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No. 17 at TPC Stadium Course at PGA West

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34 Golfweek’s Ultimate Guide

RFor architects, discerning the best course routing never has been more diffi cult

puzzle puzzle For architects, discerning the best course routing never has

puzzle For architects, discerning the best course routing never has

pieces of a

BY BRADLEY S. KLEIN

?Caption

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No. 17 Calibogue, a 195-yard par 3, sits along Calibogue Sound at Haig Point Club.

Rees Jones was standing on the shore of Daufuskie Island, set directly across Calibogue Sound from Hilton Head Island, S.C., trying to fi gure out how to get to the water. Get golfers there, that is.

He was early in the process of designing Haig Point Golf Club. It was 1979, and though he had done several successful projects, he was not yet a household name in golf course architecture. But he thought that the Daufuskie course presented a great opportunity to bring holes up to the water’s edge — a goal of modern course designers.

To do so, he would need holes playing across wetlands, and that meant long carries into the prevailing wind over land that could not be fi lled. Low-handicap golfers could handle that. But this was supposed to be a residential community, where the majority of members would buy homesites while in their 40s and 50s and expect to be playing into their 80s.

Rees Jones didn’t have the freedom that his famous father, Robert Trent Jones Sr., had enjoyed during his long career. At

his peak in the 1950s and ’60s, the elder Jones didn’t have to worry about wetlands.But environmental laws having changed, architects in the modern era have to avoid such areas — whether by routing elsewhere or simply playing over them.

For Rees Jones, who had the run of 900 acres for the Haig Point course, the most interesting land was along the perimeter, where the wetlands approached the tidal waters. There wasn’t a wide enough stretch of dry uplands to sequence holes along the length of the coast, but there was enough room to put either a green or a tee in front, with Calibogue Sound as a looming background. So he would exploit the beauty of the natural setting along a perpendicular axis, effectively using corridors that provided dramatic views.

Along the way, Jones utilized a neat tool in the routing arsenal of any thoughtful designer: different angles of play. The scratch golfer would play across hazards, while higher-handicappers could play alongside or around the wetlands. Jones also did

something that solved the routing problem while maximizing the Haig Point site’s native assets. On two par 3s, the eighth and 17th, he built double holes — a dry one and a wet one, so to speak. The result is, in effect, a 20-hole course, though actually it’s two different sets of tees creating holes that don’t require forced carries.

“I wanted to make sure everyone could play for the rest of their lives,” he said.

As strange as a description of the routing scheme might sound, on the ground it easily works as basically two overlapping courses in one: the slightly longer, more demanding Calibogue, and the shorter, slightly more forgiving Haig — the latter with the two alternative par 3s and easier angles on four full drives.

There are all sorts of ways to route a golf course. The simplest, most elegant is the

famed out-and-back string of holes at the Old Course at St. Andrews. Too bad it’s never quite that simple — pure sand, no internal real estate, no wetlands, simply fi tting the

Golfweek’s Ultimate Guide 35Golfweek’s Ultimate Guide 35

course between the town on one side and the beach on the other. In the centuries since the Old Course seemingly unfolded, course development has become a lot more complicated. Classic-era designers didn’t worry about swampy land; they either moved to an adjoining uplands site or filled the low-lying ground. No more, as environmental permitting and the restraints of available land forced architects to be more inventive, balancing homesite development, road access, stormwater management and safety setbacks from property lines.

Architects talk about this as a “puzzle,” with golf holes the pieces that have to fit. And they don’t fall easily into place. Jeff Brauer, a Dallas-based designer, says that sometimes he’ll do so many preliminary routing plans on paper that he’ll give up designating them “A,” “B,” “C” and so on, and instead use numbers.

“Twenty-six letters weren’t enough,” he says. “Though in actuality, they are not all new schemes but revisions where you’ll use some of the same holes but spin off sections in other areas, so it’s more like 1a, 1b, 1c.”

When you’re doing a routing, par 3s are your friends because they solve the problem of bridging difficult ground. Golden Horseshoe Golf Club’s Gold Course in Williamsburg, Va., is an example of this. Trent Jones used a wonderful set of par 3s to get across ravines and over natural water bodies, reserving the expansive open areas for the landing areas of par 4s and par 5s.

Some legendary designers, like cowboys from a previous century, prefer to head off in the field and get lost wandering around on their own. That’s how Bill Coore likes

to think about his routing plans. He and his design partner, Ben Crenshaw,

are the kind of guys who get excited about a 2-foot elevation change. They figure that if they can scratch a foot out on the low side and pile it on the high side, then they have enough topography to work with. As much as possible, they are always looking to keep their courses natural, ground-hugging, tightly connected and walkable.

Of course, sometimes architects are working with such a rugged piece of land that making it walkable is virtually impossible. In fact, just walking the raw site might pose impenetrable problems. That’s what Jim Fazio confronted when he was presented with 1,200 acres in Toccoa, Ga., overlooking Lake Hartwell, 100 miles northeast of Atlanta.

When you’re dealing with 250 feet of elevation change, exposed rock outcroppings and dense tree cover, it’s virtually impossible to walk the land without at least a preliminary sense of where you’re going. So Fazio did an early drawing of the layout off of a topographic map before heading out, he says, “with a bulldozer in front of me so I could make it through the thickets.”

The original land plan called for 2,000 homesites. That really complicates a routing because standard setbacks from the fairway’s center to adjoining property lines are 250 to 300 feet, sometimes even more on the (predominant) slice side or at the inside of a dogleg. The architect has to steer clear not only of houses but of active backyards – swimming pools, lounge chairs and kids playing. Eventually, the land plan was adjusted to a less-cluttered 800 homesites.

But the topo map still showed up as densely bunched contour lines, so Fazio had his work cut out finding landing areas that would support a shot.

The result is Currahee Club, a stunning, dramatic and at times visually overwhelming golf course. By virtue of roads, drainage and access, the land plan dictated that the clubhouse sit on a ridge line, and from there the returning nines radiate out – the front nine to the east, the back nine to the west.

In a good example of converting a site liability into an asset, Fazio had golfers negotiate a 120-foot free-fall on the opening tee shot – the design trick on this par 5 being to create or float out enough of a landing area to contain shots before they run into broken ground.

The view is almost vertiginous – straight out to Lake Hartwell, and from there a roller-coaster descent through dense woodlands dotted by wetlands. After that opening hole, the front nine is nestled in, but the back nine is wide open and provides long views (50-plus miles on a clear day) across the Dahlonega Plateau into the Appalachian Mountains and Tennessee.

A well-designed routing in golf takes you on a journey.

The best architects are those who can seamlessly weave together enjoyable golf holes while resolving the technically complex land-plan issues of slope, setback, drainage, playability and real estate/resort economics. Classical designers had a freer hand to practice their artistry; modern designers must be more technically adept in negotiating more constraints and making tough sites work.

For a golfer, the best way to understand routing in golf design is to sit down after a round and draw a little map of how the holes fit together. It’s not an easy thing to do, certainly not the first time you’ve played a course. But if you’ve paid attention to the sequence of holes and how they sit in relation to one another, you’ll get a pretty good idea of the most important elements in course design. Holes should fit in next to one another, fit the land and ideally, engage golfers with the natural terrain. When those elements come together, you know you’ve found a good routing. ❍

The forever views from holes 13 and 14 at Currahee Club

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The forever views from holes 13 and 14 at Currahee Club

1. (1) WADE HAMPTON CLUBCashiers, N.C., 1988Tom FazioAvg. rating: 7.93

2. (2) ROCK CREEK CATTLE COMPANYDeer Lodge, Mont., 2008Tom DoakAvg. rating: 7.89

3. (3) HUNTSMAN SPRINGS > 102Driggs, Idaho, 2009David McLay KiddAvg. rating: 7.66 4. (4) SHOOTING STARTeton Village, Wyo., 2009Tom FazioAvg. rating: 7.63

5. (5) GOZZER RANCHArrowpoint, Idaho, 2007Tom FazioAvg. rating: 7.50

6. (7) CASTLE PINESCastle Rock, Colo., 1981Jack NicklausAvg. rating: 7.48

7. (6) COLORADO GOLF CLUBParker, Colo., 2007Bill Coore, Ben CrenshawAvg. rating: 7.47

8. (10) OAK TREE NATIONALEdmond, Okla., 1975Pete DyeAvg. rating: 7.37

9. (12) MARTIS CAMPTruckee, Calif., 2007Tom FazioAvg. rating: 7.36

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Huntsman SpringsDriggs, Idaho

Territory Golf and Country ClubDuncan, Oklahoma

10. (8) MAYACAMASanta Rosa, Calif., 2001Jack NicklausAvg. rating: 7.32 11. (13) PRONGHORN (FAZIO)Bend, Ore., 2006Tom FazioAvg. rating: 7.31

84 Golfweek’s Ultimate Guide

29. (29) STONE CANYONTucson, Ariz., 2000Jay MorrishAvg. rating: 6.88 30. (25) THE PRESERVE Carmel Valley, Calif., 2000Tom FazioAvg. rating: 6.88

31. (30) FREDERICASt. Simons Island, Ga., 2004Tom FazioAvg. rating: 6.86

32. (14) DIAMOND CREEKBanner Elk, N.C., 2003Tom FazioAvg. rating: 6.85

33. (33) GOLF CLUB OF RAVENNALittleton, Colo., 2007Jay MorrishAvg. rating: 6.84

34. (55) DALHOUSIE GOLF CLUB > 94Cape Girardeau, Mo., 2002Jack NicklausAvg. rating: 6.82

35. (35) THE TERRITORY GOLF AND COUNTRY CLUB > 94Duncan, Okla., 2005Randy HeckenkemperAvg. rating: 6.80

36. (32) FOREST CREEK (NORTH)Southern Pines, N.C., 2005Tom FazioAvg. rating: 6.77

37. (34) BLACK ROCKCoeur d’Alene, Idaho, 2003Jim EnghAvg. rating: 6.75

38. (38) QUINTERO Peoria, Ariz., 2000Rees JonesAvg. rating: 6.74

39. (44) STONE EAGLEPalm Desert, Calif., 2005Tom DoakAvg. rating: 6.74

40. (31) BRIGGS RANCHSan Antonio, 2001Tom FazioAvg. rating: 6.74

41. (36) SOUTHERN HIGHLANDSLas Vegas, 1999Robert Trent Jones Jr.Avg. rating: 6.73

42. (62) CURRAHEE CLUB > 92Toccoa, Ga., 2004Jim FazioAvg. rating: 6.73

43. (58) SPRING ISLAND (OLD TABBY LINKS)Okatie, S.C., 1994Arnold Palmer, Ed SeayAvg. rating: 6.73

14. (15) ESTANCIAScottsdale, Ariz., 1995Tom FazioAvg. rating: 7.19

15. (19) LONG COVE CLUBHilton Head Island, S.C., 1982Pete DyeAvg. rating: 7.14

16. (17) MOUNTAIN LAKELake Wales, Fla., 1917Seth RaynorAvg. rating: 7.12

17. (16) FOREST HIGHLANDS (CANYON)Flagstaff, Ariz., 1989Jay Morrish, Tom WeiskopfAvg. rating: 7.10

18. (22) THE RIMPayson, Ariz., 1998Tom WeiskopfAvg. rating: 7.09

19. (18) PAA-KO RIDGESandia Park, N.M., 2000Ken DyeAvg. rating: 7.07

20. (20) CUSCOWILLAEatonton, Ga., 1998Bill Coore, Ben CrenshawAvg. rating: 7.06

21. (24) CONCESSION GOLF CLUBBradenton, Fla., 2006Jack NicklausAvg. rating: 7.04

22. (27) JUPITER HILLS CLUB (HILLS)Tequesta, Fla., 1970George FazioAvg. rating: 7.04

23. (23) LAHONTANTruckee, Calif., 1999Tom WeiskopfAvg. rating: 7.03

24. (26) KIAWAH ISLAND (CASSIQUE)Kiawah Island, S.C., 2000Tom WatsonAvg. rating: 6.98

25. (28) FOREST DUNESRoscommon, Mich., 2003Tom WeiskopfAvg. rating: 6.95

26. (39) JOHNS ISLAND WESTVero Beach, Fla., 1989Tom FazioAvg. rating: 6.94

27. (NR) THE MADISON CLUB*La Quinta, Calif., 2006Tom FazioAvg. rating: 6.93

28. (21) BLACK DIAMOND RANCH (QUARRY)Lecanto, Fla., 1988Tom FazioAvg. rating: 6.90

Currahee ClubToccoa, Georgia

12. (9) MOUNTAINTOPCashiers, N.C., 2007Tom FazioAvg. rating: 7.26

13. (11) PATRIOT GOLF CLUBOwasso, Okla., 2010Robert Trent Jones Jr.Avg. rating: 7.26

Golfweek’s Ultimate Guide 85Golfweek’s Ultimate Guide 85

Golfweek’s Ultimate Guide 93

RESIDENTIAL

Currahee ClubToccoa, Georgia

706.827.1000 | www.CurraheeClub.com

In the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains,

atop the shores of Lake Hartwell, one of the

largest lakes in the southeastern United States,

the private gated golf community of Currahee

Club is taking mountain and lake living to

a whole new level.

Drawing upon its rich local heritage and

picturesque landscape, Currahee — a Cherokee

word meaning “stands alone” — is truly a one-

of-a-kind community. Blending seamlessly

into its majestic surroundings, Currahee Club

is a refi ned yet relaxed retreat where guests

repeatedly say, “What an amazing hidden

gem Currahee is, so close to Atlanta and just

minutes from the quaint Historical town of

Toccoa that has all your day-to-day needs.”

Reserved exclusively for members and their

guests, the 18-hole Currahee Club Course is the

spectacular centerpiece of the extraordinary

community. Taking advantage of the natural

contours of the land, acclaimed course architect

Jim Fazio crafted a 7,540-yard, championship

masterpiece. Boasting astonishing 360-degree,

three State panoramic views of Lake Hartwell

and the Blue Ridge Mountains, this world-

class course features rolling fairways, dramatic

elevation changes (up to 350 feet in some areas)

and generous, sloping greens.

The stunning 48,000 square-foot clubhouse,

which has quickly become a second home to

residents and members, features the relaxed

yet refi ned mountain style that people desire

today with casual and refi ned dining inside and

outside on the stunning stone terraces. Hand

hewn hardwood fl oors, dramatic wood-beamed

ceilings and massive stone fi replaces make

this majestic structure a showplace that many

say is one of the most beautiful clubs they

have even seen.

In addition to golf and lake living, Currahee

now has a newly completed Currahee Sports

Club & Amenity Campus with swim, fi tness

center, excursion center, tennis, volleyball, bocce

ball, basketball, tot lot, event lawn, garden,

poolside dining and tiki bar. Members say

Currahee is their perect private mountain

and lake home where doors are rarely locked

and kids play outside.

Whether your design style is Nantucket,

mountain refi ned, craftsman, English cottage or

mountain rustic, each home in Currahee takes

its cue from the natural landscape, offering

families a peaceful retreat from the hectic pace

of everyday life and setting the standard for all

other gated golf communities in the Southeast.

With just over 700 homes planned on 1,200

stunning acres, only a privileged few will be able

to call Currahee Club home.

Golfweek’s Best Residential Courses 2013 (No. 62)

-Golfweek

Golfweek’s Best New Courses 2006 (No. 12)

-Golfweek

2013 Top 1,000 Golf Courses in the World-Rolex

Best of the Mountains (No. 1 in Lake Living Category)

-Mountain Homes Southern Style

Top 50 Regional Waterfront Communities -CL Registry

America’s 100 Premier Properties: Georgia -Links

HONORS