Streamsong update...

[Stewart Abramson]

To Tom Doak -  post #16 - great!!!. Thanks.

Can't wait to play Blue and Red.

[Tom_Doak]

If the routing in Matty G's blog post is correct, the transitions between 7/8 Blue and 12/13 Blue seem like they cross 16 and 14 Red, respectively.  Is this accurate?

David:

The interweaving of the two courses required a bit of thought.

Heading from the 7th green to the 8th tee on the Blue, you come back over the footbridge, stay low down by the water behind the green of 15 Red [which is at least 40 feet above the pond], and then come up the hill between Red 15 green and 16 tee.  The tees for 16 Red and 8 Blue are all together so it's hard to tell which is which, but you shouldn't ever be crossing in front of players on the other hole.

From Blue 12 green to 13 tee, the path goes directly behind the back tee on 14 Red, behind the green on 13 Red, and around a dune to get to Blue 13 tee.  At one time we considered building a tunnel there, but we managed to make it work without one.

[Tom_Doak]

Tom,

In honest opinion, how to you think the two courses will rank among the great portfolio both yourself and C&C have built?

Alex:

I honestly don't know.  We are very excited about our course, and I know Bill is excited about his, too -- in fact, I'm excited to play his.  But I've only played our course twice, without any flags in the greens or holes, and when it was only 85% ready.  It's hard to compare any course in that state to our best work. 

I do believe both courses are strong contenders for the top 100 lists, but beyond that, it's too early to say.  We'll just have to wait and see what everyone else thinks of them.  I know the few people I had out there in January were very impressed, but I don't know how they'll compare it to Pacific Dunes, or perhaps more fairly, Ballyneal, since Streamsong does not get the brownie points for being on the ocean.

[Jud_T]

Sight unseen, my guess is that these courses get a fair amount of buzz given the lack of great Florida options and the current dearth of new course openings.  Any marketing guy worth his salt would be licking his chops over this one...

[Michael Burrows]

I know its early in the morning tom but just pointing out you meant 15 red

Heading from the 7th green to the 8th tee on the Blue, you come back over the footbridge, stay low down by the water behind the green of 15 Blue [which is at least 40 feet above the pond], and then come up the hill between Blue 15 green and 16 tee.  The tees for 16 Red and 8 Blue are all together so it's hard to tell which is which, but you shouldn't ever be crossing in front of players on the other hole.

[Tom_Doak]

Michael:

Thank you, I've fixed it above.

It's actually 9:00 pm in the Philippines, I'm twelve hours ahead of home this week.  And I had a pretty long day today.  But it was a really memorable one!

[Mark Steffey]

Michael:

Thank you, I've fixed it above.

It's actually 9:00 pm in the Philippines, I'm twelve hours ahead of home this week.  And I had a pretty long day today.  But it was a really memorable one!

and why doesn't TGC have a Tom Doak reality show!?!

[Jerry Kluger]

How is Streamsong going to be in so far as walking is concerned?

[Tom_Doak]

How is Streamsong going to be in so far as walking is concerned?

The courses are very walkable, and they have talked about doing a lot of things to encourage walking -- putting together a caddie program, and maybe even having days or dedicated tee times for walkers only.  But, it's a course on open sand in sunny Florida, and they want it to be busy year-round, so carts will also be available.  There is a minimum of cart paths ... we've tried to design things so that carts can stay on turf as much as possible.

[Pat Burke]

Tom,
As a guy who grew up in New Jersey playing great courses (spoiled),
worked on golf courses, got to add a little input to  design/construction ,
and was able to play all over the place, I want to say thanks for what you've added here.
Streamsong looks awesome, and I appreciate your insight.

[Jason Connor]

Tom, thanks very much for the detailed answer to my question about the routing & the holes.  That was very interesting.

I live about 90 minutes from there and I'm very anxious to play both.

I live 5 minutes from the Orlando airport -- if you're ever flying in or out of there and want a fantastic home cooked meal, let me know (my wife's a great chef -- I love your work too much to prepare anything for you myself).