By design, golfers have to work the ball at Walnut Wood 

By NAT WALKER 

 JULIAN –  If you’re a first-timer at Walnut Wood golf course near Greensboro there are a couple of things you need to keep in mind. First, using a driver on many of the par-4 holes guarantees a high score. Second, make sure your chipping and putting game are in good order.

“When dad (Ralph Clendenin) routed this course he said he wanted golfers to have to work the ball,” said Mitch Clendenin, the current owner/operator/course superintendent.  “He was a pretty good golfer himself with a single-digit handicap, and he built the course to reward shot-making rather than power.”

Phil Lowe, who has been playing Walnut Wood for 20 years, attests that the elder Clendenin achieved his goal.

“This is a challenging golf course that requires you to use every club in your bag.  If you can score well here it will be because you learn how to manage your game and that helps you play better at other courses.”

That sentiment brought a smile to Mitch Clendenin’s face and one that would have cheered Ralph Clendenin, who died in 1990.

Lowe also praised the Clendenin family for the way they look after their customers. “They are nice and friendly people who let you know they appreciate your business.”

Walnut Wood has been a family affair from the beginning. The elder Clendenin was in the grading business and was much sought after by construction firms in the area because he had a reputation for being tops in his field, according to his widow, Janie Clendenin.  When new construction tanked in the 1970s, Clendenin decided to put his equipment, himself and his family to work building a golf course.

“He loved to play golf and creating a golf course was a dream of his,” Mitch said.

The family bought a farm off Alamance Church Road in southeastern Guilford County from Maude Coble, an ancestor of Peter Coble who had built a hand-hewn log cabin on the property upon returning home from the Civil War. The cabin stood until recent years, but was in such a state of disrepair that it had to be razed.

Construction of the course began around 1975 with Ralph, Janie and their son Tom, who died in a motorcycle accident last year, manning bulldozers and other grading equipment.  A nine-hole layout was opened in 1978.  The other nine holes were opened a year later and its construction also involved Mitch, a student at Applachian State University at the time.

“The property was thick with trees and it took a tremendous amount of clearing and grading to route and shape the course,” Mitch said.  The Clendenins constructed several lakes that dot Walnut Wood.

After graduation, Mitch taught at McIver School in Greensboro for five years and then decided to join his mom, dad and brother at the golf course.  He has been there for 22 years and has run the course since the death of his father. His mother, Janie, still comes to work every day, doing, she said, “whatever needs doing.”

Mitch, who doesn’t care for the inside jobs, spends most of his time maintaining the golf course.  He’s on hand along with two full-time and several part-time employees early every morning mowing fairways and greens.

Golfers at Walnut Wood have to contend with 15 sand traps and water that comes into play on nine holes – Nos. 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12 and 16.  But those are the easy parts.  The difficulty comes trying to deal with sharp doglegs on relatively short holes and then keeping the ball on smallish dome-shaped greens.  “If you can’t chip and putt this golf course will get you,” Mitch said.

The par-72 course plays 6,326 yards from the back tees. 

The most interesting holes start with No. 1, a 500-yard downhill par 5 that requires a second shot over a lake.  The third hole is Mitch’s favorite – a downhill 178-yard par 3 over a lake with a fountain to a sloping green supported by a wooden wall and framed by hardwood trees.  “It’s the most scenic hole on the course,” he said.

No. 6 is where the real fun begins.  It is 334 yards with a sharp dogleg right and is followed by a 365-yarder that doglegs sharply left.  Then comes a par 5 with a 90-degree dogleg left.  In order, a fade and two draws are required.  The driver should be left in the bag for this trio of holes.

No. 10 is a short dogleg right that requires a layup shot off the tee to avoid water.  This is not a hole to try anything cute.  The approach shot on the 12th hole, a longish par 4, is over a lake.  The tee box on No. 16 fronts on a lake.  It is a solid 511-year par 5.  No. 18, a 508-yard par 5 with a gentle dogleg to the left, is a superb finishing hole.  The green, one of the larger ones at Walnut Wood, is guarded by a front left sand trap.

Most of the clientele for Walnut Wood comes from residents who live nearby with a goodly number from other parts of the Greensboro area and Alamance County. The Walnut Wood Men’s Association has a monthly tournament and a ladies’ association is being formed.  The golf club caters to juniors and seniors with special rates.

Walnut Wood is the home course for the golf teams of Southeast High School and Southeast Middle School.  The course is popular with church and civic groups for special tournaments and hosts a number of charitable fund-raising events throughout the year.

Damage to the course caused by last winter’s ice storms has been overcome, Mitch said, “by a lot of hard work and long hours.”  The exception is the driving range, which is expected to be back in operation in June.

 “We are working all the time to make the golf course better and more enjoyable for the people who play here,” Mitch said.