The Rock Creek Cattle Company is an 80,000 acre working ranch near Deer Lodge in the heart of Montana, the site blessed with terrific scenic outlooks in all directions and plenty of internal beauty as well. Coupled with fishing streams, an internal lake and plenty of impressive wildlife is a fantastic Tom Doak golf course that looks clearly to be the standout layout in this fascinating state.

Doak's course at Rock Creek is quite unique, the site blessed with a surprising amount of rugged undulation and the designer able to incorporate the best areas into a routing that plays to all points of the compass and traverses some really interesting and attractive terrain. We have come to expect of Tom Doak, the green contours here are on the heavy side but completely in sync with the surrounding landscapes, while the bunkers are jagged and, at times, carved boldly into the terrain. The variety of holes and of individual golf shots is superb, and with the turf kept as firm as possible in this part of the world the golfing experience here is from the top shelf.

Doak has built some remarkable golf courses during his career, few away from the sea are more impressive than Rock Creek.

Full review to follow.