A New Day at Salem Glen By: Jay Allred

The eighth hole is one of fourteen where water comes into play.

The opening of Salem Glen Country Club will mark a milestone in the odyssey of a golf course and its designer, PGA Tour player Glen Day. With a $20,000 loan from his grandfather, Day turned professional in 1989 and started his journey around the world. He played the Asian, European and Nike Tours until 1994 when he landed on the PGA Tour. After three years, he has settled into the PGA Tour and has gained a reputation as a superb bunker player, having finished fourth in sand saves on last year's tour.

Day's journeys have allowed him to experience the greatest courses in the world and have provided him with an education most golf course designers only dream about.

Salem Glen, a golf course and residential development, is set on 466 acres along the Yadkin River straddling the Davidson and Forsyth county lines south of Tanglewood. Several years ago a golf course was routed on this site but was never completed. High Point developers, Scott Brown and Michael Amos, stepped in and began interviewing golf course designers for the project. A childhood friend of Glen Day and a business associate of Amos and Brown recommended they meet with Day when he was in town for the GGO. "We met with Glen and were very impressed with his knowledge of golf course design," stated Amos. "Later we traveled to Palm Beach and met with Jack Nicklaus. Nicklaus assured us of the backing and support of Nicklaus Design and Paragon Golf Construction."

"Glen has basically made it demanding from the back tees where if we have a tournament it will be tough. The members' tees are designed for someone with a 22 plus handicap. Each tee should play five or six strokes different," noted Brown.

In his interview with Triad Golf Today, Day continued to stress how enjoyable and playable the course would be, "We've got good size greens. The greens are not too severe. There is a good mix of holes, a lot of different mixes if you want to gamble on certain shots from the tee or second shots. We've got some lakes in really good places. From all the greenside bunkers you can see part of the green. Fairway bunkers can be played out of and in most cases you can get to the green. We have some directional bunkers to try to steer the ball in one direction or the other."

The layout takes full advantage the of the 150 feet of elevation changes, four and a half miles of creeks and nine lakes. "It's a beautiful piece of property," stated Day. Five holes of the front nine are set in the Yadkin River basin. The most dramatic of them may be the fourth hole, a dogleg left par-5 with a lone majestic sycamore tree guarding the middle of the fairway 225 yards from the members' tee. Golfers wishing to reach the green in two will have to negotiate their balls between the tree and a creek running along the left side. The creek crosses the fairway in front of a well-bunkered green.

Although water comes into play on 14 of the holes, enough room was provided for golfers not wanting to risk the hazard to take a longer route. Retention bunkers were built alongside greens to keep errant shots from rolling into the water or down an embankment.

The back nine features dramatic elevation changes. From the tee box 13 is a breathtaking par-4 where your tee shot has to carry a 100-foot-deep ravine. Fourteen is a par-5 playing back over the ravine to a shallow green cut into the hillside. The four closing holes are the toughest on the course -- as they should be. No. 17, a par-3 with water front and back of the large green, is Day's favorite. The course closes with a par-4 where golfers may bail out right hoping to bounce their ball close to the green or carry the bunkers fronting the sloping green.

Salem Glen is a risk-reward course where you must know your limitations and play the tees suited for your game. The course expects to open in April and tee times may be arranged by calling 910-712-1010.

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