Tar Heel and Sandlapper states raise toast
to a good golf year

By Shane Sharp,
Contributing Writer

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Dec. 18, 2003) - Esteemed golf course architect Rees Jones once told an impressionable young golf editor that the only thing bigger than ACC basketball in the Carolinas was golf. Jones, a native of New Jersey, is about as Southern as Boston cream pie. And folks in South Carolina would have him know that college football is king, especially in the Upstate region.

Still, Jones knew what made the world go round in these parts: golf, and plenty of it.

• Teeing it up in the Triad • Donald Ross Courses of the Sandhills • New-look No. 7 solidifies Rees Jones' status • Pinehurst No. 7 to Reopen in December with Rees Jones Revamping

Just how intertwined are the grand old game and the Carolinas? Charleston, S.C., purports to be home of the country's oldest golf course. The South Carolina Golf Club and Harleston Green opened in 1786 in what is now downtown Charleston. The term "green fee" is said to have evolved from the membership fees used to maintain the green areas on and around the course.

To the north, Pinehurst Resort in the Village of Pinehurst claims to be the "Home of American Golf," and is widely regarded as the birthplace of resort golf in the U.S. Legendary course designer Donald Ross made his home on the famed No. 2 Course (which he designed and continually tweaked until his death in 1948). And the roster of players, architects and personalities who've graced the resort's fairways over the decades reads like a veritable golf history textbook.

Not to be outdone, the 60-mile swath of golf nirvana otherwise known as the Grand Strand once dubbed itself the "Golf Capital of the World" - a moniker that seemingly trumped "oldest" and "home of," if only in scope and magnitude. Today, Myrtle Beach affectionately refers to itself as "Golf Town USA," lending comforting, Rockwellian overtones to its existence.

All these prodigious nicknames and we haven't even gotten to Hilton Head (golf mecca), the North Carolina Mountains (golf heaven) and the various metropolitan areas with their glut of daily fee, semiprivate and municipal courses (god bless them).

The point being, golf is a game in some parts of the world. In the Carolinas, it's a religion.

There are over 1,200 courses between North and South Carolina - a redoubtable figure that no longer grows like rye grass after a spring shower. It was once thought that Carolinians' appetite for new courses was insatiable; indeed, it may still be. But there are only so many golfers to go around, so many hours in a day, and so many bills in a wallet.

Looking back at 2003, here is one publication's list of where the traveling golfer's time and money was well-spent.

BEST NEW PUBLIC COURSE: The new Robert Trent Jones Jr. designed course at Rock Barn Country Club in Hickory officially opened in 2002. But by hosting a successful Champions Tour event and thousands of "satisfied" rounds this year, the course truly came into its own. Golf Digest rated Rock Barn the fourth best new upscale public course in the U.S. The venerable glossy got it right this time. ALSO PLAYING: the new 18 at Keith Hills CC in Buies Creek and Kilmarlic Golf Club, Outer Banks.

BEST OLD PUBLIC COURSE: The Dunes Golf Club in Myrtle Beach doesn't look a day over five, much less 50. At least not after Rees Jones remodeled all 18 greens and superintendent Steve Hamilton cleaned the course up like a bridegroom before his wedding day. With the recent facelift (the course reopened Dec. 1), the storied Robert Trent Jones Sr. layout on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean is ready to reclaim its reputation as one of the best tracks on the East Coast. And rumor has it that Jones will return in the near future to stretch the course to beyond the proverbial 7,000 yard benchmark.

BEST NEW PRIVATE COURSE: The Charlotte golf market behaved much like a tech stock over the past five years. The late 90s were a time of promise, what with over a dozen new high-end daily fee courses opening around the Metrolina region. That trend came to a screeching halt in 2000, as a bearish economy and saturated golf market prevailed over headier times. So when the Jack Nicklaus designed Club at Longview opened for play in the fall of 2003, it was as if a dark cloud had been lifted from the Charlotte golf scene - even if the general public was as welcome there as they were at Augusta National.

The Club at Longview is private, exclusive and unequivocally off limits to those not willing to pony up the five-figure initiation fee and seven-figure real estate asking price. But with the Queen City so desperate for new golf blood, Charlotteans don't seem to care that the only drive they'll make at Longview is the one past the front gate.

BEST REMODELING PROJECT: Three highly ranked Carolinas courses underwent major renovations in 2003: the afore-awarded Dunes Club, the famed Ocean Course at the Kiawah Island Golf Resort, and Pinehurst No. 7 at Pinehurst Resort. The majority of the work at The Dunes Club and the Ocean Course centered on refurbishing the putting surfaces. But Rees Jones' revamping of No. 7 was of the Madonna makeover variety; you'd be hard-pressed to find one common thread between the old look and the new.

Before the remodel, No. 7 was quirky and modern. It was the essence of a 1980s course design philosophy that held that "stranger is better." Post makeover, the course is down right traditional - or neotraditional as Jones likes to say. Gone are the blind shots, misaligned tee boxes and funky doglegs. In their stead is a layout that clearly presents itself to the golfer from tee to green and features some of the most stunningly beautiful green complexes in the state.

BEST GOLF RESORT: If you ever want to know what it feels like to judge an ultra competitive wet tee shirt contest, try picking the best golf resort in the Carolinas. For purposes of this exercise, we'll divide the Carolinas into two logical halves - North and South. In North Carolina, venerable Pinehurst Resort wins going away this year. The revamped No. 7 course (see above) adds to a chart-topping lineup that already includes No. 2, No. 4, and No. 8. And to sweeten the pot, the No. 3 Course (designed by Ross in 1907) recently received a new set of greens and a modern irrigation system.

In South Carolina, the Kiawah Island Golf Resort fortified its No. 1 position with (another) reworking of the Ocean Course. Pete Dye oversaw the installation of a new salt water tolerant grass (paspalum) on all 18 greens and the seaside links land was in pristine condition for the World Cup in November. Turtle Point, the resort's Jack Nicklaus offering, continues to play a solid second fiddle, while Osprey Point (Tom Fazio) and Cougar Point (Gary Player) are two of the Carolinas more underrated resort tracks.

Until next year.

Any opinions expressed above are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the management. The information in this story was accurate at the time of publication. All contact information, directions and prices should be confirmed directly with the golf course or resort before making reservations and/or travel plans.