Rock Creek - Doak in MT

[Ron Farris]

I had the most unexpected pleasure of touring the Rock Creek Cattle Company golf course with Mathew Dunmyer, the golf course superintendent last week.  I must say that the course didn't blow me away as much as finding out that Mat was a fellow graduate from the School of Golf Course Operations in Lake City, Florida.  A great turf program, but few superintendents who end up growing cool season grasses.  

Ok, I was blown away by the course and the wonderful beauty of the area!  A great mix of holes running in all directions.  What Mat pointed out to me, and what I found most interesting, was the depth perception and actual distance differences.  Without GPS, distance finders, etc, this course will be a HOOT to play.  One hole looks like a 4 iron shot and in reality it is less than 160 yards. (yeah, I know some of you will say that your 4 iron goes 160. At that elevation I would venture to say I would hit a 4 iron 215) Another hole looks like a wedge shot and it is 216 yards.  At elevation the actual club needed will certainly vary by player.  But if you play by feel this course will drop your jaw in a heartbeat!  

I applaud Isac, Mat, and the maintenance staff for getting the course where it is today.  Great job by the Renaissance crew in building such an interesting course.  Tom can comment on the architecture of the place!

Special Thank You to Eric Iverson for arranging my tour!

[Ryan Farrow]

Ron, I am glad to hear you liked the course. It seems like everyone who has gone to see Rock Creek has been blown away by it. I remember my initial reaction when I first stepped on #1 tee, and it didn't even have a blade of grass on it yet.

It would be interesting to hear which holes you thought had some extreme depth perception. We went out and played the first 13-14 holes every once and a while but I did not notice being that off in my distances any more than a club.

And I have a breathtaking shot of #8 that I would love to post.  

[Tom Dunne]

Ryan, what type of stuff has Renaissance had you working on out there this summer?

[Ryan Farrow]

Tom, most of my days were spent in the bunkers. When I got there about half of the holes were already grassed in and we were tweaking and putting the final touches on the last 8 or 9 holes. I also spent some time shaping tee boxes on a few of the holes. It will be interesting to see some of them as the course matures. There are a lot of cool little features around the native tie-ins and then there are tee boxes like #8 and #12 that are pretty far out there and have a ton of movement and features inside the teeing area.

[Tom_Doak]

Ron:  You thanked the right guy.  Eric did have a little help from the rest of my associates, but he did an amazing amount of work out there just with a couple of young guys and by himself, while the rest of the crew was living large in North Berwick last summer working on The Renaissance Club.  That's why Eric was voted Most Valuable Associate in 2006 by his peers.

Last I saw the course there were still only 8 holes with grass; I can't wait to get back and play it though it may not be until 2008.

[Norbert P]

  Any more pictures of Rock Creek?

[Ron Farris]

Mr. Slag
(having been to Old Works, that name makes me think of "black sand").

I have a picture of each and every golf hole at Rock Creek, but I would not post without the expressed and written approval of the person who designed that golf course:
My pictures were taken at midday and truthfully they are just average.  The course and Tom deserve more than what I have to offer.

[Mike Benham]

My pictures were taken at midday and truthfully they are just average.  The course and Tom deserve more than what I have to offer.

But earlier in the week, the pictures were good enough for a humorous ruse ...

[Joel_Stewart]

Did Rock Creek open this year?  Are there any photos?

[Tom_Doak]

Joel:

The course will open next summer -- I don't know exactly what month, as the spring weather in Montana is quite unpredictable.

I am confident it will be worth the wait.

There were a couple of pictures here last fall, but as usual I am holding out on putting out too many at one time.  I really don't think photos are going to do justice to the scale of this place.  If Ryan or Ron wants to post one or two more, that's fine ... but I hope that the first time you go around it there will be some holes you haven't seen before.

[Andy Troeger]

Where in Montana is the course? Anywhere near Big Sky? Unfortunately it sounds like it won't be open yet anyway so it probably won't make any difference as I'm up there next Memorial Day, but it looked pretty cool from the photos posted previously.

[Tom_Doak]

Andy:

The course is just west of Deer Lodge, between Butte and Missoula -- about 40 minutes to Old Works, but 4-5 hours to Big Sky, I believe.

[Andy Troeger]

Tom,
Thanks. I looked at the feasibility of getting to Old Works as well at one point so that might have been what I was thinking of.

[Garland Bayley]

Andy:

The course is just west of Deer Lodge, between Butte and Missoula -- about 40 minutes to Old Works, but 4-5 hours to Big Sky, I believe.

My you people from Michigan drive slow. You don't happen to leave the turn signal on the whole way too, do you?

Montanans would easily cut those time estimates in half.

[Ryan Farrow]

Here are a few shots off number 8:









5:







and 16:

[Tom_Doak]

Ryan:

Thanks for those ... and Merry Christmas.

P.S.  Wish I'd had the last one two weeks ago, it would be our Christmas card.

[PThomas]

Tom, that last picture looks like a VERY tricky tee shot on 16 - the slope reminds me of Olympics 17! .....and there's also a bunker on the right side I think

is it a par 4 or 5?  of course any other details would be appreciated

[Tom_Doak]

Paul:

The sixteenth is a 465-yard par 4.  The slope in the fairway is indeed similar to the slope on 17 at Olympic -- I hadn't thought of that before.  However we did create a flat spot near the left-hand bunkers and another just above the little right-hand bunker, where a drive should come to rest if it's played properly wide to the left off the tee to wind up there.  And the fairway is VERY wide to the right, so a lot of tee shots may wind up to the right of the bunker ... in the fairway but with a very long uphill approach.

The last fifty yards short of the green are equally as steep from left to right, so you ought to think twice about going for it if you're not sure you'll get there.

And the LAST place you want to be is over the back of this green -- there is a deep drainage area between the green and the base of the rocky pinnacle.  It is a pretty big green, though.

My favorite hole in the early phase of design was the fifth hole, a short par-4 which is in the middle set of photos.  The best line off the tee (if you can make the carry) is WAY to the right, over the last right bunker, which puts you nearly level with the green and gives you a much better look at the flag.  But not many people are going to take that route on their first try ... and if you go half right, the drive will kick left and wind up in those bunkers below the green, leaving a nasty 50-yard bunker shot to a two-tiered green.

[Michael Dugger]

Ah hell yeah, those pictures look sweet.

Can't wait to see more....

[Tom_Doak]

Michael:  No more ass-kissing, remember?  Didn't you get the memo?  You'll see more when you get in your car and drive to Montana.

[Ryan Farrow]

No, problem Tom. I always enjoy looking back over those pictures. I probably played #5 4-5 times with a lot of the guys and nobody has been able to carry those bunkers on the right of #5. I think I had the first legit Birdie at Rock Creek on that hole, sent one right against the flag stick from about 15'. #5 is usually my friend.

Have a great Christmas as well, I'm sure it actually feels like it in Traverse City. I haven't seen a white Christmas in ages.



p.s. Did you get my e-mail, and letter?

[Jed Peters]

Michael:  No more ass-kissing, remember?  Didn't you get the memo?  You'll see more when you get in your car and drive to Montana.

Tom:

Does 8 play in a right to left wind?

The hole looks weird to me....and it looks like a draw shot hole (for a righty) which I usually like. It's kinda messin' with my head.

The long four par in the last picture looks kinda fun, like I would like hitting that tee shot. Don't know about the 5th hole. Doesn't look like it'd set up well for me.

[Jim Nugent]

Ah hell yeah, those pictures look sweet.

Can't wait to see more....

I have the same reaction.  And yes I saw the memo...

[Ryan Farrow]

Yea, now your car has to break down on the way to Montana. Now that is fun.

[Tim Bert]

I just checked with my wife and she officially has no interest in moving to MT