Anderson Creek Golf Club in Spring Lake, the latest design of Love Enterprises and Associates Inc., has been honored as the state’s Best New Course for 2001, edging Brier Creek Country Club in Raleigh, an Arnold Palmer design. Anderson Creek Golf Club 3829 Nursery Road Spring Lake, N.C. 28390 • Type: Semi-private. • Architect: Davis Love Design Group. • Course and slope rating: Championship (75.1, 139); Blue (72.4, 136); White (70.2, 127); Gray (68.9, 122); Gray for ladies (74.5, 134); Red (71.7, 124). • Back tee yardage: 7,180. • Head pro: Harold Thomas. • Golf shop phone: 910-814-2115. • Directions: From Sanford, south on Highway 87. Take left and remain on Nursery Road. Right on Ray Road and course is 1/4 mile on left. • Web site: www.andersoncreekgolf.com Brier Creek Country Club 9410 Club Hill Drive Raleigh, N.C. 27617 • Type: Private. • Architect: Arnold Palmer Design Group. • Course and slope rating: Championship (72.9, 135); Blue (70.4, 129); White (68.5, 121); Red (70.2, 120). • Back tee yardage: 6,945. • Head pro: Mark Johnson. • Golf shop phone: 919-206-4653. • Directions: From I-40, take the I-540 to Highway 70 exit. Take Lumley Road exit and follow signs to golf course. • Web site: www.briercreekcountryclub.com   Eagle Ridge Golf Club 601 Competition Road Raleigh, N.C. 27603 • Type: Semi-private. • Architect: Tom Kite/Bob Cupp. • Course and slope rating: Championship (72.2, 133); White (70.1, 127); Gold (67.6, 121); Women’s Gold (72.7, 130); Women’s Red (68.7, 122). • Back tee yardage: 6,904. • Head pro: Scott Baum. • Golf shop phone: 919-661-6300. • Directions: From I-40, take Hwy. 401 south to Old Stage Road. Turn left onto Old Stage, right on Seastone Street and right on Competition Road. Clubhouse eventually will be on left. • Web site: www.eagleridgeonline.com   The Tillery Tradition Country Club 214 Tradition Drive Mount Gilead, N.C. 27306 • Type: Semi-private. • Architect: J.T. Russell & Sons. • Course and slope rating: Championship (73.6, 132); Blue (70.3, 125); White (67.0, 117); Red (63.1, 106). • Back tee yardage: 6,930 yards. • Head pro: Jason Cox. • Golf shop phone: 910-439-5578 or 877-472-7211. • Directions: From Highway 24-27, take the Mount Gilead exit (Highway 73), then right on Lilly’s Bridge Road. Travel time from Charlotte and Greensboro is one hour; from Raleigh-Durham, two hours. • Web site: www.tillerytradition.com

Top New Course: Panelists Love Anderson Creek 

BY KEVIN BRAFFORD

RALEIGH-- In 17 years on the PGA Tour, Davis Love III has shown time and again just how talented he is with a golf club in his hands. Now he’s shown members of the North Carolina Magazine Golf Panel that he’s equally adept with a pencil and a sketchpad.

Anderson Creek Golf Club in Spring Lake, the latest design of Love Enterprises and Associates Inc., has been honored as the state’s Best New Course for 2001, edging Brier Creek Country Club in Raleigh, an Arnold Palmer design.

In balloting among the panel’s 130 members, Anderson Creek amassed 1,989 points compared to 1,972 points for runner-up Brier Creek. The Tillery Tradition Country Club, the work of J.T. Russell & Sons in Mount Gilead, was third with 1,632 points. Eagle Ridge Golf Club, a Tom Kite/Bob Cupp design just south of Raleigh, was next with 1,164 points.

Those were the four courses that began full play during the 2001 season and were visited by Golf Panel raters. On a 1 to 10 scale, panelists assessed six elements – shot values, condition, resistance to scoring, design variety, memorability and aesthetics. Twenty-four panelists rated all four of the courses in a voting season that runs from one Labor Day to the next to accommodate courses opening in the fall.

The 17-point margin between the top two courses was the closest since the panel began rating the state’s courses in 1995. The differential was a bit misleading in that Brier Creek was played by four more panelists than Anderson Creek. But of the 29 panelists who rated both courses, 23 favored Anderson Creek.

Tucked into the Sandhills about 15 miles north of Fayetteville, Anderson Creek opened in July to rave reviews, playing to 7,180 yards from its championship tees and a staunch 6,703 from the blues. The semi-private course flows through 175 acres of rolling land that’s accented by a handful of lakes and creeks. Carolina pines line many of the holes, giving the layout a Pinehurst feel.

“We tried to make it fit the land and look natural,” says Love, a three-time All-American at the University of North Carolina who owns 14 PGA Tour titles and has amassed more than $17 million in career earnings. “This type of course is one that I’ve always found to be the most appealing. There’s not a bad hole on the golf course.”

Mark Love, Davis’ kid brother and his former caddie, is president of Love Enterprises. He says the similarity of Anderson Creek to Pinehurst, in this the company’s eighth design, was no accident. “We try to do very traditional courses,” he says. “The No. 2 Course at Pinehurst was one of our dad’s favorite courses and Davis and I always have that in our minds when we’re designing a course. Anderson Creek has more topography than No. 2, but the greens are similar with the runoff tendencies.”

Panelists found few complaints. “Love found some great land for a golf course and he didn’t ruin it by moving a lot of dirt,” says Dave Droschak of Apex.

“Every hole is different and interesting,” says Harris Prevost of Grandfather Mountain. “It is tastefully done and all the ‘little things’ are thought of. Davis Love can design courses as well as he can play them.”

So pleased with the result was Love that his company ponied up more than $4 million to lease and run the golf course, which is the cornerstone of a development that ultimately will consist of about 2,700 single and multi-family dwellings – and a second 18-hole, Love-designed course.

“We began to ask, ‘Why give this to somebody else?’ ” Love says. “Since we’re building it, maybe we ought to operate it. We get a great asset that way.”

Members of Brier Creek, a private club near the Raleigh-Durham International Airport, have looked upon their golf course as a great asset since it opened on a daily basis last spring. The Palmer design plays to 6,945 yards from the championship tees and features wide fairways and an average green depth of 38 yards.

“It’s a real gem for the residential community of Brier Creek,” says Joan Ruvane of Durham. “It will challenge but not overwhelm players of all levels will enjoy.”

“One of the most enjoyable Arnold Palmer courses that I’ve played,” says Howard Ward of Fayetteville. “I love the way the tees set up, giving you the feeling that you can take a real cut at the ball.”

Reid Spencer of Charlotte says the course offers various looks. “There’s considerable variety in the length and character of the holes,” he says. “It’s a straightforward Palmer design that already features excellent putting surfaces.”

Adds Lenox Rawlings of Winston-Salem: “Forgiving fairways and fast greens, but it’s basically a friendly country club course.”

Many panelists also found pleasing elements in The Tillery Tradition, which maxes out to 6,930 yards and sits near the edge of Lake Tillery. “The surrounding trees make it seem like an old established course,” says Charles Welch of Salisbury.

Nancy Mayer of Asheville agrees. “Everything was done to disturb as little of the natural environment as possible,” she says. “It rests easily and naturally with its surroundings.”

Eagle Ridge is the most unique of the new offerings in that it features six par 3s and five par 5s in its layout, which covers 6,904 yards from the championship tees. Panelists weren’t especially fond of the narrow par-5 10th hole, but otherwise found the course extremely playable.  

“Eagle Ridge has sufficient water and wetlands to keep the round interesting and the brain engaged,” says Nat Walker of Greensboro.

Adds Gordon White of Pinehurst, a retired sportswriter from The New York Times: “Tom Kite was always a nice man who made you feel comfortable in his company. This course make you comfortable as you play it.”

Love isn’t resting on his successful foray into course design in North Carolina. His next offering, The Preserve at Jordan Lake, is expected to open in late summer.

Other 2002 new courses include Old Chatham, a private Rees Jones design south of Durham, Heritage Wake Forest, a semi-private Bob Moore design north of Raleigh, Farmstead, a resort links course in Calabash designed by Willard Byrd, and Cotton Valley, a semi-private design by Tom Johnson in Tarboro.

 (This story was reprinted with permission from North Carolina Magazine.)