Nicklaus, Doak team on Sebonack

Southampton, N.Y. – Sebonack Golf Club, the first-time collaboration of Hall of Fame golfer and architect Jack Nicklaus and designer Tom Doak, is on schedule to open for play later this fall. Situated on 300 waterfront acres and neighboring the historic National Golf Links of America and Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, the majority of Sebonack’s holes will offer sweeping panoramic views of Long Island’s Great Peconic Bay and Cold Spring Pond.

Sebonack Golf Club will feature striking views of Long Island's Great Peconic Bay and Cold Spring Pond.

From the announcement of plans for this private course with the unprecedented pairing of Nicklaus and Doak, Sebonack has been called, by some in the golf industry, “the most highly anticipated new golf course in the country.”

“We are extremely excited to have Jack Nicklaus and Tom Doak working as a team on our project,” says Michael Pascucci, who spoke on behalf of the Pascucci family who own the course. “We have an extraordinary piece of property that is located between two of the finest golf courses in this country. It has been our intent that the Sebonack Golf Club would provide golfers with a strategic layout featuring the very best shot-making characteristics. Equally important to us is the knowledgeable experience in the latest design and construction techniques that are required to sensitively craft a course on a premier waterfront property in a high profile location. In the unprecedented collaboration of Nicklaus and Doak, we have all of this and more.”

Sebonack began showing signs of life as the grass began to grow on the Jack Nicklaus and Tom Doak design.

Nicklaus recently visited the property and loves what he saw.

“Sebonack aesthetically will be absolutely gorgeous and the shot values tremendous,” he says. I’m excited about this project. Tom is a bright young talent in the design business, and I look forward to working closely with him. We have an opportunity to do something special here with Sebonack because of a spectacular piece of property located in an area already rich in golf history.”

Doak is equally enthusiastic about the scope of the Sebonack project. 

“It’s hard to imagine a project bigger than this one,” Doak says. “We’re starting with the kind of property every architect dreams about, with perfect sandy soil and a lot of frontage along the bay. Creating a great golf course is the first and only priority. It is an honor to be working alongside Jack Nicklaus, and I’m sure I will learn a lot from picking the brain of the greatest golfer ever. And if we’re ever short of inspiration, we can peek across the fence at two of the best golf courses ever built. I can’t wait to get started.”

Bordering Shinnecock Hills Golf Club and the National Golf Links of America, Sebonack is expected to rival the greatest courses in the country.

Both architects agreed that the finished product is going to be better than either of them could have done alone.

Clubhouse
The firm of Hart/Howerton is designing the Sebonack Golf Club clubhouse, golf cottages, maintenance barn and other support facilities. In keeping with the goal of preserving the existing environment of the Sebonack property, Hart/Howerton’s plans for the 28,000 square foot, two-story clubhouse, cottages and other buildings will be designed to integrate with the landscape and reflect East End traditions.

“Our goal is to design a clubhouse with careful consideration of the golfers’ total experience,” says Hart/Howerton principal Michael Cunningham. “That is, how the building is approached, how it reveals the golf landscape to the members and their guests, and how it fits into the golf landscape and into the legendary Southampton golf neighborhood. Every effort will be made to promote the convenience, comfort and quality of the golf experience, as well as the game’s traditions, at this very special club.”

The Sebonack clubhouse, which will overlook the golf course and be situated near the first, third and 18th greens, is oriented toward the summer sunset across Great Peconic Bay. The location offers views of Great Peconic Bay and Cold Spring Pond, and the Atlantic Ocean will be visible from the roof top widow’s walk that surrounds the cupola, which serves as a landmark when viewed from the golf course. A colonnaded porch will front the clubhouse entry façade and a rotunda will accommodate a central space that is 38 feet high, allowing natural light to filter through the cupola into the lower entry level.

The clubhouse design will utilize elements and materials typical of East End architecture – stone walls, cedar shingles, pitched roofs, dormers, porches, French doors and classic columns.