Ben Wright is best known in the golfing world for his many years of
golf commentary with CBS. He and good friend Gary McCord livened up golf
coverage with their incredible command of the English language—Wright’s
was more on the Shakespearean order while McCord’s was closer to the
"good ol’ boy" dialect.
The two opposites did attract, and their audience was the lucky
beneficiary of some lively "give and take" between the two.
Wright is now becoming well known for his hot selling new book, Good
Bounces & Bad Lies. The book is candid and delightfully humorous,
prompting one North Carolina golf writer to say he simply couldn’t put
it down. The book sold out of its first printing of 30,000 copies before
it even hit the bookstores and is now sold out a second time.
Wright has been asked to do close to a hundred print, radio and
television interviews about the book. He has left his Flat Rock, N. C.,
home on numerous occasions to do book tours all over the country.
This interview, however, explores a side of Wright’s life that few
are aware of—Ben Wright, golf course architect. The interview took place
at the Ben Wright-designed Cliffs Valley Course, four miles across the
South Carolina border on US 25, 15 minutes south of Hendersonville.
The Valley Course is one of three courses under the "Cliffs
Communities" umbrella, the others being Cliffs of Glassy, a mountain
course designed by Tom Jackson, and the newly opened Cliffs at Keowee
Vineyards, designed by Tom Fazio and bordering Lake Keowee.
You probably have seen Wright’s Valley Course without realizing it.
The beautiful 10th hole is used as the setting for a Maxfli Patriot ad
that appears regularly in golf magazines.
As a member of North Carolina Magazine’s Golf Panel, which
ranks the best courses in the state, I am always looking at a golf course
with respect to its design. The Valley course is one of the most tasteful,
well thought out, memorable, and enjoyable courses I have ever played.
Wright’s loving attention to detail is incredible. He uses the land
much the same way Donald Ross did. The course is only four years old but
it looks like it has been there for a century. It belongs. But, how did a
television commentator who has never done a golf course end up getting the
Valley Course job?
"Actually, I have designed some courses. I did 27 holes around
1970 at St. Cyprien in the south of France. In the early ’70s I designed
two courses in England, one at Warwick Castle and another for Lord
Bathurst, but they were never built. They were canceled when the economy
went bad during the gas crisis.
"Jim Anthony of Pickens, S. C., approached me, in 1993 after I did
a video for him on his Cliffs of Glassy course. He wanted to do a
completely different course than the mountain course. He had a beautiful
piece of property in a nearby valley. He said, ‘If you were in my shoes,
what would you do?’
"I told him he needed an old style, user friendly, walking course.
He offered me the job of doing it.
"I wanted to build a course in the style of (Donald) Ross and Dr.
(Alister) Mackenzie and (Charles Blair) Macdonald. I pretended that we
didn’t have any earth moving equipment when I routed the course. We
ended up moving very little dirt—most was used to separate some holes.
"It is interesting that I had my eye on that property and had
wanted to buy it earlier and build a course on it with some partners but
we couldn’t put a deal together. The original owners were a group called
Highland Farms, and they got Dan Maples to lay out a prospective course
there.
"The land was mostly a cow pasture. When we had the opening
ceremonies to announce the new course, we had to clean cow patties out
from under the tent.
"I designed the course in 1993 but we didn’t open until October
of 1995. We had a lot of delays because the weather was so wet then. We
had floods that wiped out all our sprigged areas and we had to sprig
again, and then we lost them again. We ended up exceeding our drainage
budget by 400 percent.
"I went to Jim Anthony and told them if he wanted the course to
open in 1995, we would have to sod. Mr. Anthony has been great to work
for. He was understanding and supportive in our efforts to overcome the
"500 year flood."
"We opened with an exhibition of Paul Azinger and Jay Haas of the
PGA Tour playing Bob Murphy and Jim Colbert of the Senior Tour. They are
good friends of mine and agreed to open us up. I couldn’t sleep at all
the night before, worrying that they would really tear up the course. It
held its own and they loved it.
"We got to see some great golf. Azinger opened with an eagle on
the par-4 first and birdied the par-3 second. Colbert eagled the par-5
sixth. The young guns ended up beating the seniors by 2 and 1. Azinger and
Murphy shot 68, Colbert and Haas scored 71. The youngsters won the last
three holes after the match had been all square after 15 holes."
After seeing the course played for several years now, do you see any
changes you would make?
"We added a blue tee to lengthen the par5 sixth, and we’re
looking at elevating the tees on #15 and #16 a little. Other than those
minor changes, I wouldn’t change anything."
What architects do you really like?
"Among the old masters, that would be Ross, Macdonald and
Mackenzie. I would add Walter Travis to that list. I admire Fazio and
Weiskopf in the modern group. I think Ross and Mackenzie have had the
deepest influence on me."
Do you want to establish a "trademark," something to identify
you with courses you design?
"I don’t think so, except to make the course a "walk in the
park." Smell the flowers. I’m big on aesthetics, anything that
pleases the senses like waterfalls, landscaping, and views."
What would you say are your prime assets as a course designer?
"Probably that I leave the land alone. I’m proud to be a
minimalist in course design. I love walking courses. I want the greens and
tees to not be too far apart. I hate those courses where the next tee is a
mile away.
"The houses here at the Valley Course are not inside the confines
of the golf course. I’m proud of that here. I appreciate Mr. Anthony for
letting me do that. He is a hero of mine. Although he doesn’t play golf,
he understands and has respect for the land. He has values. He is a
visionary."
How much are you involved in the construction after you have completed
the design?
"I was very "hands on" at the Valley. I spent one day a
week here when I was broadcasting with CBS. I was here just about every
day in the off season. I don’t go for the "celebrity designer"
who shows up twice during the construction. I give each course everything
I have—the optimum number of courses I would design per year is two.
"I probably drive people crazy during construction, but it is
worth it. I am a perfectionist—a pain—I’ll fight for what I think
should be.
"If you have a beautiful piece of land and screw it up, you have
committed a felony. Designing a golf course is a fierce responsibility.
"We did Valley in-house. Our construction team was wonderful. I
love the people here. They’re the best a man could wish for. They are
real—nothing phony here. It is rewarding to be with people who care. We
fought through floods and washouts."
What was your hardest design decision at the Valley Course?
"Positioning the second green was hard for me. I love how it
turned out. I put such an emphasis on par-3s that decisions about them are
hard."
What are your thoughts about how a course should be routed?
"Obviously, you can’t finish with a west-facing hole. I let the
land dictate the route. Basically, I have a philosophy of hating obstacle
courses."
What is the difference between remodeling a course and designing one
from scratch?
"Designing one is more demanding and stimulating. With a remodel,
you’re tinkering with other people’s inspiration ... or lack of it. I’m
not looking for remodeling work. I prefer to find a property to design a
new course."
Would you accept a remodeling job?
"Only if the architect is dead."
Would you like to design more courses?
"Yes! This is the most stimulating thing I have ever done. I love
it. Designing a golf course is a labor of love. I am not motivated by
money so I am reasonable with my fees. I enjoy getting very involved with
a project."
What are you doing now?
"I have an independent production group, The Wright Group, which
will be producing documentaries on the greatest players in the game. We
are doing Nicklaus and Player and hope to get Snead, Nelson and Palmer.
"I write articles for Links magazine and plan on writing
another book. I really enjoy writing.
"I also host some golfing tour parties to Great Britain and
Ireland, and have done an infomercial or two."
Do you want to get back in the broadcast booth?
"I’m 67 and too old and too busy to go back, if ever asked. I
was part of the best commentary group of all time at CBS so I’ve ‘been
there, done that’ and would rather do something new like design golf
courses."
We’ve talked about your heroes in golf architecture. Who influenced
you the most in golf, period?
"Bobby Jones and Ben Hogan."
Although the Valley Course is private, it does accept limited outside
play through the pre-arranged sponsorship of the pro from another private
club. The pro shop number is 803-836-4653. Don’t miss the opportunity to
play this course.
[Sidebar]
Ben Wright’s Guide to Golf Course Architecture
*I like courses that afford maximum enjoyment for the maximum number of
golfers, whatever their ability.
*I prefer courses to follow the contours of the land just as it lies,
as much as possible. I hate moving millions of cubic yards of dirt.
*I hate the butchering of trees. Ben Hogan is my idol and the only
fault I have with him is that he took too many trees out when he built the
Trophy Club in Texas.
*I hate forced carries.
*I hate blind shots.
*I’m not that keen on sand bunkers, especially the penal type. I use
bunkers on occasion to save a golfer from getting into deeper trouble such
as a water hazard.
*I don’t like cart paths crossing fairways.
*I hate wildly undulating greens—the elephant mounds and collection
areas. An exception is Augusta—its greens are its only defense.
*I love for a course to let players run the ball onto the greens.
*The four par-3s are central to a course’s character. I think Harbour
Town has the best set in America, and Rye in England.
*I prefer a hard par-4 to a par-5 as a finishing hole. By hard, I don’t
necessarily mean long, I mean testing. Par-5s favor the long hitters and I
don’t want to give them that advantage on the last hole.
*On my par-5s, I like one to be reachable with a risk/reward decision,
and the others three-shotters.
End of Article
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