[Tom_Doak]

I visited Rock Creek yesterday.  It's coming along, slowly -- when you are working on land formed by glaciers and having to deal with the rocky debris of their passing, the work moves at a glacial pace.  Additionally, wet and cold weather has made the work go slow this spring.

However, you can not stop a glacier, and the course is grinding along beautifully.  Twelve holes have now been grassed (maybe six of them are roughly playable) and the remainder will be complete by the end of July.  The official opening is not to take place until June 2008, but by late September you should be able to tell what kind of course it will be.

I had dinner last night in the clubhouse which is already finished along the bank of Rock Creek ... I only hope the golf course turns out as good.

[RJ_Daley]

TD, just curious... once you pick and dispose of rocks, what is the source of the top soil/sand you do the FWs with?  Do you get enough from on or next to the site, or does it come from out of area source?   Do you then have to mix organics into what you replace for top soil there?  

[Bill_McBride]

Tom, where's the course?  Is there a website yet?

Thanks.

[cary lichtenstein]

Tom:

Did you do with the rocks what was done at Highland Links and  hump and bump up the fairways?

Cary

[Daryl David]

Here ya go.

http://www.rockcreekcattlecompany.com/

[John Shimp]

Tom,
Based on your construction efforts in MT, how long of a golf season do you think Rock Creek can support?  Are you all doing anything special with the grading or agronomic side of things to allow the course to handle the weather, spring runoff, etc?  Thanks.

[Jeff_Mingay]

Hey Tom... what happened to the "current activities" section at your web site? That seems the spot for such updates; which I thought was a pretty neat idea.

Just curious.

[Mark Bourgeois]

Somebody sure blew a golden marketing opportunity not calling it "Rock Ridge," you sidewinding hornswaggling cracker-croakers!

Cary, that sounds like a recipe for Quiche Moraine a la Vert.

[Tom_Doak]

Jeff:

I agree with you about the website, however the way it has been set up I can't add stuff directly, and my webmaster has been busy with other things the past year.  (Also, of five signed contracts, I'm still only allowed to talk about two of them by the clients.)

Cary:

The contours of the ground were beautiful, so we have been trying to remove the rocks and bury them deep underground ... we didn't feel the need to add too many contours.

John:

There are days when you can play golf for 8 months of the year at Rock Creek but I don't know if they will keep the course open more than April thru October.

[Jeff_Mingay]

Tom,

You should simply use a blogspot - or similar application - that can be linked very easily to the "current activities" page at your web site.

Just a thought.

[Michael Dugger]

Tom,

From the looks of the pdf outlining the property, 'tis appears you've routed another out and back golf course, any comments behind why?

Also, it looks like the 12th is a one shotter but how about the 13th?  I can't really tell from the map but either it is, thus amounting to another set of back to back par 3's for you guys, or is it a very short par 4?

Can you tell us anything about the style of the course?  In what "flavour," per se, was it designed?

Obviously it is not dunesland golf, but I also highly doubt your interpretation of "mt. golf" is going to resemble a James Engh, for example.  What's Rock Creek going to be like???

Thx
 

[Jeff Doerr]

Michael,

The card is posted also. It is back to back 3s. Seems similar to Pac Dunes 7 4s on the front, 3 3s on the back...

[Michael Dugger]

Jeff,

Thanks my friend.  Somehow the scorecard eluded me!

[Tom_Doak]

Our first routing for the course actually had a remote starting point and finished down by the clubhouse, but we were a bit too close to a boundary that the client didn't have tied up.

The topography is quite dramatic and there were not too many places along the creek flat enough to play a hole across.  I fell in love with the eighth hole across the creek, the seventh getting to it, and the par-5 tenth ... and they were all so far from the fishing lodge / clubhouse site that once we decided to start at the clubhouse, the out-and-back loop was a foregone conclusion.

Thirteen is a 235-yard par 3 over a deep chasm, whereas twelve is a 150-yard drop shot, so they are back to back threes but very different holes.  I did not think I would do the back-to-back thing again anytime soon, but it was the result of a change from the first routing to the final routing ... thirteen was always in the picture, but the twelfth is a short-cut after we had extended the course to complete the loop.  (Eric Iverson actually suggested the twelfth hole to me and the first three holes also.)

The bottom line is that I would only put back to back par-3's into a golf course if I felt the course was going to be so good that it would mute the "criticism" from people who want the scorecard to look a certain way.  I am comfortable that when people walk off the golf course next year, few will be complaining about the routing being imbalanced -- and those who do will know they need to get a life.

[Michael Dugger]

Tom

Please don't think I have a problem with back to back one shotters, I know you will always select the best collection of holes for the property.  I can't wait to see the finished product.

In regards to my other question, can you comment on the feel of the course?  What will it remind us of, how will it play?  I know it must be more than mountain views but I just can't imagine Doak golf in Montana.

[Tags:]

Tags:

[Tags:]

Tags:

Call to undefined function theme_linktree()