Tom Doak project in Eastern Colorado?

[Matthew Schulte]

Tom:

In the thread discussing your internship program you cited that the interns would get "new course construction experience" possibly in eastern Colorado.  I am extremely curious where the project is, and what type of course you are planning.  I have long thought that the land just off I-70 in eastern Colorado had similar qualities to that of Sand Hills or Wild Horse.  As you well know, Colorado is in dire need for a true "links" golf experience.

[Tom_Doak]

M - This property is sixty miles off I-76, near the town of Holyoke in the northeastern corner of the state.  The dunes out there are a LOT bigger than those along the highway.

We may get a few holes started this year, or it may have to wait until 2004.  Right now the plan is for it to be a private club with some accommodations on-site.  It helps that Holyoke has an excellent airstrip close at hand.

[GeoffreyC]

Tom

Last year me, Mike Cirba, and Brad and Corey Miller were commenting on the land adjacent to I76 east of Denver while we were driving out to Sand Hills.  We posted here that it sure looked like a slew of minimalist links type courses could be built if the economics worked.  Someone commented that unlike Sand Hills which sits on an aquifer the land east of Denver had no available water supply.  I assume that your land has water available.  If the dunes are more dramatic then the land seen from I76 then you should be able to build one hell of an interesting course.  

Good luck with the project.

[Doug Wright]

Tom/Geoff,

Eastern Colorado is known for courses with sand greens, even to this day. Now that would be minimalist design for sure!

I doubt we'll be seeing this new course on PastureGolf.com, though.

All The Best,

[Larry_Keltto]

Tom:

This is very exciting news. I go through that part of the state each year on the way to Estes Park, and it's fun to daydream about placing golf holes in that incredible terrain.

Does the club have a working name?

Larry

[Dave_Wilber]

Color me Excited.

I just returned from my first visit to the site of this new project. We've previously tested sand and water for some agronomic characteristics and I knew it was pretty special just from that data....but NOTHING and I mean NOTHING could have prepared me for what I saw...and I think it is safe to say that I've seen a few sites

To me, this could be my agronomic Mount Everest and I can't remember being as excited about the potential for a real traditional (old school brit isle) golfing surface in the US since---um...since....ever. I nearly can't sleep with all the potential good stuff playing thoughts in my head.

And the Routing that Team Doak have developed so far is awesome.  Stay tuned on this one!!!

[RJ_Daley]

Dave, welcome back to the GCA.  Were you in jail or something

Can you tell us what makes you so excited in soil and water in NE CO that may be in a micro climate sense even better than other sand hill locations?  Or, are you making this statement because it is a general sand hills sort of site?  Is there a different soil profile there in Holyoke?  What about the water?  I heard there is a big controversy south of Ogallala, and not too far from Holyoke concerning toxic waste dump and seepage into the water table.  Is water use and high cap wells permitting relatively easy to obtain in that location given their coming out of a long term drought?  What species are you preliminarily thinking about for fairways, greens, tees out there?  

So many questions to greet you back to GCA with.  If you'd stick around more often, we wouldn't need to bombard you so heavily!

[Dave_Wilber]

Thanks for the welcome back. Jail...me? Nah.

I'd love to answer all your questions but time is a bit short. There's water in that area as it sits on the western edge of the aquafer. Quality is really good. I know over and over that the site is going to be compared to The Sand Hills, but it is genuinely different from a landform and soil perspective.

And you know I can't give away my grassing ideas....heck then who would pay me We'll get it right...that much I know. I don't owe Doak or the owner anything less.