There’s no need for a pro in a team tournament when you’ve got an amateur shooting 64.
And 8-under-par, gross 64 is what Nate Hargett shot to lead a prominent team (pictured above) of local golfers to a three-stroke victory in the fifth-annual First Responders of the Triad charity tournament Oct. 6 at Greensboro National Golf Club.
Led by scratch golfer Hargett, owner of Greensboro’s Hargett Funeral Services, the team rounded out by Guilford County Commissioners chairman Skip Alston, attorney Mack Isaacson and Guilford County sheriff Danny Rogers shot a 32-under 112 total in a format counting one gross and one net score on each hole.
In a format change, all four players on each team were amateurs. In previous years, the event was a pro-am with individual pro and team prizes. Rogers shot net 54. Alston shot net 60 and Isaacson shot net 69.
Tournament sponsor Byron Development, owner of Greensboro National, will present the winner’s check of $25,000 to the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department, the recipient designated by the winning team. Other Triad First Responder groups will split another $35,000.
The Sheriff’s Department said it would use the money to buy food and presents for families in need over the holidays.
Hargett, a former player at N.C. State, shot 6-under 30 on the front nine, highlighted by an eagle at the par-5 third hole. He made seven birdies and a sole bogey at the long par-3 11th. The format allowed Hargett to play a few shots from teammates’ drives.
Hargett’s long drives provided an advantage for the entire team because the format allowed each player to continue play from the team’s best tee shot.
The team of John Barker, Matt Behe, EC Stophel and Josh Crouch was second at 29-under. The team of Jonathan Kiger, Jordan Taylor, Jerry Smith and Justin Windsor were third at 26-under.
The sizes of the undulating greens, gradually reduced over the past three decades, have been restored with new TifEagle Bermuda at one of the Triad’s elite golf courses. The bunkers have been rebuilt, with some moved and a few added, to compensate for distance gains due to improved golf equipment.
A few hundred encroaching trees were removed and a few new tees were built, adding distance, improving sight lines and allowing more sunlight to reach the greens.
But it’s still the Old North State Club, the spectacular Tom Fazio design that opened in 1991 on Badin Lake — just inside the Montgomery County line, about 10 miles northeast of New London, on the western edge of the Uwharrie National Forest.
The 5,350-acre lake — the focal point of the course — has an increased impact due to the restoration of several corner pin positions near the water that had been eliminated due to the receding of the greens.
And that was the intent of McConnell Golf’s $3 million project, which began in late March. The greens were ready around Labor Day. The last few fairway bunkers were completed in October. The changes, including the building of three new bridges, were intended as complementary updates of the Fazio design.
The TifEagle greens should roll just as fast and smooth as the former bent grass surfaces and easier to maintain in pristine condition during hot, humid summer months.
“Many members, especially those joining in the past few years, may be very surprised at the size of the ‘new’ greens, which have been restored to their original Fazio shapes and sizes,” said Michael Shoun, McConnell’s vice president of agronomy,
The new bunkers have Capillary Concrete liners, replacing liners that were top of the line when installed but wear out over the years. The new liners, a staple in renovations at other top courses, are designed to control moisture levels and hold the sand in place, eliminating washouts and plugged lies.
Kris Spence, the Greensboro-based course architect and builder who oversaw the renovations, said much of the tree removal involved trees planted during original construction to hide cart paths. Their removal allowed for a few new tees that added 160 yards to the course, pushing it to more than 7,200 yards. The tee changes included Nos. 1, 3, 9 and 14.
Spence said he found the new bunker near the green at 18 on an old sketch — he said, possibly by Fazio — of the hole, and it with McConnell’s approval. With about 15 feet reclaimed on the back-left of the green, Spence was able to put a new pin position perilously close to a slope feeding into the lake. He created similar pin placements on the other greens near the lake.
Another change on 18 (pictured above) was the breakup of two long fairway bunkers into four smaller bunkers stretching along the lake.
Badin Lake comes into play on Nos. 2, 14, 16, 17 and 18, and provides the backdrop for greens at 4, 7 and 9, though rarely reached by shots.
Bermuda sod was installed around all the course’s bunkers.
“This renovation not only enhances playing conditions but also the overall membership experience and draws people back for more fun on Badin Lake,” said John McConnell, whose company now owns more than a dozen courses in the Carolinas, Virginia and Tennessee, including Sedgefield Country Club and The Cardinal by Pete Dye in Greensboro. “It’s exciting to have the course return to its former glory with Tom Fazio’s original plan in mind.”
Rated as one of the state’s top five courses by Golf Digest in the mid-1990s, Old North State Club slipped to No. 29 in the magazine’s 2023-2024 rankings. Courses typically peak in rankings shortly after they open, and 11 of the courses in front of Old North State Club are newer, or like Pinehurst No. 4 and Southern Pines, have been thoroughly redesigned or rerouted.
Spence, known for his expertise in restoration and renovations at courses originally designed by Donald Ross and other classic architects, said he approached his work at the modern Old North State Club in a similar fashion.
“I tried to be very respectful of the original Fazio design,” Spence said. “I was very pleased with the way it turned out.”
McConnell properties include 14 private courses, two semi-private (including The Cardinal) courses and one nine-hole course.
McConnell’s N.C. courses include Raleigh Country Club, Sedgefield and The Cardinal, Wakefield Plantation in Raleigh, Treyburn in Durham, Brook Valley in Greenville, Porters Neck in Wilmington, Country Club of Asheville, Providence in Charlotte, and Wilson. South Carolina courses include The Reserve in Pawleys Island and Musgrove Mill in Clinton. McConnell owns Holston Hills in Knoxville, Tenn., with Virginia properties The Water’s Edge in Penhook, and in Radford, Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech.
The front nine at a well-maintained Triad muni is closed as crews repair a pipe leak.
Jamestown Park closed its front nine, which had been the course’s back nine prior to a change this fall, to make repairs near a pond and the fourth green, according to staffers in the pro shop.
The employees said the front nine was closed Monday, with the project expected to take at least “two or three weeks.” According to the club website, the staff hopes to have the entire course open by Nov. 30.
Trucks and evidence of excavation could be seen Thursday from East Fork Road, which runs along the course, owned and operated by the Town of Jamestown.
Staff encouraged disappointed players who had not seen the website notice to play the back nine twice. At $24 for nine holes and $30 for 18 holes with cart, many players elected to do that. The course plays to 6,700 yards from the longest of five sets of tees.
The website’s posted prices on weekdays are $24 for nine and $36 for 18. With the new routing, the first hole is next to the driving rang and the 18th green is near the clubhouse and pro shop.
Forest Oaks Country Club reopened to the public on Nov. 1 with repaired putting surfaces.
The former home to the PGA Tour’s Greater Greensboro Open, known now at the Wyndham Championship, had been closed for more than a month after a fertilizing application mishap left wide strips of dead bent grass.
Will Andrews, who manages the pro shop at Forest Oaks, said the damage — some greens were harmed significantly more than others.
Andrews said the southeast Guilford County course reopened to members the previous week.
He said a company from the Charlotte area brought in sod to replace the damaged greens.
With temperatures in the 70s expected during the first weekend in November, Andrews said he expects the course to be busy.
“We should get lots of play,” he said.
The host of the Triad’s annual PGA Tour event for three decades through 2007, Forest Oaks’ facilities have been vastly improved since members Terry Lee and Eddie Stephens purchased the course from Japanese ownership that allowed the facilities to deteriorate under eight management firms. The course closed for short periods in 2014 and 2019.
“When the professional tournament moved the interest from the ownership was no longer there. And they were vocal about it, too. They asked for the club to be closed multiple times,” Geoff Dail, whose management team was brought in by Lee and Stephens, told Triad Golf in 2019, but has not been involved at the course in since 2022.
Forest Oaks offers golf and social memberships, and is also open to public play. Current greens fees on the club’s website are listed at $45 on Monday through Thursday and $55 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Cart rental is $10.
Kris Spence couldn’t see much when he first visited the Maples Course at Woodlake Country Club, a residential community in Moore County about 14 miles northeast of Southern Pines.
In 2021, when the Greensboro golf architect first looked over the remnants of a course designed in 1971 by Ellis Maples and Ed Seay, he said he saw only limited signs that a golf course had been on the site. Lake Surf, which bordered the first few holes and the finishing holes, was drained and filled with vegetation, resembling a wetlands area.
“I couldn’t see most of the greens when I first came out here,” Spence said. “I knew it was an Ellis Maples design. It turns out, it may be one of his best.”
Spence rebuilt the bunkers and added surrounding native grasses.
A former 36-hole club, Woodlake has permanently closed an Arnold Palmer-designed course, where Spence is planned to design a par-3 layout on some of that property.
A veteran in renovating courses designed by Donald Ross and Maples, a protégé, Spence took the project, which at the beginning required a solid three months of bush hog clearing. Several encroaching trees and vegetation had to be eliminated. He had to undercover fairways and greens.
Now, Spence takes pride and satisfaction in looking over the course, which plays over undulating fairways to challenging greens with new Bermuda TifEagle surfaces. There’s a new 18th hole, but for the most part, Spence said he tried to restore the layout to its original design, albeit with a few modern enhancements and some new back tees.
Spence jokes that his work at Woodlake was neither a renovation nor a restoration.
“This is a resurrection,” Spence likes to clarify. “We’re bringing this thing back from the dead. It’s probably one of the most satisfying things I’ve done.”
Finished almost a year ago, Woodlake management waited until mid-September 2023 before opening the course to residents — one round per resident. For 30 days beginning Sept. 20, more than 600 homeowners at Woodlake had the opportunity for a “sneak peek” at the course.
Memberships will be sold, though the course and grill also will open to the public in May, offered in Pinehurst area golf packages.
Wreckage and Recovery
Hurricane Matthew in 2016 wiped out the two Woodlake courses in Vass, as well as the Oates House, its stately clubhouse, leaving property owners without golf courses and other amenities. And after the state made a post-hurricane check of the community’s aging dam of creeks that created the 1,200-acre Surf Lake, they lost the lake, too, as the state mandated the dam be breached for safety purposes.
Spence said the reaction of homeowners over the past two years has been particularly gratifying.
“When we were first out here, there was not a 2 by 4 being nailed whatsoever, and that went on for about 6-8 months,” Spence recalled. “When it was known the lake would be restored, within 30 days they were clearing lots and buildings houses like crazy. They were just sitting there waiting for that assurance.”
A few weeks ago, Spence was playing the course when he saw a retired military officer he’d gotten to know sitting on his back porch. Back in 2021, the same man had seen Spence in his yard and questioned what he was doing there.
“I yelled to him, ‘I bet you thought you’d never see this,’ and he was grinning ear to ear,” said Spence.
The fairways at Woodlake are undulating, requiring sidehill stances on many approach shots.
Maples’ designs included much-heralded layouts such as Grandfather Golf & Country Club in Linville and Country Club of North Carolina’s Dogwood Course. Seay, then a Maples associate, joined Arnold Palmer in 1971 to form Arnold Palmer Design Co.
The course has a new irrigation system. As a result, the tee boxes, greens and bunkers are in mint condition and the fairways are plush. All that remains is the restoration of the lake, and work commenced last year on the new dam.
The lake is expected to fill quickly once the dam completed — as early as 2025, according to Cara Spencer, Woodlake’s marketing director and the daughter of owner Keith Allison.
The existing holes at the Maples Course had to be reclaimed. Assorted vegetation had grown over the former Bermuda fairways. Little pine trees and shrubs had grown in bunkers. Spence had trouble finding the location of some of the former weed-covered greens. Intruders had used many of the former fairways for their ATVs. The course, which over the years had a reputation as neglected due to financial problems, looked like a “jungle,” recalled Spence.
Plus, the lakebed, which Spence said ranges from about 6 feet in depth near the edges to about 20 feet, was filled with tree stumps that had to be removed to meet state requirements. The cleanup was hard work, managed by Jim Harbin, a Spence project manager. Spence said he made many 75-minute drives from his office to check the project.
Bermuda Fairways Survived
That was the situation facing Spence in 2021 after he was contacted by Allison, the Fayetteville businessman who bought the community’s assets for $3.5 million at a foreclosure auction in March 2021, with plans for saving at least one of the courses and building a newly completed clubhouse.
The hurricane and state-forced breach of the dam had left Woodlake, which had gone through an earlier foreclosure, without its major amenities. The German developer, Woodlake CC Corp., went bankrupt and lost the property. In 2018, a Superior Court judge awarded a homeowners’ group almost $162 million in damages for negligence that led to the loss of the lake, plummeting property values and an adverse effect on quality of life. According to several reports, that award remains unpaid.
The opening holes skirt Lake Surf, which is expected to be refilled in 2024 soon after a dam is rebuilt.
A group of property owners, the Restore Woodlake Committee, won a class action lawsuit in 2018 against Woodlake CC Corp. after claiming the company’s negligence led to the loss of the lake, adversely affecting residents’ quality of life and property values.
In some ways, the course’s resilience surprised Spence. The Bermuda 419 grass fairways were mostly intact when weeds and overgrowth were removed. After mowing and spraying with herbicides and the application of fertilizer and some rain, the Bermuda fairways were in such good condition, no sprigging was needed. Some sodding was done, especially where new trees and overgrowth had blocked sunlight.
Spence also found a working pump station from the lake to help irrigate the course.
Due to flooding concerns downstream, the state voted to pick up a $9.6 million bill for replacing the dam. Spence said that in a year or so, the lake should return to form, creating 25 or so new lakefront homesites on the former 18th hole as well as rejuvenating the property values throughout the community. A new sales office is in future plans.
Allison, the owner of Systel Business Equipment, and a Woodlake property owner prior to buying the golf courses, has his three daughters learning the golf business. Jeff Crabbe, the general manager, was hired from Lakeside Park Golf Club in Richmond, Virginia. He was previously a golf pro at Pinehurst Resort.
Greens Restored, Bunkers Rebuilt
The Maples Course begins with four holes along the western bank of Lake Surf, before turning inland. The final four holes return to the lake, though the new 18th hole is now on the location of the first hole on the former Palmer Course.
Spence had particular respect for the green designs by Maples and Seay. Spence said Maples was known for creative, undulating greens in a variety of sizes and shapes.
“For the most part we restored the greens,” Spence said.” We did not rebuild the greens — we just stripped off the overgrowth.”
To bring the course up to date, Spence did create some new back tee boxes to add 300 yards or so, extending the course to 7,350 yards — enough to play host to top local or statewide tournaments. Some bunkers were also repositioned to bring them into play more for today’s bigger hitters.
Though the lake — lakebed, for now — provides a formidable hazard at the start and finish of the course, the par-3 eighth, a downhill beauty that stretches to 236 yards, may be the most memorable hole.
Spence said he expects significant feedback in June when golfers from throughout the world come to the Sandhills for the U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2. Many will bring their clubs and play at courses throughout the region when not at the tournament.
“This golf course is going to have a lot of eyes on it … when they get things ramped up and the U.S. Open is here,” said Spence.
Spence, whose Quixote Club design in Sumter opened in 2022, has remained busy with several projects, including a renovation at Hope Valley Country Club, an original Donald Ross design in Durham. His future projects this year include renovations at Starmount Forest Country Club and Holston Hills Country Club in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Spence’s renovations in the Triad have included Sedgefield Country Club, Forsyth Country Club and Cross Creek Country Club. Within the state, Spence’s projects have included prestigious courses at Roaring Gap Club, Country Club of North Carolina Dogwood Course, Grove Park Inn, Blowing Rock Country Club, Cedarwood Country Club, Gaston Country Club, and Providence Country Club.
If you want a play a course that’s hosted a major United States Golf Association tournament, the best place to go is Pinehurst.
It’s probably no coincidence that the USGA is building its second headquarters adjacent to Pinehurst Resort. And the USGA’s arrival with memorabilia, testing facilities and more is only one of the region’s exciting changes for golfers.
Maybe it’s time for the Sandhills region to alter its slogan “The American Home of Golf” to include “And the Most Frequent Home of USGA Championships.” And what better time than now, with Pinehurst No. 2 preparing to host its fourth U.S. Open next year on June 13-16?
Triad Golf took a recent trip to Pinehurst to check out progress on the USGA additions and other recent or ongoing projects and news, including Country Club of North Carolina’s Dogwood Course, which will play host to the U.S. Senior Amateur in 2030 and the U.S. Women’s Amateur in 2037.
Pinehurst No. 2 will not be the only Sandhills course staging USGA events in the scheduled future.
We also had our first look at Southern Pines Golf Club, the former Southern Pines Elks Club course that reopened in 2022, and were stunned by the quality of the renovations to the Donald Ross layout by Kyle Franz.
Updates include the reopening of Woodlake Country Club’s Ellis Maples layout after renovations by Greensboro’s Kris Spence, and Tom Doak’s Pinehurst No. 10 design on the site of the former Pit Golf Links.
While Pinehurst No. 2 grabs the most attention as a regular U.S. Open site and host of the Women’s Open, the U.S. Amateur and the PGA Tour Championship, several other area courses – public and private – have played host to USGA events and are on the USGA calendar to host more.
Three are on the USGA’s future schedule. And at least a few other area courses are worthy of USGA – or PGA of America, PGA Tour and LPGA Tour — consideration. Dormie Club and Forest Creek come to mind quickly.
Pine Needles Resort stands out as a regular host of the U.S. Women Open, beginning with Annika Sorenstam’s victory in 1996 and continuing in 2001, 2007 and 2022.
Golfers already know about famous Pinehurst No. 2 and it’s USGA legacy, spurred by Payne Stewart’s 1999 U.S. Open victory, followed by U.S. Opens in 2005 and 2014 and next year’s Open, hopefully with of the game’s top stars reunited in the field. Going back a little further, No. 2 hosted the 1936 PGA Championship and the 1951 Ryder Cup Matches.
In 2014, the USGA staged its Women’s and Men’s championships back-to-back at No. 2 in 2014 and will again in 2029.
The USGA has already green-lighted No. 2 for additional Opens in 2029, 2035, 2041 and 2047, ensuring the Donald Ross design will stay in the spotlight for another two-plus decades.
Let’s not forget the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Women’s Amateur, both played at No. 2.
CCNC DOGWOOD TO HOST SENIOR, WOMEN’S AMATEUR
Dogwood is due for the worldwide exposure in 2030. Designed by Ellis Maples – a longtime Ross protégé – and Willard Byrd, it opened in 1963. Dogwood has played host to three previous USGA events – the 1980 U.S. Amateur won by Hal Sutton, the 2010 Girls’ Junior Amateur and the 2021 U.S. Junior Amateur.
While Dogwood’s large undulating greens may exhibit similar characteristics to Ross’ No. 2 greens, the course has more hills and a variety of doglegs and water hazards that come into play. The par-72 layout, which was included in Golf Digest’s top 100 U.S. courses for more than three decades, stretches to 7,301 yards from the back markers with five other sets (the third set or regular member tees are 6,440 yards) of tees.
The par-3 13th hole at Dogwood has one of the biggest greens on the course perched in front of a lake.
CCNC has another course, Cardinal, that is also well-regarded, and a favorite of many of the members. Byrd designed Cardinal’s original nine, and Robert Trent Jones designed the back nine.
A private country club, the CCNC community sits in relative seclusion only a few minutes from the Village of Pinehurst behind a modest gate. The club has about 950 members.
“The big thing with the club is it has the feel of a golf club with all the amenities of a country club,” said Nick Gray, the assistant general manager.
Gray said the club has about “300 single-digit” handicappers.
A $4.5 million renovation by Kris Spence in 2016, highlighted by the installation of Zoysia grass on the fairways, Champion Bermuda on the greens and many tweaks to bring bunkers and water more into play, made Dogwood longer and better than ever. Some greens were rebuilt, others were modified.
When possible, Spence said he tried to restore any of Maples’ green contours that had been lost over the years. Maples, whose other highly acclaimed courses include Grandfather Golf & Country Club in Linville, Forest Oaks in Greensboro and Cedarbrook Country Club in Charlotte, was known for challenging putting surfaces with challenging spines and tiers requiring shots to specific sections of the green, depending on pin placement.
Spence said Maples’ expertise in crafting testing greens made the collaboration with Byrd, who often built flatter putting surfaces, especially noteworthy.
Founded by a “Who’s Who” in Charlotte and Raleigh business leaders, CCNC enjoys a reputation for its typically pristine conditions.
SOUTHERN PINES GC RANKS WITH ROSS SISTERS
If you go to Southern Pines Golf Club, don’t expect to find the typical remnants of a muni. The Bell Family, whose Ross Resorts courses include fellow Ross designs Pine Needles and Mid-Pines, and Franz turned the layout into one of the best in the Sandhills.
That was my opinion before I saw Golf Digest’s new list of the top 100 U.S. public courses, which ranked Southern Pines No. 72, between Pine Needles at 63 and Mid Pines at 86.
The first hole at Southern Pines provides an inspiring start to the round with a mostly open, downhill, landing area with an approach to a green surrounded by sand.
The course is that good. Not just good for a former muni, but good by any standard. In the same league as Pine Needles and Mid-Pines. In some ways, with its natural look and rolling topography, Southern Pines is similar to Pinehurst’s latest No. 4 layout with natural sand and vegetation lining the fairways and fast, undulating greens.
The course grabs your attention fast. The opening hole is beautiful downhill par-4 framed by natural sand and vegetation.
But with all the improvements, Ross Resorts maintained some of the course’s casual feel and blue-collar history. The simple pro shop and snack bar were kept, though remodeled and updated.
Southern Pines’ modest history and superb layout may make it a candidate for future USGA amateur events.
WOODLAKE GIVES MEMBERS SNEAK PEEK
Spence’s restoration of Woodlake Country Club’s Maples Course is open, but for now, to residents — only one round each during a 30-day “sneak peek” ending Oct. 20. The course will open to outside play next spring with members receiving preferred booking and tee times.
Hard to blame the members for not wanting to share their course yet. They’ve suffered for several years as the course was closed due to finances and a breached dam.
The limited play during the sneak peek should give the facility some wiggle room to complete construction. Plus, it will give additional time for a new fleet of Club Car carts to arrive. Spence
The centerpieces of a housing development in Vass, about 10 miles north of Pinehurst, Woodlake had two courses that closed and fell into disrepair – Spence compared the Maples property to a “jungle” – prior to the restoration.
After the dam of 1,200-acre Lake Surf along the course was almost breached by Hurricane Matthew in 2016, the state drained the lake and the course was closed, The German owner lost a lawsuit filed by homeowners and the course was closed.
Community assets were saved in 2021 when Atlantic National Capital and Keith Allison of Fayetteville bought them for $3.5 million. Another course at Woodlake, designed by Arnold Palmer, remains idle with no public plans to open.
The routing of the Maples course remains much the same, though the former 18th hole was converted into 25 lakefront lots with a new finishing hole constructed on the remnants of the Palmer Course’s opening hole.
But building a new dam was a major project that needed state approval, eventually obtained this summer. The lake is expected to gradually fill up enhancing the beauty of the layout. Bobby Jones Links was brought in to operate the course.
We’ll have an eyewitness appraisal with more details about the course in the next few weeks.
PINEHURST NO. 10
Pinehurst No. 10, long-awaited since The Pit property was bought by Pinehurst Resort in 2011, is under construction with a design by Tom Doak. The resort has set April 3, only a few months prior to the U.S. Open, as the opening date.
Though the resort has made few details public, the former quarry property has the makings of an interesting, unique Pinehurst layout, though probably with fewer quirks than The Pit.
Tot Hill Farm Golf Club has reopened with new greens, upgraded cart paths and a new clubhouse, fittingly in a restored old farmhouse.
Since opening in 2000, Tot Hill Farm has received acclaim. Golf Digest has named its third hole the best No. 3 hole in the nation, and just last year, referred to its “moments of sublime brilliance.
And it’s received respect. In 2007, Golf Digest named Tot Hill Farm the seventh-hardest course in America. Though designer Mike Strantz designed only seven courses from scratch — Tot Hill was his sixth — before he passed away in 2005, Golfweek magazine named him one of the “Top 10 Greatest Golf Architects of All-Time.”
The par-4 third hole at Tot Hill Farm has been recognized as one of the nation’s best. Photo by Ryan Barnett
On Labor Day, the Asheboro course had a soft reopening after several restoration projects, including an old farmhouse now a clubhouse and new Prizm Zoysia putting surfaces.
Over the years, Tot Hill Farm hasn’t received enough love — not as much as the scenic, rollicking layout deserves. During a succession of owners and management companies. Since opening in its secluded setting about 10 minutes southwest of the Asheboro commercial area. Tot Hill’s level of maintenance was inconsistent, far below the standard of the layout itself.
The par-3 sixth hole, measuring only 155 yards, features a rock-filled creek that runs down the entire left side. Photo by Ryan Barnett
Pat Barber, the new owner, plans to change that with a multimillion restoration project. In fact, he already has.
After buying Tot Hill Farm in December, Barber wasted little time. The course’s undulating, uniquely shaped bent grass putting surfaces were converted to Prisz Zoysia due to its tolerance of the Piedmont’s hot summers. The Zoysia seemed almost flawless last week, though a little slower than they are planned to be after they’re cut shorter.
Geoff Dail, a longtime superintendent and course manager in the Triad, led the restoration crew and stayed on to complete some remaining projects and maintain the course. Dail, whose company had managed maintenance during the past few years, helped the previous ownership get together with Barber for the sale.
The broken cart paths have new asphalt. Several tee boxes were leveled, and greens and bunkers were restored. New on-course restrooms were built and bridges were repaired. Many trees that had been encroaching on sunlight for the tees and greens were taken out.
“We kind of retouched everything,” said Barber, who was drawn to Tot Hill by Strantz’s reputation and the natural beauty of the course.
The elevated 18th green sits near the renovated farmhouse that serves as the clubhouse with a pro shop, snack bar and sitting areas. Photo by Carolina Pines Photography
Listed at $110 everyday at all times for greens fees and $25 for cart on its website, Tot Hill’s price may be the highest among public golf courses in the Triad.
The course — less than an hour from Greensboro and Winston-Salem and a little more than an hour from Raleigh —has always been a “bucket list destination golf course,” according to Barber. Plus, the media attention and Strantz’s name have made it a common stop for golfers driving to the Pinehurst area.
If you’re a Triad golfer, you’ve probably played the above listed Myrtle Beach golf courses. If you haven’t, you should – they are a trio of the top accessible layouts on the Grand Strand. Pawleys Plantation and Long Bay are the only Jack Nicklaus designs on the Grand Strand.
As we head into the fall season, each of the three courses is either undergoing improvements – or has recently reopened after extensive improvements.
Here’s an individual look at projects after mid-September visits.
PAWLEYS PLANTATION
Starting south, Pawleys Plantation, was one of the Nicklaus designs to get new TifEagle – the strand of Bermuda suggested by the Golden Bear himself – on its restored greens.
Founders Group International, the owner of 21 Grand Strand courses – is finishing up a multimillion renovation of Pawleys Plantation that restored the size (about 48%) of the shrinking greens, redid fairway and greenside bunkers, eliminated 10 sprawling, but mostly cosmetic, waste/sand bunkers and cleared out many small encroaching trees.
The course, which winds through scenic salt marsh and between stately live oaks, is expected to reopen in mid-October.
A new Tahoma 419 Bermuda collar around the greens will separate the fairways from the putting surfaces, making it easy for mowers to see the edges of the putting surfaces, reducing the chances of losing the outer edges to mowing.
New sod has replaced the huge bunker that had stretched from the water in front of the 10th green at Pawleys Plantationfor as much as 100 yards, leaving a difficult approach, especially for high handicapper.s
No, the big live oak in the middle of No. 9 fairway remains, as does the last of three live oaks that have guarded the approach on the par-5 11th.
The course has a cleaner look and should be much more playable for mid-to-high handicappers while remaining a test for better players. Sod has replaced some sand areas that extended as much as 100 yards along the fairways. New greenside bunkers, with capillary concrete drainage systems, provide a challenge on approaches.
General manager Riley Kinlaw said Jack Nicklaus visited the course in 2018 to help plan the changes.
“The teeth of the course is still there,” said Kinlaw said, noting that the elimination of long waste bunkers would help high handicappers the most.
The sand removal is most obvious at No. 10, a short par-4 where sand stretched more than 100 yards from fairway, serving as a major obstacle for high-handicappers who were faced with a forced carry over water from the sand to a green more than 100 yards away.
Several holes at Pawleys Plantation have lush sod in places where sand terrorized high handicappers.
The dike that serves as the tee box for the par-3 13th and 17th holes remains, but a small section of tee box has been removed to make the designation between the tee boxes easy to see and provide additional room for carts when both tees are occupied.
A new addition, including an outdoor deck, has been built for the snack bar/19th hole. Cart paths, bridges and restrooms were included in the renovations.
Kinlaw said he expects the updated Nicklaus layout to rank with TPC Myrtle Beach and Grande Dunes Resort Club at the top of the Founders Group pecking order, which also includes Long Bay Club and King’s North.
“This is going to be, in my opinion, one of the best courses in the area, if not, the best course,” Kinlaw said.
LONG BAY CLUB
Founders Group’s work at Long Bay consisted mostly of new TifEagle putting surfaces, replacing Champion Bermuda grass planted 17 years earlier at the course off S.C. 9 in Longs. Other renovations were made, including the updating of bunkers and cart paths.
Closed May 22 and reopened August 12, Long Bay also had Tahoma 19 collars installed to help maintain the size of its putting surfaces.
Some removal of trees and overgrowth are noticeable on Nos. 13-15, arguably Long Bay’s most scenic stretch of holes that meander around a creek.
Golf professional Brandon Mensinger said poa annua and other grasses had gradually encroached on the greens, which were restored to about 110,000 square feet from the 66,000 SF they were before the restoration.
“We did really well. With the heat and humidity, we couldn’t have asked for much better,” Mensinger said.
TIDEWATER
Not much has changed on the surface at Tidewater, and that’s by design, according to new owner Kemper Sports, which paid a reported $6.75 million – yes, the property is spectacular – in August for the course.
Like Pawleys Plantation, Tidewater is blessed with breathtaking scenery, a challenging design and a big reputation.
Though the course has matured a bit over the past three decades, and more homes are visible, though mostly far from play, the Cherry Grove Beach course has retained much of the momentum it opened with in 1990.
Tidewater’s reputation as one of the Grand Strand’s elite courses made it especially attractive to Kemper Sports, which operates about 100 public and private courses in the U.S., including Bandon Dunes, Streamsong and Chambers Bay.
The par-3 third hole at Tidewater requires a short, but accurate shot to a two-tiered green perched above Cherry Grove Inlet.
With holes meandering through wetlands along Cherry Grove Inlet separating the course from the beach and the Intracoastal Waterway, Tidewater is special. For years, in various surveys, golfers have rated the par-3 third and par-4 fourth holes along the inlet as two of the Strand’s best holes.
“This is an ‘ain’t broke, don’t fix it,’ situation,” Jeremy Goldblatt, chief operating officer of Kemper Sports, told Triad Golf. “We’re not trying to change things drastically right now.”
In North Carolina, it manages Sequoyah National in Whittier. Tidewater is Kemper’s first course in South Carolina.
“I don’t know why we haven’t had more penetration in the Carolinas,” Goldblatt said. “There’s a chance for this to be a little beachhead. We’d love to grow and find other (Carolinas) properties.”
The 2023 Wyndham Championship will go down as one of the most memorable PGA Tour events of the year.
Not just to those of us in the Triad, who look forward to our annual tournament at Sedgefield Country Club. But also, to millions of pro golf fans throughout the world.
We can thank Lucas Glover, who has been an inspiration to those of us who quake at the prospect of 2-foot par putts and dawdle after missing putts, waiting to shame their playing partners into conceding what’s left over as a gimme.
If you thought Glover’s surprise victory in the Wyndham was amazing, you’d have to agree that his follow-up victory this past weekend in Memphis was miraculous – not only that he beat most of the world’s top players, but that he won because he was the best putter in the tournament.
The Wyndham is where Glover came into the spotlight as the PGA Tour’s inspirational story of the year and began his climb to what has already been an incredible stretch run .
No. 180 on the Tour’s FedExCup points list a few months ago, the 43-year-old Greenville, South Carolina, native, is now 4th on the list. He was No. 112, two weeks ago when he came to Sedgefield for what most in the golf world figured to be his last regular Tour event of the year. His fate seemed to be trying to hold onto his playing privileges (the top 125) at the new FedExCup Fall Series, not advancing to the $75 million playoffs.
For a golfer, there’s nothing more gut-wrenching than to miss a short putt that most players would consider a routine tap-in. It effects every part of your game. You start worrying about leaving long putts or missing greens that will require and up-and-down for par. Many of us know. We’ve been there — and some of us are still there.
Since joining the Tour more two decades ago, Glover has been known as one of the best ballstrikers on the Tour, and probably the worst putter. That’s a combination that would have driven a lot of players crazy with frustration, caused them to quit. He said as recently as this spring, he considered putting left-handed.
Little more than two months ago, Glover missed an 18-foot putt for par at a qualifier that cost him a spot in the U.S. Open, the tournament that provided him a brief window of previous fame when he won it in 2009.
As it turned out, Glover didn’t qualify to play in any of this year’s four major championships.
But Glover refused to give up. He finally found a cure for the yips – an ugly extended putter that takes the jitters out of his stroke. It’s become his magic wand.
He came to Sedgefield with three top six finishes in four events, but that didn’t attract much attention given he was No. 112 on the points list.
The victory at Sedgefield changed Glover’s career arc, and inspired millions of golfers. Without the victory, he wouldn’t have qualified for Memphis. Now, he should be considered among the favorites to win the Cup, an $18 million prize and, just maybe, receive a Ryder Cup invitation.
Glover has made a statement for determination and perseverance for those of us who face knee-knockers on and off the course, whether for bogey or worse, rather than birdie or par.
Don’t give up. Don’t lose hope. You just have to keep trying and find something that works.
Glover’s transformation from one of, if not, the worst putter on the PGA Tour (Tour stats bear that out) into the best at least he was on Sunday at the FedEx Open) has been heartwarming, inspiring, tear-jerking … take your pick.
Sunday at TPC at Southwind, Glover’s normally dependable ballstriking betrayed him. But his putting saved him – time after time. On the back nine, he rolled in par putts of 7, 20 and 11 feet. But his biggest save was a 29-footer for bogey on the par-3 14th after he his tee shot into a pond.
Glover had to make birdie at 16 to pull into a tie with Patrick Cantlay, playing two holes ahead of him, and force a sudden-death playoff. So, each of those were must-make putts.
Just as striking was Glover’s demeanor – it hasn’t really changed. He’s still the guy who signs autographs, greets people he barely knows and talks to on-course volunteers.
He’s friendly, if a bit quiet. He doesn’t wear flashy clothes. He doesn’t make outrageous gestures or tweets to get attention, though he is refreshingly candid when asked his opinion (he didn’t mind openly criticizing the Tour’s cut to 70 players for the playoffs).
Who knows whether Glover can maintain his putting prowess through two more playoff events, much less until next year and beyond. Golf swings and putting strokes are easier lost than found.
Regardless, the golf world has to feel good about Glover’s inspiring transformation from desperation to exhilaration in about two months.
Without the Wyndham, a tournament that the then-top 17 players on the FedExCup points list elected to skip so they could rest up for the playoffs, the feel-good story of the season on the 2023 PGA Tour wouldn’t have happened.
Get to Sedgefield Country Club early Thursday if you want to see Justin Thomas, Shane Lowry, Jason Dufner, Stewart Cink and Jimmy Walker play in Thursday’s opening round of the Wyndham Championship.
They should be finished about the time most of us are eating lunch.
Thomas (7:45 a.m.), Lowry (7:45), Dufner (7:01) and Cink (7:23) will each tee off before 8 a.m. Walker goes off at 8:07. But they’ll play later in the day in the second round, accommodating those who skip out from the office early on Friday.
The Thursday afternoon tee sheet includes Davis Cup captain Zach Johnson (12:38 p.m.), Wake Forest University product and two-time Wyndham winner Webb Simpson (12:49), Danny Willett (12:05) and Lucas Glover (12:49). Former Wyndham winners Si Woo Kim and Hickory native J.T. Poston tee off together at 12:49. Former Wake Forest golfer Cameron Young tees off at 12:27.
In the morning, it might be fun to check out Tommy “Two Gloves” Gainey. In the afternoon, fellow South Carolinian Wesley Bryan should be entertaining. Both advanced from a six-way playoff for three spots at Monday’s 4-spotter at Bermuda Run East.
Both are entertaining characters. One of the players Bryan beat in Monday’s playoff was his brother and YouTube co-host George. The Bryans are known for their trick shots and their YouTube trips to various courses. Gainey is a former assembly line worker who taught himself to play wearing two gloves and wielding a baseball grip. He’s had a colorful career.
Not to forget, the Bryans and Gainey were both contestants on GolfChannel’s “Big Break” show. Each player has one PGA Tour win.
The early withdrawals included Davis Love III and Lee Hodges, the winner Sunday at the 3M Open in Minnesota.
The 156-player field will be competing for a purse of $7.6 million, including $1.368 million to the winner.
The withdrawl of defending champion Tom Kim, ranked No. 14 in the FedExCup standings, due to an ankle injury suffered at the British Open left the Wyndham with 68 of the top 100 committing last week, but none of the top 17 in the points race. Si Woo Kim, at 18, is tops among the Wyndham entries.
While the first-place check provides plenty of incentive, the most important issue for the majority of the field is finishing in the top 70 in the FedExCup points race and making next weekend’s first-round playoff stop in Memphis.
Lowry (No. 76 in the standings) and Thomas (No. 79) are the biggest names capable of climbing into the top 70 with good performances this weekend.
