At 26, most of us are still figuring it out. Maybe we’ve committed to a zip code. Or landed a job with actual benefits. Maybe we’ve even opened a retirement account and checked it exactly once.
At 26, Tom Doak was building a golf course.
Now, that’s not meant to induce an existential spiral—just to establish that Doak’s path was never conventional. The summer after graduating from Cornell University, he moved to St. Andrews Links and caddied at the Home of Golf, immersing himself in the rhythms of the Old Course and the magic of linksland. He then spent months crisscrossing the British Isles, studying the game’s greatest venues.
What he discovered was less a blueprint and more a belief that the best courses don’t impose themselves on the land. Thus, his philosophy boils down to a simple directive: disturb the land as little as possible and let it tell you what the golf course wants to be.
That ethos has traveled well. From the oceanside fairways of Tara Iti Golf Club to the sandy canvas of Streamsong Blue, and most recently Pinehurst No. 10, Doak’s work carries an unmistakable throughline.
Any architect can move dirt. But fewer can make it feel like they barely touched it.
Best Tom Doak Golf Courses
1. Pacific Dunes
Bandon, Oregon
Pacific Dunes at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort is perhaps the purest expression of Tom Doak’s design philosophy. Since opening in 2001, it has delivered an authentic links experience, letting you wander the British Isles without ever leaving the U.S. Fairways cling to the towering cliffs that define Bandon’s rugged coastline, while the wind sweeps across every hole. Some days, the elements become the ultimate equalizer. And that’s exactly how it was meant to be.
2. Tara Iti
Mangawhai, New Zealand
Though still young in comparison to other courses, Tara Iti has already made an outsized impression on the golf world since opening in 2015. It quickly became one of the most talked-about layouts globally, earning one of the highest debut rankings in Golf Digest’s World’s 100 Greatest Courses. Tom Doak routed the course through a former pine plantation, restoring the land to its native dune character.
3. Medinah Country Club, Course One
Medinah, Ilinois
From the moment you arrive at Medinah Country Club, scale is the story. The grand clubhouse looms with old-world presence, and three 18-hole courses ripple across the property with purpose. But it’s on Course One where Tom Doak’s redesign really leans into nuance. It’s not distraction you’ll find here—it’s decision-making.
4. Streamsong Resort, Blue Course
Bowling Green, Florida
Set on a former phosphate mine in Central Florida, Streamsong Resort is all exposed sand and heaving dunes that stretch far beyond what most associate with Florida golf. It’s a landscape so unexpected that Tom Doak himself called it “such a good piece of land for golf”— praise that, coming from him, carries weight. What makes Streamsong Blue particularly compelling in the Doak portfolio is its sense of freedom. There’s an openness here, in both visuals and shot options. In that way, Blue feels like a modern American interpretation of links golf, transported improbably to the heart of Florida.
5. Old Macdonald
Bandon, Oregon
A collaboration between Tom Doak and Jim Urbina, Old Macdonald pays homage to pioneering architect Charles Blair Macdonald, borrowing inspiration from his template holes and reinterpreting them along the rugged Oregon coastline. The result isn’t imitation — it’s amplification. Greens swell to eye-popping proportions. Bunkers sprawl and flash with jagged edges. Fairways appear almost boundless against the Pacific horizon. It’s a course that truly has it all.
6. Sebonack Golf Club
Southampton, New York
Nestled along Long Island’s Great Peconic Bay and the serene Cold Spring Pond, Sebonack Golf Club is a masterclass in understated elegance. Created in collaboration with Jack Nicklaus, Tom Doak shaped roughly 300 acres into a course that feels as if it has always existed, with natural undulations, subtle mounding, and sweeping vistas that make every hole feel both strategic and inevitable.
7. Ballyneal Golf and Hunt Club
Holyoke, Colorado
Links golf in the high plains of Eastern Colorado might sound improbable—until you step onto Ballyneal Golf and Hunt Club. Here, Tom Doak transformed rolling prairie into a classic links experience. There are no tee markers, no frills, no distractions—just the land, your clubs, and the challenge of playing it well.
8. Barnbougle Dunes
Bridport, Tasmania, Australia
Perched on Tasmania’s windswept northeast coast, Barnbougle Dunes Golf Links transforms a former potato farm into one of the Southern Hemisphere’s most compelling links experiences. Designed by Tom Doak in collaboration with Mike Clayton, the course evokes the spirit of Scottish and Irish links while fully embracing the island’s rugged personality.
9. Cape Kidnappers Resort
Napier, New Zealand
Cape Kidnappers is one of those rare courses where the land feels alive, pushing back with every shot. It sits on a jagged peninsula at the southern tip of Hawke’s Bay, stretching 10 kilometers into the South Pacific, where waves crash against cliffs nearly 140 meters below. From the first tee, the ocean is never out of sight, and every ridge, gully, and dune feels like it’s daring you to make the right choice — or pay the price.
10. Pinehurst No. 10
Aberdeen, North Carolina
Tom Doak’s Pinehurst No. 10 feels both timeless and entirely new—a masterful addition to the Sandhills that respects its storied history while offering a fresh perspective. The course flows naturally with the land, using every ridge and mound, all in that quietly clever, unassuming style Doak does so well.
