In December of 2020, a masterplan submitted by Renaissance Golf Design was accepted by the club. Tom Doak and his associates with Renaissance Golf Design are responsible for creating and restoring many of the world’s greatest golf courses. Mr. Doak is also one of the foremost experts on how Perry Maxwell built greens, making him the perfect choice to ensure that this project was done correctly and appropriately.
Renaissance Golf Designs worked closely with golf course builder Total Turf Golf Services to carry out the bulk of the construction. Total Turf’s portfolio is very impressive and includes some of the most highly rated golf courses in the country. Their attention to detail and ability to complete the highest quality work in tight timeframes made them the ideal choice to carry out this project.
The scope of the work included new greens, bunkers, adjustments to some tees, a complete irrigation renovation, and restoring the natural drainage patterns. Over the years, the changes made to the greens in particular removed any sign of what Maxwell had built. Maxwell greens are known for being bold and fitting into the topography that they sit on. He also was a master at utilizing the natural contours of the terrain to layout each hole. Since there are no original contour maps of the greens, Mr. Doak utilized eyewitness testimony, old aerial photographs, and his ability to read the terrain much like Maxwell did to restore the greens to as close as possible to what Maxwell had built. Bunkers will be restored based on old aerials. Many of the old bunker outlines could still be seen in the terrain such as the bunkers leading up to the old green on number 11, the fairway bunker on 12, and the two fairway bunkers on number 16. The most significant routing change was the moving the green on number 1 and the tees and green on number 2 back to their original locations. The green on 11 was also moved slightly to the right where Maxwell had originally built it.
The historical importance of this project was a driving factor in making it happen. Thanks to donations made to the Dornick Hills Historical Foundation, this restoration could become a reality.
Restoration Media Links
Master Plan
