I enjoy playing Gillespie Golf Course. I really do. The city of Greensboro muni is a solid golf course, typically in good shape. The price – I paid less than $20 last year for 18 holes on a weekend afternoon — can’t be beaten.
I’m excited that the city and a few benefactors have committed to making the facility even better. The city’s Parks & Recreation Department recently released some of its vision for improvements.
My biggest criticism of Gillespie is there’s not enough of it. There’s only nine regulation holes. It originally had 18, but decades ago, the city knocked it out of bounds and lost land to development. Many golfers want 18 different holes.
Winston-Salem has two regulation 18-hole layouts. So does High Point. Jamestown and Burlington have their own challenging 18-hole regulation layouts.
Yes, Bryan Park has two outstanding courses with several holes along Lake Townsend arguably priced lower than market value. But credit that facility near the edge of the city limits to the generosity and vision of the Bryan Foundation. A private management group operates the courses and clubhouse.
According to the city of Greensboro, which does now have a master plan, some of the details for Gillespie are yet to be fully determined. There’s funding, but no firm timeline for the entire project.
As a frequent player at Gillespie – it’s a nice casual layout only a few minutes from downtown – I have some suggestions that I haven’t seen mentioned in media reports.
- Raise the right side of the fairway – or at least the edge — for the second shot on the dogleg-right par-5 third hole. Currently, the layout of the hole requires a long second shot. The problem is, if the shot isn’t hit to the extreme left side of the fairway flanked by woods, it typically trickles down the sloped fairway and into the creek guarding the right side. If you get lucky and it stops short of the creek, your shot to the green is blocked by trees.
- Find or create places for new “back-nine” tees on a few par-4 holes. To give players an 18-hole option, the course offers a second block of tees that change the distance and angle of the holes. No. 3 – yeah, that hole again – requires an awkward, short tee shot from the current “No. 12” tees. Nos. 6 and 7 also need new tees to make the “Nos. 15 and 16” tees more than an afterthought. Removing some trees on the right side for the approach on No. 9 would make that hole much more playable.
- Make sure a snack bar, one with a menu that includes simple breakfast and sandwich options, stays open. If the new restaurant operators don’t work out – I hope they do – the city should handle food operations, so players have a place to get a Danish or a hotdog.
- Focus on the course, the driving range and practice area with the city funding. Keep the new greens in great condition. The planned all-purpose putting green, six-hole short course to honor the “Greensboro Six,” and mural for the First Tee building are OK. But course layout, grass practice areas and a snack bar are more important to golfers and kids learning to play.
Remember, the facility is for golfers, giving them a nice place to play at an incredibly low price. The city should focus on what they want when deciding what changes to make.
Gillespie is already a great play to play with some interesting holes. It’s exciting knowing it’s going to get better.