I’ve had some inside info on this for some time and I figured it
would happen after playing some rounds of golf with my friend Eddie
Peck, principal of Black Mesa.
Eddie and I played Ballyneal a couple of years ago and Eddie was there
not only for the golf, but to do research on Tom Doak’s design work. It
is now confirmed that my favorite course designer Tom Doak (Ballyneal, Stonewall, Pacific Dunes and many others) will be designing a 2nd course at Black Mesa. Check out my review of Black Mesa here.
Having played the wonderful Black Mesa course and having seen the
land the new course will be built on first hand, I’m super stoked to
see what Doak will be doing there.
Official Press Release Below
La Mesilla, NM – Eddie Peck, Principal of Black Mesa Golf Club today
announced that Tom Doak of Renaissance Golf Design, Inc. has been hired
to design a new course at the daily fee club that sits on the Santa
Clara Pueblo in La Mesilla, NM. The new course will sit to the south of
the current layout and be the first phase in a planned comprehensive
development designed to make Black Mesa one of the finest golf resorts
in the country.
Located 30 minutes north of Santa Fe, Black Mesa Golf Club is a high
desert links style layout designed by Baxter Spann of Finger, Dye,
Spann. The course opened in the spring of 2003 and was selected as one
of the Best New Courses by GOLF Magazine and Golf Digest and has
appeared on several Top 100 public course lists since its debut.
“I’m very excited to be working with Tom and his team on this
project,” said Peck. “I admire his design philosophy and think he’ll
design a world class layout that will be unique, yet complement the
original course.”
Doak, the principal designer of Renaissance Golf Design, Inc. a
Michigan-based firm, has designed 31 courses around the world including
four in GOLF Magazine’s “Top 100 Courses in the World:” Pacific Dunes
Golf Course in Bandon, Oregon, Barnbougle Dunes Golf Links in Bridport,
Tasmania, Australia, Cape Kidnappers Resort in Napier, New Zealand and
Ballyneal in Holyoke, Colorado.
“We decided to take on this project because we liked the piece of
land and that the course will be open to the public,” said Doak. “In
contrast with the original layout, the property is open and rolling and
the lows and desert washes will come more into play.”
Doak has been an admirer of Black Mesa selecting it as one of the
most “Beautiful Courses in the United States” in a Forbes Traveler
article.
“Black Mesa features the kind of scenery you might find in an old
western movie,” said Tom Doak. “It’s a difficult test of golf for good
players, but everyone will enjoy the fact that they’ve kept it
affordable and accessible. I think it’s the best course in New Mexico.”
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