Grandview Experiencing Rebirth in Popularity

 By MARK CARTNER

 The 12th green was dead, or as Harold Kincaid likes to say, “We bought 17 greens.”  Either way, it meant trouble for Grandview Golf Club.  Back in 1990 when Kincaid (plus three family members) bought the course in the Pafftown community of Forsyth County, Grandview was anything but a grand view.  The previous owners hadn’t the resources to properly maintain the course and sold the Kincaids 130 acres of quirky, unkempt golf real estate. 

“We definitely had a stigma to overcome in those first years,”  Kincaid offers without reservation.  “The course just wasn’t in very good shape and word gets around.” 

He estimates that the course averaged little more than 20,000 rounds a year back then, but now, with more than a quarter million dollars of improvements, Grandview is experiencing a rebirth to tune of 30,000 rounds annually.

Back in the early 90s, head pro Mark Hartis flatly told the selection committee that picks the sites for the annual Forsyth County Invitational and Junior championships, “Don’t come to Grandview.  We’re not in good enough condition.”   

And he meant it – just as he meant it in 1994 and every year since when he said, “I think you need to come play here.”

The committee listened and the county’s two big amateur tournaments are returning to Grandview in 2002 for the seventh time since 1994.

“We must be doing something right,”  says Kincaid.  “If the committee wasn’t getting so much positive feedback they wouldn’t keep coming back.”

And for area golfers who played Grandview in the past, but looked elsewhere when the course conditions dipped a decade or so ago, a return visit is in order. 

The layout retains its charmingly quirky design, but now the playing surfaces are truly playable.

The aforementioned 12th green was completely rebuilt and it, along with the other seventeen, is in surprisingly good shape.  The Penncross/Bent mix surfaces are smooth and devoid of any odd humps and hollows that usually accompany greens of this age.  And at a Stimp speed of about 9, they are perfect for rolling in putts.

However, the green surrounds have a different look than in the past.  Inspired by Pinehurst No. 2, superintendent Larry Green now shaves the areas immediately off the greens, which makes accuracy into the pins a premium.  Since the perimeters of these greens were already rounded, most anything landing on these crowned edges will roll off and away from the putting surfaces – making the greens even smaller than their 5,000 square foot average. 

Given the look of the greens, it’s no surprise that the course’s architecture can be loosely traced back to Donald Ross. Ross taught Ellis Maples, who eventually helped Wiley Fleenor design the course in 1963.

In 1963, Fleenor’s fairways were sprigged with common Bermuda grass, and until recently, that was still the case.  Currently the staff is updating to 419 bermudagrass and according to Kincaid, the ratio of 419 to common is 2 to 1.

However, the most compelling reasons to play Grandview aren’t limited to the improved playing surfaces.  Grandview possesses a quirky charm in its design and atmosphere that isn’t found much anymore.

This is a family course where the pros ride the mowers, work concessions, and tee it up with the members.  You’re as apt to pass a couple of ducks, General and the Admiral, on your way to the practice green as you are another golfer.  And the course is truly one of a kind.

For instance, no one would design a hole to play straight out from the tee, and then turn left and head straight up an 80-foot hill to a hidden green – but that’s exactly what the 391-yard par 4 2nd does.  The second ownership group relocated the green to its current spot in the late 70s in a moneymaking effort to sell housing lots on the property’s perimeter. 

Another change from this real estate deal is the 11th green that faces counter to its tee.  The short par 3 originally played alongside Muddy Creek – in the opposite direction.  Currently the putting surface isn’t visible from the tee, but with a short iron in hand, pars aren’t too difficult to come by.  “I suppose if we win the lottery we could build a new green behind it,” says Hartis of the chances that they’ll be replacing the green anytime soon.

The final piece to this odd puzzle is the seventh green that ends at the clubhouse and the ninth green that sits several hundred yards away.  Before the '70s land-swap, seven was number nine.  Grandview may be the only the course in the world that as Hartis puts it, “has a front seven and a back 11.”

However, don’t be misled.  Grandview possesses many quality golf holes.  Longtime Forsyth County amateur standout Chris Logan wouldn’t make this his home course if Grandview it didn’t.

Other than No. 11, Grandview has three wonderful par 3s. No. 4 is a Redan-esque gem nestled in the rolling, tree-lined hills of the front side.  Though only 146 yards, it offers a tiny target due to the angle of approach and the severe slope of the green that funnels off the front and toward a deep bunker on the front-left.  Members call this the shortest “par 4” in the county.  

The two remaining par 3s are on the relatively flat and open back nine.  No. 13 is a solid 180-yard carry to perhaps the most undulating green on the course and the 16th requires a majestic, downhill 200-yard carry over a creek to a wavy, well-bunkered green.

Not to be outdone, the par 4s offer up Nos. 5 and 17. 

Five is a dastardly hole that demands a left-leaning tee shot to hold a right-sloping fairway.  The approach must carry a depression to a steeply rising green backed by out-of-bounds. 

Seventeen is possibly the prettiest hole on the course – but don’t be fooled by its tranquil appearance.  Like most of Grandview, the key here is placement. The drive must carry the proper distance to leave a comfortable wedge into this tricky green. The approach is all carry over rough, water and sand.

The par 5s are fairly nondescript, but No. 18 will no doubt provide plenty of drama for this summer’s final round of the Forsyth County Invitational. At 523 yards and gently uphill, this green will be reachable for the best players.  The green is open in front and a bank behind should act as backstop to aid golfers who are aggressively hunting for birdies and eagles on the final hole.

And while the outcome of this year’s Forsyth Invitational may or may not be decided here, the mere fact that the tournament is once again being held at Grandview is a testament to just how far the course has come.