My season started with Streamsong Blue and will include a fall stop at Lost Dunes. Well-worn ground for discussion here. In between though, through happenstance, I have been lucky enough to play 4 of Tom's other courses - Black Forest, The Rawls Course, CommonGround, and Apache Stronghold. I thought it might be interesting to compare and contrast these courses in one thread.
While up in Michigan in July, I made the trek over to Mr. Doak's Black Forest course at Wilderness Valley. Sharing a few thoughts and some photos of this gem from Tom's early portfolio seems particularly worthwhile because, given the competition and contraction in the industry, who knows what the future holds for some of these courses (e.g. High Pointe)? One of the great things that this site/community does is create a historical record, and Black Forest deserves to be a part of that record.
I found threads on here with discussion of the course and a few photos, but nothing comprehensive. If I missed a previous thread, please feel free to post the links in a comment. Perhaps Tom would be willing to share some of his insights about the course, 23 years down the road from its opening, as well.
At the time the course opened, here is what Tom had to say (according to the course website):
- "And then we came back to Black Forest...and started to build bunkers in the same style. That doesn't seem too radical of an idea today because lots of architects are now building in the same style of bunkers, but in 1990 they weren't and it got the course a fair amount of attention."
- "The tilt and contour of our greens reward the player who is hitting his approach from a particular side of the fairway. There are also good and bad spots to miss every approach shot, depending on the hole location, so the player who knows the course can hedge to one side of the hole for safety, and the player who aims right at the flag will sometimes take his lumps."
- "The very difficult stretch of starting holes needs to be accepted for what it is. Even a good player is likely to be a couple over par in the first five holes. But as long as he doesn't let it bother him, there are a lot of potential birdie holes to make up for it later on."
A few of my observations before getting to the photos:
* The course meanders over rolling hills through the forest. It truly feels wild and remote, which makes it easy to get lost in your round. I have played a few courses in hilly N. MI with goofy holes that misuse the hills and therefore create goofy shots. Not so with BF. The routing is brilliant. It's a tough walk, but well worth the effort.
* 6 of the 9 par 4s play under 400 yards from the Blue (regular) tees. If you like short 4s, this is your course. They are great fun and challenge to play.
* The closing stretch of holes is awesome with #16 and #17 working their way around a lake, and then the par 5 18th playing uphill through gorgeous bunkering to an outstanding green. These holes made me feel like I was at Lost Dunes (which I adore). In fact, setting aside the conditioning, the quality of setting and design of BF is more than worthy of being in the same conversation with LD.
* Through the green features bold bunkering. Playing Tom's more recent work, (e.g. Streamsong Blue), I get the sense that I am experiencing the work of a team that has a specific creative voice and knows exactly what it wants to accomplish. BF is different. There is almost a feel of a creative team cutting their teeth and working out their style right there in front of you. It's really neat.
* The green surrounds are packed with humps, bumps, mounds, slopes and every kind of bunker you would want to see. And the greens themselves are a cornucopia of sizes, shapes, angles, and contours. #12 green is not just one of my favorite Doak greens, it is one of the coolest greens I have ever seen by any architect.
* Conditioning is definitely rugged, and the course does not look like the pictures on their site. They are clearly struggling. I don't know what the story or status of the course is, as I did not get to speak to the staff at length. The conditions do not obscure the architecture though, so if you are going to head to Forest Dunes to play the TW course, or Tom's reversible course next year, I highly recommend adding Black Forest to your itinerary. Tough to beat a dose of early Doak in a beautiful setting for $25 (walking).
Without further ado...