustling golf resort, it was closed in 2018 reportedly due to unpaid taxes. Charlotte Golf Links - USA - North Carolina - 1993-2015 A land bank project, it served its greater good as a golf course before being developed at the end of its lease. Simapo Island Golf Club - China - Never Opened Tom Doak's only Chinese design, the project was ready to go and then the government stepped in and shut it down. Tom played it twice. Beechtree Golf Club - USA - Maryland - 1998-2010 The clients wanted more profit than a Top 50 Public Golf Course in the USA could provide and repurposed the land for commercial development. Original High Pointe Golf Club - USA - Michigan - 1989-2008 The first solo design of Tom Doak. The land made a more lucrative hop farm than it did as a golf course. Recently restored and elevated with new land, High Pointe has been reborn. Bahia de los Suenos Golf & Beach Club - Never Opened The global financial crisis and Mexico's drug war stopped this course was grown-in and ready to open when it was mothballed... Wicked Pony Golf Club - USA - Oregon - Never Opened Yet another victim of the 2009 global financial crisis. The course was ready for seeding when the funding dried up. Could this be the only other Tom Doak design that could emerge from the ashes?
Payne’s Valley – Sneak Preview by M. James Ward In the final week in October, during a media visit, I was able to tour the planned Payne's Valley 18-hole course. The design by Tiger Woods and Johnny Morris will be the first totally accessible to the public. The layout is planned to open in 2020, joining other golf course offerings at Big Cedar Lodge, located near Branson, Missouri. The Payne’s Valley course will feature the following distances from the championship tees: Payne’s Valley Back Tees #1 – 483 Yards – Par 4 #2 – 266 Yards – Par 3 #3 – 332 Yards – Par 4 #4 – 533 Yards – Par 5 #5 – 186 Yards – Par 3 #6 – 442 Yards – Par 4 #7 – 366 Yards – Par 4 #8 – 570 Yards – Par 5 #9 – 430 Yards – Par 4 #10 – 185 Yards – Par 3 #11 – 437 Yards – Par 4 #12 – 341 Yards – Par 4 #13 – 651 Yards – Par 5 #14 – 422 Yards – Par 4 #15 – 457 Yards – Par 4 #16 – 227 Yards – Par 3 #17 – 487 Yards – Par 4 #18 – 560 Yards – Par 5 TOTAL – 7375 Yards – Par 72 #19 – 100 yards – Par 3 The course is named in honor of Payne Stewart. The Missouri native grew up in nearby Springfield and was a three-time major champion. Tragically, Stewart lost his life in a plane accident that happened just over 20 years ago. The tour of the property took place over much of the front nine, which is nearly finished in terms of course preparation. Grass for the tees and fairways will be zoysia with bent grass on the greens. The property for the course is truly expansive and is located just below the main clubhouse building. Needless to say, the views of the course from the clubhouse are truly an eyeful with the Ozarks in plain site. There are also plans to construct a mega-sized practice area located near the clubhouse and providing a downhill launch pad with a number of practice targets provided. Also being built is a 19th "betting hole" which has become a staple for other facilities to provide. The hole will be located near the 18th green. The opening hole is a very strong long par-4—descending abruptly downhill and showcasing the finely manicured turf. Payne's Valley will include 85 acres of fairway which is truly enormous. The recently opened Ozarks National has 70. Big Cedar Lodge - Payne's Valley course 1st hole The course shows Tiger’s approach to golf design in having extremely wide fairways. I hesitate to say the course is akin to Augusta National but it clearly shows a desire to provide width in the driving areas with enormous putting surfaces featuring a range of internal contours. Big Cedar Lodge - Payne's Valley course 2nd hole The 2nd hole descends downhill as well but this time in the opposite direction. Listed at 266 yards the hole will play a bit shorter because of the elevation drop and often with the prevailing wind from the southwest assisting. The routing for the remainder of the front nine follows an east/west, west/east direction. The short par-4 3rd provides an opportunity for stronger players to attempt a bold play from the tee. The par-5 4th is clearly reachable for strong players and features a fairway area as you near the green that is nearly a football field wide. Big Cedar Lodge - Payne's Valley course 3rd hole The par-3 5th plays to an island green and at Tiger's insistence a back teeing area was included. Big Cedar Lodge - Payne's Valley course 5th hole The final four holes on the outward side are a mixed bag and clearly meant to include a range of club selections. The final hole we could see is the par-3 10th which plays from an elevated teeing area to a green that's very well defended with various bunkers. The inward side could only be viewed from a distance. The course superintendent pointed out where the holes go and how they provide a varying level of challenges with the planned 651-yard 13th truly being a test. Initially, the 17th and 18th holes were to be a par-5 and par-4 sequence. That has now been flipped with the par-5 18th being a last opportunity for heroic play. Big Cedar Lodge - Payne's Valley course 18th and 19th hole The key unanswered question is how the strategic elements will be brought to fruition. All will need to wait on that until the course opens in 2020. All photos courtesy of Evan Schiller
