Golf clubs - Courses and their architects: Tom Doak

Tom Doak is one of the hottest architects of golf clubs and courses at work in the world today.

Tom Doak is a hugely successful architect of courses for golf clubs � but he has been exposed to the work and views of different golf architects renowned in their field.

Tom first picked up a set of golf clubs when he was 10 years-old and one of the first courses he saw was Harbor Town . It triggered his interest in design, and after his freshman year at Cornell University in 1979, he knew this was what he wanted to do for a living.

He began his career looking at all aspects of design, and took time to study what is perhaps the greatest of golf clubs and courses in the world � St Andrews in Scotland , the home of golf. While studying at Cornell University , Doak caddied at the golf clubs and studied the courses around Scotland .

After studying Landscape Architecture, Doak adapted the theories to golf clubs and courses. Unlike previous designers, he viewed the fairways as golf holes � bunkers were there just to make the hole interesting. Like many great artists and designers, Doak absorbed all the great golf courses around the world, visiting golf clubs in America , Australia and the British Isles . The extent of his study is evidenced in the number of books he has written on the subject, including:

• The Anatomy of a Golf Course
• The Confidential Guide to Golf Courses
• The Making of Pacific Dunes
• The Life and Work of Dr. Alister MacKenzie

Learning from the great designers of golf clubs and courses, he still made each design his own. He does however credit the famous golf architect Pete Dye for his success. Doak worked with Dye while still in graduate school, he taught him to use bulldozers and think three-dimensionally.

Doak's golf courses can be found at numerous golf clubs across the world, including:

• Barnbougle Dunes Golf Links - Tasmania , Australia
• Cape Kidnappers Resort - Napier New Zealand
• Pacific Dunes, Bandon Dunes Golf Resort � Oregon , America
• The Rawls Course at Texas Tech University � America

There's no doubt that Tom Doak is one of the hottest designers of golf clubs and courses in the world today. He has helped create over a dozen courses across the world as well as write some important texts for the golfing field.

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