Doak to Design Golf
Course in Costa Rica
Tom Doak is flexing his
golf-architecture
muscles in another part
of the world. In early
November, AOL co-founder
Steve Case announced he
hired Doak's Renaissance
Golf Design to be the
architect for a new
course in Costa Rica.
Among others, the
Traverse City,
Mich.-based firm created
the acclaimed Pacific
Dunes in Oregon and Cape
Kidnappers Golf Club in
New Zealand for "Tiger
Fund" founder Julian
Robertson.
Both seaside courses are
ranked among the world's
top 100. With Jack
Nicklaus, Doak also
co-designed Sebonack -
the new next-door
neighbor of National
Golf Links and
Shinnecock Hills - in
Southampton, N.Y., for
former car-leasing giant
Michael Pascucci.
Why is Doak so admired
by such highly
successful
entrepreneurs? "I've
been lucky to work
around successful people
for most of my life,"
Doak said. "All of my
clients understand that
I'm in business because
I love to build great
golf courses, not just
to design lots of
courses and make as much
money as possible. I
think they also
appreciate that we treat
them the same, whether
they are a billionaire
or a potato farmer from
Tasmania - we keep close
track of every detail of
their project because we
care about it as much as
they do."
Case, chairman of
Revolution LLC, and
Costa Rican President
Oscar Arias Sanchez,
said Doak is crafting a
course for a new
650-acre destination
community called
Cacique. The Costa Rica
resort project is
scheduled for a 2010
completion.
"The site for the course
is across the road from
the seaside part of the
resort," Doak added. "It
sits entirely within a
steep jungle bowl of
ridges and deep valleys,
with the resort perched
well above it on one
side so that nothing
intrudes on the golf
experience. We'll
certainly make the
course walkable, even
though the site is
fairly steep and we
anticipate that many
golfers will take carts,
or possibly caddies."
Doak and Case envision
several innovative
concepts for the course.
"Cacique is the first
golf course for
Revolution. Their
clientele is a bit
different than other
resorts, so we are
trying to think through
what that should mean
for the golf course.
Right now we're
exploring the idea of
building a much shorter
front nine and a more
challenging back nine,
so that the first few
holes will be free in
the evenings for family
play and for the people
who aren't so interested
in what score they post,
while the challenge
builds steadily for
those playing the full
18 holes."
The $800-million
development will be
built under the new
Revolution Places
division of Case's
company. Revolution
Places will also be
creating other high-end
developments. For
Cacique, Case is
partnering with - in
addition to Doak - such
high-end brands as One &
Only Resorts; Mirval:
Life in Balance Spa;
Exclusive Resorts; and
Agassi-Graf Tennis and
Fitness Centers.
"We are bringing
together the best of the
best to deliver an
ownership and guest
experience like no other
resort in the world,"
Case said. "Importantly,
we will preserve the
local environment and
culture when developing
resorts."
"We're not trying to
build quantity; we're
trying to build
quality," added Doak.
"We all love what we do.
Unless each property is
different than the rest
of our portfolio, and
special in its own
right, what's the point
of building another?
We'd just as soon relax
and enjoy the ones we've
already built. But when
those special places
come along, we
appreciate how rare they
are and we are committed
to making the most of
them."
Cacique will focus on
environmentally friendly
elements that will
reduce energy and water
demand, while taking
advantage of spatial,
wind and solar patterns
to maximize natural
ventilation, shade and
daylight. The
development will
establish a
comprehensive recycling
and solid-waste
management program to
neutralize its impact of
on the surrounding
environment.
Additionally, Cacique
will create on-site
treatment facilities to
re-use wastewater and
purchase its electrical
power from renewable
sources. |
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