Episode 84: Don Placek
Don Placek began working for Tom Doak’s Renaissance Golf Design in 1997 after being in Perry Dye’s Denver office for several years. It was a significant jump, going from the types of technical builds Dye was coordinating in the western U.S. and Asia to Doak’s more intuitive, organic way of designing and constructing courses. Placek began producing plans and blueprints for Doak’s projects and eventually migrated to the field where he helped shape and oversee numerous Renaissance projects, including The Renaissance Club in Scotland and CommonGround in Denver while consulting with venerable clubs like Shoreacres and Camargo. One of the profession’s great graphic artists, Placek has run the day-to-day operations at Renaissance Golf for 25 years and is often the point-person prospective clients first speak to regarding hiring Doak and the firm. Along with fellow associates Eric Iverson, Brian Slawnik and Brian Schneider, he’s now an owner and partner at Renaissance.
Placek joins the podcast to discuss some lean years partnering with Iverson, getting started with Doak and the impact of showing that large sums of money aren’t required to build great golf, Renaissance Design’s “Hippocratic oath” to do no more than is necessary to a site, what golfers like versus what they want, restoring Seth Raynor greens, the future of Renaissance design and the importance of short courses.
PHOTOS: Cover image: Placek’s map of Cabot Highlands in Inverness, Scotland (courtesy of Cabot); Above: The “Short” 11th hole at Camargo.
Watch Derek Duncan discuss Los Angeles Country Club’s North Course, host of the 2023 U.S. Open.
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