Fairway bunkers call for strategic play on the 17th hole. (Photo credit: Patrick Jones) Willowhaven Golf Club 253 Country Club Dr. Durham, N.C. 919-383-1022 • Directions: Take Durham Freeway (Highway 147) to Exit 16A P Hillsborough Rd. Go left back across Hwy. 15-501. Go three lights and take a right on Cole Mill Rd. Go 3-1/2 miles, cross the Eno River, and take a right on Umstead Rd. Go 1 mile and take a right on Country Club Dr. The clubhouse is on the right. • Course opened: 1957, was renovated in 2001 • Original course architect: George Cobb • Course redesign architect: Matt Jenkins • Head professional: Kim Carpenter • Course superintendent: Scott Brady • Fairways: Bermuda • Greens: Bent (Blend of A1, A4) • Spikes policy: Soft spikes only, with proper golf attire required • Greens fees: Monday, closed; Tuesday-Thursday, $40 non-member with cart, $25 seniors with cart; Weekends, $50 non-members with cart, $40 non-members with guest with cart. • Golf memberships: $1,500 for next 35 members. Normal $3,000 initiation fee.• • Clubhouse: Full dining facilities, menUs and womenUs locker rooms, bag storage, private meeting rooms, bar, grill. • Practice facilities: Driving range, putting green, and combination putting and chipping green • Lessons: Available, as are corporate outings • Par: 36-36-72 • Tees/Yardage: Blue: 6,450; White: 6,208; Gold: 5,534; Red: 5,234. Slope/rating: Will be rated again in March

Willowhaven completes renovation of original Cobb design
By Patrick Jones

DURHAM--A lot has changed in golf since 1957, the year Jack Nicklaus was a chubby 17-year-old amateur and Sam Snead finished second to Doug Ford at the Masters.

While the game has rapidly evolved in the 45 years since, the Willowhaven Country Club course in Durham, which opened for play that same year, did not progress with the times.

”Basically, nothing had been done to the course since it opened in the 1950s,” says Kim Carpenter, Willowhaven’s head golf professional.

That has all changed dramatically with the recently completed renovation of the George Cobb-designed 18-hole layout just north of the Eno River.

”It was long overdue,” says Carpenter. “To stay with the competition, we knew we had to make some changes.”

The club hired course architect Matt Jenkins of Coursemasters Golf Ventures to lead the project. Willowhaven renovated its front nine in 2000. Rework of the back nine was completed in September 2001.

The course is now available for play, and a grand reopening is scheduled for April 6.

”The original Cobb layout was a very utilitarian design,” says Jenkins, who has had a hand in work locally on Arnold Palmer’s Brier Creek, Wakefield Plantation and the University of North Carolina’s Finley Golf Course in Chapel Hill. “It was fulfilling golf, but it wasn’t a spectacular course to begin with.

”The course did not have a lot of character other than it was a traditional old tree-lined course that had a great stand of mature pines and hardwood trees. Everything we did we tried to make it look like it would have been done 40 years ago. We didn’t want to destroy the character of the course to the point where Cobb’s original intent was lost.”

Foremost on the agenda was to completely redo all of the putting greens, which were small, predictable and without much grass in the heat of the summer months.

The aged greens were ripped up and stagnant soils were removed. Fresh drain tiles, gravel and mix were brought in. The greens were seeded with a blend of A1 and A4 bent grass.

Most importantly, the greens were enlarged from an average of about 3,000 square feet to 5,000 square feet and constructed to USGA specifications.

”I think we added a lot of character to the greens,” says Jenkins. “We added a lot of undulations that were not there on the previous turtleback greens. We significantly increased the amount of pinnable areas. I think, overall, there is about 35 to 40 percent more pinnable space per green.

”It’s a welcomed change to the members,” he adds. “Many of them used to get up there and not even line a putt up. They could walk up to a 30-footer and put it in the heart of the hole because they knew what to expect. These greens will change the way a lot of people play. They can’t be quite as aggressive, but they’ll be rewarded if they play smart.”

The tee boxes were increased in size from an average of 1,500 square feet to closer to 2,500 to 3,000 square feet on most holes, allowing for better rotation of tee markers along with the increased pin locations.

Other changes include lengthening of holes, adding about 250 yards overall to the course (now playing at 6,450 yards from the blue tees), and the addition of strategically placed new bunkers.

”The changes will affect players at every skill level,” says Carpenter, who has been with the club for four years. “The layout is basically still the same but the course is strategically very different.”

Jenkins agrees. “We wanted to keep the old traditional look of the course instead of trying to do a more modern contemporary looking course. A lot of the holes were short by today’s standards. By strategically placing bunkers it will challenge golfers to not always pull the driver out of the bag and really make them think about how to play into the green. It really improves the strategy and the overall playability.”

Changes were made right from the opening hole. The tee box on No. 1 was moved about 50 yards to the left to improve the dogleg on the 395-yard, par 4.

Jenkins calls the 427-yard, par-4 fifth hole one of the “hardest holes in the area” with its redesigned green complex.

Those two holes were representative of the major changes on the front nine, along with the removal of almost 300 trees to improve airflow and provide additional sunlight after 45 years of overgrowth.

On the back nine, Jenkins says he considers No. 17, a 379-yard, par 4, the “signature hole” on the course. “I think most of the members would look at it as one of the best holes now. That’s good because it was considered one of the worst.”

The tee box on the 17th was pushed back about 50 yards from its original location. An array of fairway bunkers was added that really “toughened it up,” according to Jenkins.

Though the entire course was lengthened by only about 250 yards, Jenkins says it plays about “500 yards longer” due to players having to lay up or having to think more about where to play a shot. “It’s not really target golf per se, but you really have to hold back and not put everything into the shot off the tee,” he adds.

Willowhaven, currently a semi-private course, is in the midst of a campaign to add new members and return to its private-course roots. (The normal $3,000 initiation fee has been reduced to $1,500 for the next 35 members.) The course renovations were a necessary enticement and have delighted the current members.

”I think the changes are fantastic,” says Dwight Riley, the chairman of the club’s greens committee, an 8-handicapper and a member of Willowhaven since 1986. “The improvements to the greens are tremendous. And the overall course, with the addition of the traps and the lengthening of the course, it’s just a better track  a tougher course to play.

”Everybody is excited with where we're going with the course and the club itself,” Riley adds. “We’ve got a lot to offer now.”