Twelve holes will be ready for play by April of 2001, while the entire 18-hole course is set to open by July 1.

Pacific Dunes rests on a stretch of Pacific Ocean coastline that draws comparisons to the revered Alister MacKenzie course, Cypress Point. Doak, who heads Renaissance Golf Design, Inc., of Traverse City, has developed at Pacific Dunes - located just north of Bandon Dunes - an 18-hole jewel cut from Oregon's oceanfront terrain and inland dunes.

Pacific Dunes is a par-71 course, measuring 6,700 yards from the back tees. It features undulating fairways, small but thoughtful greens, and landscape that blends seamlessly with native vegetation and with the tract's wind-whipped sand masses.

Bunkers are another highlight at Pacific Dunes. Two of the largest bunkers on any golf course in America rest along the par-4 second hole, and on the 18th, a marvelous par-5 finishing hole.

"The bunkers were styled after large, natural 'blowouts' that is a hallmark of the dunes environment," Doak said, adding: "Our goal at Pacific Dunes was to build a course of equal merit to Bandon Dunes, but in a different, yet complementary style."

In his book, "The Confidential Guide," Doak awarded perfect 10s to several courses distinguished by short par-4 holes. Pacific Dunes follows the theme with a pair of classics:

The 316-yard, sixth hole features an elevated tee shot, followed by an approach to a narrow green, flanked by two bunkers below and left of the putting surface, and a hollow of fairway on the back-right flank.

The 16th hole, 346 yards, is marked by a sharp right dogleg, playing to a shelved green that abuts the base of a large sand dune.

Memorable par-three holes are also part of the Pacific Dunes mosaic, two of them resting back-to-back. The 10th extends 205 yards to a green set at the end of a valley, against an ocean backdrop. The 11th is 142 yards, cut alongside a cliff, and bearing a green of only 4,000 square feet - the smallest putting surface on the course.

"The back-to-back routing of the 10th and 11th is something I never thought I would do on a course," Doak said, "but it was the best use of that stretch of coastline."

Players familiar with Doak's work will note one difference at Pacific Dunes: greens offer fewer sharp contours than is normally the case at a Doak course.

"The coastal winds and the undulations in the fairways are so challenging that we didn't want to overcook the design," Doak explained. "There's still plenty of short-game interest thanks to the bunkers and chipping areas around the greens. On a calm day, the course might seem easy - but there aren't many calm days here, not during the prime of the season."

Construction on Pacific Dunes began in January under the direction of Jim Urbina (Renaissance Golf Design) and golf-course superintendent Ken Nice (Kemper Sports Management).

Doak has established himself during the past two decades as an expert in classic golf-course architecture. He has personally walked and studied 1,000 of the world's great golf courses, and has caddied at The Old Course at St. Andrews.

His designs are marked by a cerebral quality, both imaginative and true to golf's core tenets. Other Doak courses include a pair of Michigan jewels, Black Forest and Lost Dunes, Apache Stronghold (Arizona), Quail Crossing (Indiana), and Beechtree G.C. near Baltimore.

Doak is presently designing a private course on Long Island, N.Y. - The Village Club of Sands Point, N.Y. - while heading a restoration of Camargo Club, in Cincinnati. He is also under contract to design The Golf Club, near Rye, Australia, as well as Kadaga Lake Golf Club in Riga, Latvia.