Course: Doral Country Club Site: Miami, Florida Year Opened: 1962 Course Designer: Dick Wilson Length: 6,939 yards JNSE Design: Kerry Mark Leibowitz and John Sandoval Acknowledgements: Object credits are as follows (listed in the order they appear in the object file): #1--A recolored version of a palm from Ted Maiden's TPC at Sawgrass #2--A recolored version of a tree from Mark Willet's Alhambra #3--Recolored version of a palm used in the JNUG version of Doral, lifted originally from Scott Chesney's JNUG Mauna Kea #4--Flag object from Mark Willet's Alhambra #5--Holesign from John Sandoval's Cuyamaca Bench and ballwasher from Lee Ritze's Muirfield Village #6--Original creation Background: New, created for this course. "The Blue Monster", as this Doral course is known, is often rated as one of the top 50 courses in the world. This despite the lack of breathtaking scenery and innovative holes. It's just a good golf course. And it's flat. Flat, flat, flat--not surprising, given the fact that it's built on what was formerly a swamp. There are no hills, as such, on Doral. Some mounds, but no hills. And that's not such a bad thing. There are bunkers aplenty, and lots of water. The fairways tend to be narrow, and the greens are relatively small. And, possibly of greatest importance, there tends to be A LOT of wind on the course. During rounds of the Doral Ryder Open (the PGA tournament held anually there), winds are almost always in excess of 15 mph. If the wind is light, the course can definitely tamed. But, if you want a more accurate simulation of the Doral experience, make sure you've got the wind cranked up a bit. That will make things more, er, challenging. I originally designed this course for JNUG, and despite several revisions, it never really moved beyond the mediocre stage. I was interested in recreating this course, with what would hopefully be a superior presentation, for JNSE. After becoming friendly with John Sandoval, via Prodigy, and after seeing his first course design (La Jolla), I asked him if he would collaborate with me on the redesign. He agreed. (This turned out to be one of the best moves I've made in a long time.) We each were working on something else at the time (he on Cuyamaca, me on a collaborative effort on Inverness), so we agreed we'd wait until we were done with projects in progress. Over the several months that this took, we became about as friendly as it's possible to get without actually meeting, based on many common interests and similar temperment. Even before we actually started working on the course, I was very pleased that we would be working together. I'm even more pleased now. John and I divided the work evenly; while I was working on the hole layouts, he was slaving away on the object file and background. When I finished the holes, I sent him the files, and he did some experimenting with the course to see that we had "the look" that we wanted. When he was satisfied, he sent it back to me for object placement. I was VERY pleased with what I saw when I got the course back. I placed the objects, and sent the course BACK to John for fine tuning...then we both did some playtesting. We're both very happy with the final product, and with the collaborative effort...so happy, in fact, that we plan on a number of additional efforts in the near future. I've enjoyed working with John immensely; I think our respective styles and interests are quite complementary. As we prepare to move on to new projects, we sincerely hope you enjoy playing "The Blue Monster." We definitely enjoyed creating it. Kerry Mark Leibowitz 343 Maple Ave. Glen Ellyn, Illinois 60137 Well, there's not much that I can add to what Kerry has said. Working with him has been a lot of fun, not to mention the fact that I feel that I have gained a good friend. I am anxiously awaiting our next effort, after a nice break. I would like to say that I have never been to Florida. In fact, before my recent move from California to Maryland, I'd been out of California twice, both trips being to the desert Southwest. These trips showed me just how much beauty there is in this country, and the amazing amount of variety. My first two courses (La Jolla and Cuyamaca) try to reflect that diversity. With this course, I hope I have added to it. I relied heavily on Ted Maiden's TPC at Sawgrass to get the feel of Florida. His course is a very fine piece of work, which everyone should have. I only had 4 pictures of Doral itself, so Ted's design was very important. Thanks Ted. Have fun and be sure to let us know what you think. John Sandoval 9015 Thamesmeade Rd #B Laurel, MD 20723 (301) 498-7875 *P: FKFC42B