Dormie, Not Done
Stunning Network of Courses Far From Finished
By John Steinbreder • GGP/Biz • November 9, 2022
Dormie Club #4 and cottage
When Nebraska rancher and publishing magnate Tom Peed and the youngest of his three sons, Zach, purchased the Dormie Club outside Pinehurst, North Carolina, in 2017, they did more than simply add to their portfolio of golf clubs, which at that point totaled four.
The deal, which included a superb Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw course as well as 1,000 acres of land, also led to the establishment of a national association of private destination clubs. In addition to having highly valued layouts, they would also provide members and their guests with first-rate accommodations and the sort of amenities one would expect at such a place, from food and beverage offerings to fully stocked golf shops.
Dubbed the Dormie Network, in large part because the Peeds liked the appellation and all it evoked, the group now has six clubs. It includes another Coore-Crenshaw gem (Hidden Creek on the Jersey Shore), a pair of Tom Fazio layouts (Briggs Ranch in San Antonio, Texas, and Victoria National in Indiana), the Arnold Palmer designed ArborLinks in Nebraska and Ballyhack in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.
“It’s Goldilocks. Not too flat. Not too steep. Wide open property that is far enough outside North Platte to be wilderness, but not so far that you are squirming in your seat driving there from the airport in town.”
- David McLay Kidd
This past June, the Dormie Network broke ground on No. 7, a David McLay Kidd design called GrayBull that is currently being constructed in the Nebraska sandhills just outside the city of North Platte (pop. 23,276). That will make GrayBull the first Dormie Network property to be built from the ground up. The course is slated to come on line officially in 2024, though Kidd, who burst upon the design scene in the mid-1990s as the creator of Bandon Dunes, recently told Global Golf Post that if all goes well, the track will be ready for preview play next August or September.
“Tom and Zach are taking everything they have learned in running and revamping their first six properties and applying it to GrayBull,” said Kidd, adding the elder Peed is also drawing on his experiences as a member at Sand Hills Golf Club in Nebraska and also Nanea Golf Club in Hawaii, which the architect built in 2003 for billionaire financiers Charles Schwab and George Roberts. “The Peeds want something that combines the very best attributes of private clubs like Nanea and Sand Hills and also a destination like Bandon.”
The cornerstone of each Dormie Network property is the golf course, and Kidd feels he is well on his way to producing a very good one at GrayBull.
“It’s Goldilocks,” he said of the site he helped select. “Not too flat. Not too steep. Wide open property that is far enough outside North Platte to be wilderness, but not so far that you are squirming in your seat driving there from the airport in town.”
As for course construction, Kidd says he is making good progress.
“Right now, we have nine holes fully shaped, with irrigation in place for four of those,” he explained. “We might be able to double that number to eight by the end of the year, and shape another three holes. Then, we’ll be back to work in the spring.”
Global Golf Post plans to be there, as well, reporting and writing a series of articles over the next two years chronicling the development of GrayBull, from beginning to opening.
But before we embark on that assignment, it only makes sense to look at the Dormie Network itself, how and why it was established and how the company has grown from the acquisition of its first course (ArborLinks in late 2015) to the making of GrayBull.
According to COO Mark Ruhga, the idea only started to take hold five years ago after the Peed family acquired Briggs Ranch and the Dormie Club.
“That’s when they really began to see opportunity in the national club model,” he said. “They wanted to take it to a larger scale and also run things differently, as owner-operators who would establish the capital plans at each club and fund improvements. And there would be no member assessments.
No matter your slant on No. 4 at ArborLinks – an anchor of the Dormie Network – it’s a challenge with which to be reckoned.
“The idea was to offer great golf courses as well as great accommodations, with each club having 60 beds or so spread out among a handful of cottages. Great service was also important, and ownership wanted to include a strong culinary element, as well.
“We also talked a lot internally about what made a great stay-and-play experience and how camaraderie is built among a group, both on and off the golf course. And we have worked hard to create real membership experiences for those who joined, to take the time to learn their preferences and make sure their time at any of the Dormie Network clubs is special.”
A year after the Briggs Ranch and Dormie Club purchases, the network added Victoria National. In early 2019, it acquired Hidden Creek.
Each of the Dormie Network’s members have full access to all of its clubs. There is a membership process as well as initiation fees and annual dues the outfit is only inclined to share with those who ask about joining. Guests are allowed, and group sizes generally range from eight to 12 golfers. Golf, and golf carts, are included in the dues, but everything else, including lodging and food and beverage buys, are à la carte.
Ruhga said Dormie Network clubs each average from 10,000 to 12,000 rounds a year. That keeps them from ever feeling too busy, as do the 15-minute intervals between tee times.
“It all makes for a very special golf experience,” Kidd said. “Which is why I asked to be made a member as part of my agreement with the Dormie Network.”
Courtesy Global Golf Post
