Golf Club Atlas
GolfClubAtlas.com => Golf Course Architecture => Topic started by: Ran Morrissett on October 16, 2014, 04:20:48 PM
-
Tom Doak has built some corkers. Pacific Dunes, Ballyneal, Barnbougle, Cape Kidnappers and Old Macdonald are all hailed by GOLF Magazine as world top 100, many with ease. Is it a stretch to suggest that a course on a rocky Montana ranch can be held in as high esteem as those five courses that are so ideally situated? Shockingly no, for reasons that I endeavor to detail in its course profile now posted under Courses by Country and Architecture Timeline.
Recent photo threads by George Freeman and Peter Ferlicca captured the allure of the Rock Creek so heading there, I knew that I was in for a treat - but how much of one? My two golf buddies outside of North Carolina - Ted 'The Braying Donkey' Sturges and Joe 'I've only played 4 new courses this week' Andriole - each played there and both nonchalantly >:( awarded it a Doak 8. To my mind that doesn't begin to scratch the surface of what's been accomplished and I sent them mean texts from Deer Lodge politely inquiring after their mental health.
Of course, I may be biased as I date a girl from Montana, Big Sky is my favorite ski mountain in North America and nothing is more enjoyable to read than Wallace Stegner's writings on the American west. I love this part of the world and as well as Rock Creek's big picture stuff - golf, hiking, being outdoors, peace, quiet, eagles soaring, big skies, yummy fattening bacon in the morning and beef at night, no asphalt, not many people, a Western sensibility for what you need (and don't need). As you meander along the 6+ mile dirt entrance drive (Yeamans - eat your heart out!) your worries fade. Bottom line: I side with Jim Franklin's passionate, no holds barred viewpoint.
From a design perspective, a massive amount of superior work occurred at Rock Creek - the routing, width, grassing scheme, the 'dainty' preservation of the natural ground contours despite working among mega ton boulders; literally everything (even the bridge on 13 is one of the neatest I have ever seen on a course). The need for width was CRUCIAL, if everyone were to enjoy golf in these rocky environs, but it needed to be 'intelligent width.' The number of ways that Doak & crew accomplished that is a-m-a-z-i-n-g and is highlighted (hopeful!) within the course profile. For example, the 500 yard par 4 14th calls for positioning your bombed tee ball on a diagonal between landforms for a green set off at 2 o'clock. On the tee of the following hole (a par 4 some 200 yards shorter!), the challenge is to decipher the ramifications of the day's hole location as to which side of the 60 yard wide fairway you should seek.
So it goes all day, alternating between power hitting and precise shot-making. The shifting challenges occur seamlessly and constitute a design balance with few equals. The first hole begins with a Principal's Nose feature while the second fairway is wide open down the middle. On the first par 3, Rock Creek slashes front left to back right between the tee and green and the last par 3 has Rock Creek angled the opposite way along the left of the green. There are short par 4s on each nine: one is uphill to a domed green and the other downhill to a wide but shallow green. The huge par 4 on the front (the 7th) swings left while the big one on the back moves right. The back-to-back par 3s on the inward nine can differ in length by - wait - 10 clubs! Is it just me or is such variety/diversity/range nearly unmatched in world golf?
Rock Creek is a wonderful concoction where everything imaginable is asked of the golfer in a setting that (unexpectedly!) appeals as much as any other. Jim Taylor of Clear Creek Tahoe fame always pushed me to visit here and no surprise to find that he was so incredibly right.
Best,
-
A pleasure to read as always Ran. The pictures tell the story well enough but you do a grand job of evoking what a joy it must be to play this course. I played Sebonack the other day which is no slouch when it comes to scenery, but this looks even better!
Philip
-
Thanks Ran, Great write up.
Is the 5th hole similar to the 2nd at St Andrews Beach?
-
Thanks Ran, Great write up.
Is the 5th hole similar to the 2nd at St Andrews Beach?
I would not have thought to compare the two. The hole at Rock Creek is 80 yards longer and 30 feet uphill; the altitude makes up for some of that, but only the flat bellies are thinking about driving it. I suppose the playing angles are somewhat similar, although the fairway at Rock Creek is more diagonal, so the short hitter plays left of the line to the green and the long hitter to the right.
The 15th is the real drivable par-4 at Rock Creek.
-
Ran,
Thanks for the fascinating and in-depth profile. You always do a great job of explaining just what makes the best golf courses so compelling.
Tom,
I am really curious about this comment in Ran's profile:
As Doak notes, ‘We’ve built a lot of wide fairways but these are something else. The impetus here was all the rocks in the ground. We wanted to make a wide enough playable area so that people wouldn’t be taking drops [legal or illegal?] to avoid hitting a rock on their second shot … and once we tore up the ground to sift through it, it made more sense to make it all fairway than to have a belt of rough between the fairway and the native roughs.’
At what point in the process did you and your team decide to "make it all fairway"? As you were sifting through rocks in the first fairway? After you'd plowed several fairways? And how did this affect some of the subtleties of the design? e.g., it appears that the right side of the first landing area on #10 is relatively flat and it would be an advantageous place to play from. If it were rough, perhaps there wouldn't be a need to bring the bunkers at the second dogleg quite so far to the left. I know you must have had to make all kinds of tweaks to the design compared with if the fairways were 10 yards narrower. Will be interested to hear your thoughts, thanks!
JB
-
Very impressive and many thanks for the splendid profile and photo's. Some questions.
What kind of wildlife is there around the property and does it effect the course and did it effect construction and now maintenance?
How easy-difficult is the course to walk? The reason I ask this is because I used to run quite a bit a long time back and recall the difficulty in running at higher altitudes when not used to them.
Does construction/maintenance at altitude present any particular difficulties?
atb
PS - maybe it's my sense of humour but whenever I see the words Rock Creek it's hard not to think of Blazing 'Rock-Ridge' Saddles! Another cracking western - a movie so good a hole should named after it! :)
-
PS - maybe it's my sense of humour but whenever I see the words Rock Creek it's hard not to think of Blazing 'Rock-Ridge' Saddles! Another cracking western - a movie so good a hole should named after it! :)
No. 6 Dance ;D
-
Nice write up Ran.
Rock Creek is indeed a special place...
-
Nice write up. I wish I had your writing skills.
If we can only get a few RCCC paintings like Ballyneal...
-
What a beautiful property, showcased by what is obviously an excellent routing. Those are some of the prettiest bunkers I've ever seen, too. Congrats Tom and co. Very, very nice.
-
How easy-difficult is the course to walk? The reason I ask this is because I used to run quite a bit a long time back and recall the difficulty in running at higher altitudes when not used to them.
Thomas -
In my opinion the course is quite walkable. It's obviously not as easy as a tightly routed parkland layout on flat ground, but it's also absolutely not a "cart ball" course. The green to tee walks are all very manageable (most very short) and as can be seen in the pictures, there are walking paths from tees to fairways giving the walker a direct path (not to mention the bridge on 13!).
Really the only challenge of the walk is in the middle stretch of the front nine when the course does a decent amount of climbing. It's a hilly course, but the enviorment is so beautiful and serene that the course would make a great hiking route even if you weren't playing!
Unfortunately I don't think many people walk the course (just based on my very small sample size of observations).
Rock Creek is a very special place.
-
Does RCCC allow push carts?
-
At what point in the process did you and your team decide to "make it all fairway"? As you were sifting through rocks in the first fairway? After you'd plowed several fairways? And how did this affect some of the subtleties of the design?
We decided right at the start that it would all be fairway. Actually it's the same bluegrass in the fairways and roughs, so if we wanted to narrow it, we could do so just by changing the mowing lines.
Also the right side of #10 is not nearly as flat as it looks in photos ... there are not many flat spots at Rock Creek.
-
I think this course--more than any of Renaissance's--showcases the importance of not only bunker location, but scaling. It reminds me of some of the long views at Crystal Downs. In particular the photos of the right side of #3 and the first photo of #8 showcase what is some next level bunkering. They seamlessly match the terrain because the lines match the landforms both immediately around them and also in the distance. I wish I could pull the photos and draw parallel lines on the bunker edges and background landforms to illustrate what I'm saying.
Surely Rock Creek photographs better than any of Tom's courses. So much texture.
-
Ran,
Thank you for posting this exceptional write-up. You manage to do Rock Creek justice in a photo tour, which is tough to do.
I played Rock Creek about a year and a half ago when I drove up from Big Sky in the morning, and still managing to make it back for a 3pm wedding (nothing like getting passed on the right when you're doing 95mph by a VW Bug :o ). I'm extremely glad I made the effort, because the golf course is just incredible. For example, I would put it ahead of Doak's Pacific Dunes and considering the accolades that course receives, I'm constantly surprised how Rock Creek doesn't get more attention.
The routing is really neat, and it reminded me a lot of Ross' Northland CC in Duluth, where the front nine gradually works its way up a hill with some shorter, strategic uphill holes, before the player tumbles back down the hill in a dramatic fashion. There are just so many great holes at Rock Creek...the 5th, the 7th, the 8th, the 10th, the 13th (especially from the back tee), 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, and 18th are all just jawdroppingly awesome.
Personally, I found the course very walkable, even though at the time I was told I was the first person to walk the course all year (this was after Memorial Day, but still May). I believe I walked the course in roughly 3 hours, and I was hardly rushing around as I spent a whole bunch of time at each green putting and chipping around to the different pin positions. Plus, considering the wide fairways, I found it was hard to lose a ball if you were driving the ball moderately well...the challenge (as Ran discusses), is putting yourself in the best positions off the tee, not just hitting the fairway.
The scale of the golf course, and the entire complex, has to be seen to be believed. 40,000 acres is a whole lot of land, but it really adds to the experience when you turn into the "entrance" and then proceed to drive 20 minuets through grazing cattle.
Again, thank you for the great write-up.
-
Amazing looking course and setting!
I like what you said at the end:
Golf is meant to be an invigorating pursuit, one that makes you appreciate all the good things in life. That happens in techni-color at Rock Creek. The most time-honored design features are found in an environment one wouldn’t typically associate with classical golf. The grandeur of the course’s setting and the shots that are required re-awaken the spirit. With child-like delight, you stay outdoors and play golf until dark.
8) 8) 8)
-
What a gorgeous golf course! Wonderful profile and fantastic photos, Ran. And congrats to Tom on putting together such a beautiful course.
-
Ran, thanks for another brilliant write up.
-
Ran, great write up and pics and congrats to Tom and crew. The course looks just about perfect to me. A mix of fun holes, great terrain, and incredible scenery. It also looks from the pictures like it would play running. One of the courses at the very top of my can't wait to see list.
-
Ran,
Thank you for another outstanding course profile. This one brings back particularly fond memories for me, thinking back to last summer when my family and I visited RCCC. The course is brilliant, fun, and thankfully not crowded because the urge to go straight from 18 green to the first tee is overwhelming. This one is not to be missed.
-
I think the strength is the 3rd to 7th.
The best stretch comes at the toughest point in the routing ... "the climb."
All four holes stand out to me.
It think RCCC has the best set of fours Tom's done.
I think its a better course than others found on "the list."
-
At what point in the process did you and your team decide to "make it all fairway"? As you were sifting through rocks in the first fairway? After you'd plowed several fairways? And how did this affect some of the subtleties of the design?
We decided right at the start that it would all be fairway. Actually it's the same bluegrass in the fairways and roughs, so if we wanted to narrow it, we could do so just by changing the mowing lines.
Also the right side of #10 is not nearly as flat as it looks in photos ... there are not many flat spots at Rock Creek.
Tom,
The course looks awesome! It is great to see your concepts adapted to a course in the mountains. Can't wait to visit. Curious, why was bluegrass chosen over fescues?
Marcos
-
If you are sort of anal about your custom irons should you leave them at home? I have never understood why the rocks in the rough get a pass.
-
If you are sort of anal about your custom irons should you leave them at home? I have never understood why the rocks in the rough get a pass.
We went pretty far out to remove the rocks, but if you're wild enough, you can find them. That was the toughest trade-off to make on the course, and I think it holds the course back in a few people's eyes ... even though if there was a lake in the same location, they would give it a pass.
-
We went pretty far out to remove the rocks, but if you're wild enough, you can find them. That was the toughest trade-off to make on the course, and I think it holds the course back in a few people's eyes ... even though if there was a lake in the same location, they would give it a pass.
With the fairways as wide as they are, this seems like nitpicking in the extreme. It is glacial moraine, and there are rocks in glacial moraines. It is too much to expect that the entire site ought to have been sanitized to prevent the possibility of a club scratch in the native.
-
If you are sort of anal about your custom irons should you leave them at home? I have never understood why the rocks in the rough get a pass.
You have three options:
1) Improve your lie;
2) Suck it up;
3) Do what I was advised to do when I went up to Greywalls. Bring a designated rock iron.
-
Yes great write up Ran! The course looks fantastic.
One small complaint. Can't we agree to build all new great courses in one area making it easier to visit them ;D
All this chasing around the world to see the next great finished product could just be simplified and I for one promise to have the exact same gratitude and not take them for granted...
At least I have friends in Montana although I've yet to check how far I'll have to drive for this one....probably a 10 hour min flight with a transfer in Denver I guess. ::)
-
If you are sort of anal about your custom irons should you leave them at home? I have never understood why the rocks in the rough get a pass.
You have three options:
1) Improve your lie;
2) Suck it up;
3) Do what I was advised to do when I went up to Greywalls. Bring a designated rock iron.
Exactly. I took an old 7 iron with me, but I believe I only used it once in three rounds. And I definitely missed a few fairways out there, even though they are massive.
Discounting Rock Creek due to the rocks outside the designated lines of play is a stretch. To Tom's point, no one would be crying foul if there was OB or a lateral hazard running down the length of the holes...
-
During a time where we can't even explain why Cypress Point is epic we see no bearing on bringing a designated rock iron to the course because, hell, it beats OB.
-
A fantastic tour. And one which, to me at least, acts as a perfect example of how strategy, width and angles are, in practice, one in the same thing. Or, to put it another way, how the three are so interdependent as to effectively be interchangeable. And yet, contrary to what the average golfer would assume, I'll guess that when firm and fast enough scores wouldn't be special.
-
...we see no bearing on bringing a designated rock iron to the course because, hell, it beats OB.
It absolutely, unequivocally beats OB.
-
Are there any plans for additional golf at Rock Creek?
-
I played RC with some high handicaps who were having a tough day. Me too, only a modestly better player. We must have sprayed some shots, although I don’t recall any issues with rocks in the native. As we play a lot in a rocky canyon, the rock iron is fairly common. It was interesting to see how playable the course is for this lot. We all were disappointed that we didn’t play our best on such a beautiful course. I had to talk up the course a bit to get them interested in playing it. However, once booked, I tried to tone down my own remarks and expectations just to see how such “ordinary” golfers would experience such an extraordinary golf course. They had no problem realizing that this was probably the best golf course they have ever seen.
We were back in the same area this summer with more or less the same group of golfers. They all wanted another crack at it. Unfortunately, that couldn’t be arranged.
I have no information about plans for more golf. When we were there on a perfect summer day, we were told that they were having the club championship in a few days. The clubhouse was fully staffed with friendly folks. Yet, we were the only group on the course. It would seem they have room to grow before they need more golf.
-
Are there any plans for additional golf at Rock Creek?
I can't imagine they would need another course.
Really, there was just a small window of time [about five years] where anyone would have considered building a high-end course in Montana. The market doesn't support it, but there are enough wealthy people involved to make it work. I was lucky enough to be there in the right window.
-
Thomas,
I walked every time but in one of the all-time great lines, my playing partner noted, ' The air here is thin and you're not.'
:-[
;D
-
Are there any plans for additional golf at Rock Creek?
I can't imagine they would need another course.
When I made my brief visit, my caddie made it clear that golf was not the clear #1 choice among members and guests. And who could blame them with all the fly fishing, hunting, ATV-ing, etc. opportunities on site.
-
Are there any plans for additional golf at Rock Creek?
I can't imagine they would need another course.
Really, there was just a small window of time [about five years] where anyone would have considered building a high-end course in Montana. The market doesn't support it, but there are enough wealthy people involved to make it work. I was lucky enough to be there in the right window.
And we are all lucky that such a fine course shows some people here that golf is worthy of being played at places where they choose to live or spend their vacations, even if it is not on links land.
-
I was surprised how reasonable a membership at RCCC actually is. I mean if you factor in all the available activities and amenities - some at an additional expense - that value proposition is off the charts good. If I lived within 10 hours I would join. Loved the place!
-
I was surprised how reasonable a membership at RCCC actually is. I mean if you factor in all the available activities and amenities - some at an additional expense - that value proposition is off the charts good. If I lived within 10 hours I would join. Loved the place!
I've never heard of the 10 hour rule. 10 hrs driving, total travel time or what?
-
I'm starting to like the 10 hour rule, though that's still a considerable hike for me.
-
Then move to Nashville. I can leave at 7am and be at any course in the country by 5pm.
-
Then move to Nashville. I can leave at 7am and be at any course in the country by 5pm.
Good point, efficient proximity to the majority of the country is why Fed Ex and UPS have there central transport hubs in Memphis and Louisville respectively.
-
Well, thus far this thread is missing a contrarian view. So, I'll provide it: Rock Creek is my least favorite course Tom has done and by quite a margin. But, it isn't because of any design flaws. Nor do I have a problem with any specific holes, greens, bunkers, etc.
My problem is that while I played the course a few times, I couldn't actually see the course. That's right, I couldn't "see" the course.
Why? Because overall I found the place so overwhelmingly stimulating visually that the golf course itself just couldn't grab my attention. Sounds crazy, I know. But, courses like Cypress Point or Cape Kidnappers - very dramatic locations, to be sure - never did to me what the setting at Rock Creek did. My mind just went elsewhere. I remember the place but not the golf course. Not at all.
What kind of fan of Tom's work would rank Rock Creek so low among his courses? It is a guy that favors St Andrews Beach among all Renaissance courses. SAB is the exact opposite of RCCC. At St Andrews Beach, the golf course is the star. It doesn't need eye candy to be so much fun to play. Though near the ocean, SAB kind of sits in a valley, a valley with no distractions. There is just the golf course.
There you have it. A different view!
-
Tim,
Why? Because overall I found the place so overwhelmingly stimulating visually that the golf course itself just couldn't grab my attention. Sounds crazy, I know. But, courses like Cypress Point or Cape Kidnappers - very dramatic locations, to be sure - never did to me what the setting at Rock Creek did. My mind just went elsewhere. I remember the place but not the golf course. Not at all.
I understand what you mean about the rest of the vast landscape, but seriously, you don't remember the golf course? I walked the property fairly early on while construction was still ongoing and I remember seeing certain holes even from then.
One question, did you walk or ride? To me Rock Creek presents much differently from a cart than it does for walking, and for me this raises some interesting questions.
As for where the course ranks among his others, I haven't played them all so I couldn't say. But I will say that as far as the design goes it is the most impressive of his courses that I have seen. (This isn't to say it is the best course, but rather the design that most impressed me.)
-
David,
I am being serious. The setting of Rock Creek just overwhelmed me like no other site ever has, perhaps because of scale, I am not sure.
Cypress Point is beautiful, but I found the golf course to be part of the beauty. Not something separate. Cape Kidnappers sure has a wow factor, but I never lost sight of the place as a golf course. The version of the Road hole just stood out, for example. It wasn't overshadowed by the nearby cliffs. The Old Head is sure a "seventh wonder" kind of course, but despite all the drama the reality that many part of the golf course just really aren't very good wasn't obscured.
But to me Rock Creek was different. Somehow the setting - sorry to repeat myself - just overwhelmed. It was just so powerful that my golf architecture junkie brain went into sleep mode I guess.
To the best of my recollection I walked one round and rode another, but I'm not entirely sure.
Again, my best guess is that the scale of the setting is what had such a powerful effect. I found myself typically looking up and beyond the course in a way I have never experienced anywhere else.
If I ever go back, I am going to keep my head down!
-
Rock Creek is certainly an expansive place and it can be visually overwhelming, although in all honesty the location is very nice but nothing out of the ordinary for that part of the world. The "scale" issue is one thing I was very curious about when I first heard the location of the course and when I first walked the site. You've heard of Big Sky Country, but really it is Big Everything country. Four or five hundred yards doesn't look like much when you are staring out over miles by miles, and it is easy for details to get lost among the everything. I was curious as to how Tom, Eric, and his crew would deal with this. In my opinion they did so wonderfully by creating extremely wide fairways, by utilizing a mix of concave and convex features for green sites, and by really going with the flow of the land (and by hiding their handiwork in the places where they didn't quite go with the flow).
I might have preferred darker sand in the bunkers, and perhaps some bunkers that more closely tracked the type of erosion that one finds in that type of ranch land, but overall I think they did a tremendous job of creating a course that actually fits on what seems like an infinitely wide landscape. But I grew up on land very similar, so perhaps for me it is easier to stay focused on the course and not get quite so easily distracted. Overall, I'd say it fits the landscape better than any other supposed Mountain course I have played. And it is a terrific rebuttal to anyone who insists that courses on tough terrain need to be disjointed cart ball monstrosities.
The reason I asked if you walked is that, to me, the course presents much better on foot than in a cart. Tom and his crew do a tremendous job of hiding cart traffic which I like, but the side effect is that sometimes the cart ride takes you a roundabout, disjointed path between the holes, and the course loses a bit of the cohesive feel one gets from walking.
Just my opinion of course.
-
David,
Ok. I will come clean. As weird as it may sound, I think my ability to "see" Rock Creek was doomed before I set foot on the golf course.
It started by flying into Spokane and driving to Deer Lodge. Somewhere along Interstate 90 I came across the BNSF railroad and drove along a long unit train of coal cars. The experience was nothing like I had ever seen. It was like a huge snake kept quickly moving along the road.
Crazy, I know. But, it got to me somehow.
Then, it got worse when I arrived in Deer Lodge. Instead of going right to the course I drove through the little town and stumbled upon the old Montana State Prison which is now a museum. So, figuring I'd been to Alcatraz and I should probably see this place too, I had another moving experience. It wasn't the prisoner cells that got to me. It was the building and room where the condemned would be hung.
Oh man, that was scary just imagining what it must have been like walking in that room, knowing it would be the last place you would ever see and it would be all over in just a few minutes.
First, the giant snake, then the gallows. I was pretty much done. But, it got worse. There was something about the entrance to Rock Creek that got to me. The scale of the place first hit me. That little shack at the entrance just told me I was a long way from home.
I never recovered. I went to enjoy a golf architecture get together but never saw the course. I know it is there, but I couldn't see it.
Never had that experience before or since in my golf travels.
-
Tim:
That is an odd story, but did you ever think maybe that had more to do with yourself than with the golf course?
-
Tim,
Sounds like you had a great trip. Be careful though, if you spend any more time in the State you might give up on golf and gca altogether.
-
Tim - yes, that post was fascinating (and your exchange with David instructive). I can imagine myself having a similar reaction, something akin to what Captain Willard describes in "Apocalypse Now": "Mr. Clean was from some South Bronx sh-t-hole, and I think the light and the space of Vietnam really put the zap on his head." Rock Creek is indeed a stunning expanse.
Reading through this thread and Ran's profile, I thought two things: one, how that much space and that much 'topography' must test -- and measure -- an architect's skill and imagination; and two, that RC could have reminded me of something Stanley Thompson might've done in Canada's mountains, but it didn't -- and from photos seems to demonstrate a much more interesting and varied approach than Thompson ever took.
-
My wife mentored a doctoral student many years ago who moved her family from Wyoming to Charlottesville, VA in order to attend graduate school. After a year she quit and they moved back because their home out in rural Greene County, VA made them feel too claustrophobic.
After half a lifetime in what Moriarty terms "Big Everything Country", not being able to see to the horizon in every direction, every day apparently made the hills of Virginia feel to those folks approximately like living in Manhattan would feel like to me.
I've been as far out West as Denver and Tucson and I've got to say if the part of the world where RCCC is located is any more empty and expansive I might get a bit wigged out myself at some point.
-
This is far from the first time this has been written, but I think we are speaking about what makes our country great.
I love the dichotomy between areas where each square foot of space (and sometimes air space about the physical space) is haggled over and bought and sold, and the great expanses of the Western US, where land can be unincorporated, enjoyed by all, maybe even forgotten.
When I first started traveling out West for business (I live near Boston), I initially found all the open space discomforting...like an "other" feeling you might find visiting a foreign country. Now I love the "adventurous" nature of seeing the wide open spaces...even if its just visually from my rental car...and I count myself lucky to live somewhere where I don't even need to leave the country to experience great diversity of landscape.
I thought RCCC fit its environment very well, with yardage meaning very little on a few holes.
-
Tim:
That is an odd story, but did you ever think maybe that had more to do with yourself than with the golf course?
Tom,
Yes, I did. But, the only reason I shared it was because as you know better than anyone, appreciating golf architecture requires travel. Lots of it.
And, each place has its own journey. Rock Creek for me wasn't like running up I 95 from Pelham to Mamaroneck to see Winged Foot. Nor was it like jumping on a plane in London and flying to Cork to see Old Head for the first time.
It was an experience unlike any I ever had. The journey truly did make my brain turn off when it came to golf architecture.
A bit strange, hell yes!
-
When I first left Montana for the east coast I felt slightly claustrophobic for a long time. I remember really enjoying driving over bridges and overpasses because it was about the only place one could see over the immediate surroundings. I am still convinced that part of the draw of the ocean is that for many it is the only place one can see into emptiness, except for looking straight up.
I don't think of the landscape around Rock Creek as empty, but it is expansive. You not only see mountains, you can see past mountains. The scale is very different than in the locations most people are used to. If one built a golf course to match the scale, then the holes would be a quarter mile wide and miles long. But golf doesn't work that way. (Give the manufacturers a few years and it might.) Considering the limitations of golf, I was (and am) very impressed how well the course fits into the expansive landscape.
-
When I first left Montana for the east coast I felt slightly claustrophobic for a long time. I remember really enjoying driving over bridges and overpasses because it was about the only place one could see over the immediate surroundings. I am still convinced that part of the draw of the ocean is that for many it is the only place one can see into emptiness, except for looking straight up.
I don't think of the landscape around Rock Creek as empty, but it is expansive. You not only see mountains, you can see past mountains. The scale is very different than in the locations most people are used to. If one built a golf course to match the scale, then the holes would be a quarter mile wide and miles long. But golf doesn't work that way. (Give the manufacturers a few years and it might.) Considering the limitations of golf, I was (and am) very impressed how well the course fits into the expansive landscape.
David,
Leaving my crazy train snake and prison gallows story aside, I do think Rock Creek is very different than locations most people are used to. In my case, I grew up in Westchester County, NY where golf courses are pretty intimate - the exact opposite of the vast expense of Rock Creek.
-
Tim:
That is an odd story, but did you ever think maybe that had more to do with yourself than with the golf course?
Or with the drugs?
-
Tim:
That is an odd story, but did you ever think maybe that had more to do with yourself than with the golf course?
Or with the drugs?
George,
Sorry. I grew up in a medical family, including a Mom who ran a methadone clinic for a couple years. My high school class of 104 students took a poll spring of our senior year and 92 out of 104 said they smoked marijuana regularly. I was one of the few who never touched the stuff or any other drug.
So, my mental state before stepping on Rock Creek was purely natural. Weird, perhaps. But, not something influenced by drugs or alcohol!