[Tony_Muldoon]

Thank you Tom Doak, Don Placek and unidentified others for an early look at what promises to be an exceptional golf course.  I missed the introduction and caught up with the tour on the course.
What we were shown were some of the holes mainly on the back nine, which starts with a par3.






Long Par 5

Bunkers have for the most part yet to be done?  Tom did mention that they have hired round crew from Muirfield and Gullane but they were hoping to produce something a little different from what we'd see elsewhere.



Don Placek in shades in centre the gap in the trees at the far end looks towards Muirfield.





Tom said when he started he learnt he'd had to tone down some of his wildest greens. "Now I have to keep an deye out for this with my associates".  Picture doesnt do the green justice, many tiers going back. Reminded me of waves breaking towards a beach.










Big green - bigger than any at Muirfield?  Hot topic net day.





Most of the course will be inland but you do get a fine view of the sea.


The people I talked to agreed that the course did not fit into any easy frame of reference.  Mostly played through clearings in pine trees, think larger than anything you’ve seen.  Imagine if Woburn had 70 yard wide playing corridors and a reference to Pine Valley were overheard.  It manages to look ‘linksish’ and ‘heathlandsish’ at he same time without being either.  The soil we walked was very sandy and firm. The course felt long and indeed it has been deigned to play well over 7000 yards if it can attract a tour event.

Tom and his team were very generous with their time and we all piled back to Ducks (surely now the approved GCA hotel for an east Lothian trip?) for an excellent meal (23 in total).  Malcolm duck our host is a golfer and a most welcoming guy.

I can’t help but mention an incidental pleasure.  My group was the last to arrive and someone waved to us and pointed out the direction the others had taken. Having ascertained that we were with the GCA group he then put out his hand and said “Hi, George Bahto”. We had no idea you would be over but it was a pleasure to meet you George and so many others.

Hopefully others can identify more of the course and add their pictures.

[RT]

Tony,

Had a chance to see this site before a tree was removed and the amount that were taken down would amaze you.

You are right its a course that defies any sort of pure or oblique reference.

Tom, Don Placek, Brian Slawnik, Kye Goalby, a few others I probably am leaving out, did a great job there.

Congratulations.

RT

[ed_getka]

Tony,
   Thanks for the report. It is always a treat to talk with Tom and his team, and to meet George Bahto on top of that is pretty cool.

[Daryl David]

This looks very cool.  I am taking a group to visit in August and imagine that things will have moved along quite a bit toward being finished by then.  The look is definitely something different from what you would expect.  Quite an addition to the golfing scene in East Lothian.

[Mike Nuzzo]

The project seems to have moved along very quickly, or maybe I've lost track of time.

How long has it been under construction?

Tom,
Do you often finish the bunkers after grassing?


Cheers

[Scott_Burroughs]

Nice pics.  Is that Kelly Moran in red w/camera strap in pic #6?

[Voytek Wilczak]

Like Sebonack, the Renaissance seems to be sitting on a very different land from its immediate neighbors.

I love the lone tree on the pics.

I wish I could be there for a guided tour by Tom.

[paul cowley]

The course looks great [expected]....although the utilization of those ruined stone walls concerned me a bit.

Were they there first and Tom incorporated them as part of the holes strategy?....or were they newly constructed as a part of the holes strategy?

This is important for many who will assess the holes worth....regardless of its play qualities.

Good show anyway Tom .

[Tony_Muldoon]

Yes Scott, it is the very same.  Kelly joined us at North Berwick and Muirfield and I bellive was most impresssed with everything he saw.  Great guy.

The walls were there but were rebuilt a little. 'That' tree was in a clump of scrub and they discvored it when they started clearing up.   In other places after clerain Tome saifd they had tried to leave a few trees between fairways, but with the rest gone they were quickly blown over.

[Philip Gawith]

Kelly does a good line in bold colours. His orange/yellow windcheater at Muirfield the next day was visible all round the course. There is a good thread somewhere on why that stylish garment was somehow "not" Muirfield, yet a garish pair of tartan or red trousers would have been more Muirfield. What is the English for "go figure"!

[Tim_Weiman]

RT:

Nice to see your comments on the board. TD once mentioned to me that he didn't want there to be a "Tom Doak" course.

Looks like he is succeeding with The Renaissance Club. I look forward to seeing it - another different chapter - someday.....hopefully before too long.

Hope all is well for you personally.

Tim

[Tom_Doak]

Mike N:  We started up the project again in February 2006 ... some of the trees had been cleared a year beforehand, but the project was then stopped.  We finished the clearing last spring, shaped the whole course from March to August, and planted the last hole at the end of September.

Normally, we finish the bunkers as we go, but the revetted bunkers would have taken way too much time last summer with the schedule we were on ... so we rough shaped them and seeded everything, and are now starting to go back and do the sod wall work.  The superintendent and his assistants have built hundreds such bunkers at Gullane and Muirfield over the years so they are doing this work with me and Don Placek specifying which parts of which bunkers to do, and how high the walls will be.

Paul C:  Most of those stone walls were in existence around the course ... some in good condition and others crumbling.  It was tough to convince the client not to fix them all perfectly.  There are two sections of walls we added near the clubhouse, by the 8th and 18th greens, which will hopefully help the illusion that the clubhouse was there long ago and these were some sort of ha-ha walls out away from the residence a bit.

[G Jones]

Sorry if I missed this somewhere up above, but what is the clubhouse going to look like? Old fashioned or modern (inside and out)? I'm guessing from the walls comment the outside will be fairly old fashioned...

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Here's the website:

www.trcaa.com

Who's buying a membership?

Here's the South Lodge:



Here's the West Lodge:

[Joel_Stewart]

I mentioned on another thread that it was mentioned today favorably during the British Senior Open.   Is it almost complete?

[Mark Bourgeois]

I think it's supposed to open next year but investors are out there playing it now. I think they hired Curtis Strange or someone like that to promote it; I assume they're trying to get a little free publicity off the Sr. Open.

[Daryl David]

I will be visiting on Sept. 1 and will try to get some pics.  From what I hear they are playing some holes now, but will not be fully open until next spring.

[Tom_Doak]

Those pictures above are weird.  I took a bunch this week and will send a couple to Tommy N. to post here.

Due to all the rain, the course has grown in much faster than anticipated, and they were playing all 18 holes this week.  The greens are slow, but we got about 20 yards bounce and roll in the fairways, even after the recent rains.  I found it fun to play, though of course, I would.  

I was quite surprised at the number of players who came over to take a peek on Tuesday, although one of the primary investors sponsors a Senior Tour event in the States, and has obviously made a few friends there.  Sadly, Curtis Strange wasn't one of those I met.

[Michael Whitaker]

On Peter Kessler's XM Radio show George Peper mentioned that he has signed on as a "marketing consultant" for The Renaissance Club. George described the course as a "modern links" designed for the "modern game."

[Tom_Doak]

Yes, George has been involved with the project since early in the year.  One of the nice things about the week was that it was kind of "old home week" for me ... I spent some time visiting with George (who's known me since I volunteered to write for GOLF when I was 18), with Brian Morgan (who let me use his office as a base of operations when I was 21), with Ben Crenshaw (who I met when I was 19) and with Mike Clayton.

[Joel_Stewart]

I was quite surprised at the number of players who came over to take a peek on Tuesday, although one of the primary investors sponsors a Senior Tour event in the States, and has obviously made a few friends there.  

Are senior players more interested in coming over to take a look because they appreciate architecture more or because so many are involved with golf developments?  I'll assume Crenshaw and possibly Faldo are very interested, who else would come over with real interest in classic architecture.

[Tom_Doak]

Joel:

Not sure you can apply the phrase "classic architecture" to a course that hasn't really opened yet.  But, I think the seniors are more interested in golf architecture because they remember (and still play) a game where shotmaking counted for something, and they want to see if anybody can build courses like that anymore.  Plus, it WAS just next door.

In addition to those already mentioned, I bumped into John Mahaffey and Tim Simpson and Jay Haas, whose cousin Kye Goalby did some of the shaping for us at The Renaissance Club.

[PThomas]

On Peter Kessler's XM Radio show George Peper mentioned that he has signed on as a "marketing consultant" for The Renaissance Club. George described the course as a "modern links" designed for the "modern game."

"modern links"  what does that mean?  there's a lot of trees in those pictures too...

[Tim Pitner]

I spent some time on The Renaissance Club's website this afternoon--there are some cool videos and other features.  

In looking at some photos, I was surprised by the look of the fairways (i.e., the mowing patterns).  Am I missing something here?  Will they look like that in the future?

http://trcaa.com/project_update/may2_2007.html

[Jon Wiggett]

Tim,

yes you are right normally you would expect a traditional half/half mowing pattern. Before the sward is fully established and the ground is not so firm if you mow a fairway from all angles during grow-in as it helps to smooth out the surface quicker.

I also would have expected a more traditional half/half mowing pattern but maybe someone directly invovled with the project will be able to say for sure.

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