Since it’s the holidays, it’s time to wind up the year with the Annual “Jay’s Golf Awards” a.k.a. the Jazzys.
Today – Best New Private Course. This one was easy. At Ballyneal Golf and Hunt Club, Tom Doak built the O’Neal brothers a brilliant rejoinder to nearby Sand Hills and a terrific sister course to Pacific Dunes. The course is totally holistic. It was built with minimal earth movement, tee markers are still off in the distant future and the harmony between the holes and the wild dunescape is seamless. Remember, the area used to be at the bottom of the ocean, so all that sandy soil is perfect terrain for recreating the firm and fast conditions of true links golf.
Grateful golfers are heading to the northeast corridor of Colorado by brigades and divisions and not even bothering to comb their hair before bouncing out the door.
See the article on Best New Private Course.
Ballyneal – it means “Place of the O’Neal’s” but should mean “place of sickest golf ever, dude!”
Past Winners:
Monterey Peninsula Country Club Shore Course, The Club at Pradera
[…] Perhaps Doak’s greatest achievement this year is his completely natural, surreal and authentic Ballyneal Golf and Hunt Club, which took home best new course honors. Doak completed the year by being named the architect for the new “Old Macdonald” Course at Bandon Dunes. […]
[…] Just like Ballyneal – winner, best new private course last year…and of the Jazzy Award for the same category. […]
Tom Doak is hands down my favorite course designer….
I’ve played two of his tracks and a fun goal should be to “play a Doaks”… Yes it’s time to go on a Doak quest.