Improved Winston Lake Offers Plenty of Challenge

By MARK CARTNER

Forty-five years ago Ellis Maples designed a nine-hole golf course for the city of Winston-Salem. That course, Winston Lake, was located in the historically black-populated east side of town and due to segregation in 1957 in the South, and in golf, the city’s golfing establishment largely ignored the municipal course. 

In 2002, things are different. Winston Lake, which Maples expanded to 18 holes in 1962, is now one of the most integrated course in the Triad.  And though some golfers still avoid the course, now it’s mostly due to the status of their golf games rather than the status of Winston Lake. 

“We’ve got some holes out here that will make a bulldog back up from a meat truck,” says longtime Winston Lake pro, Earnest Morris.  “This course is a challenge.”

He’s right.

The scorecard claims Winston Lake measures just 6,263 yards (at a par of 71) from the tips—but Morris admits that recent tweakings have lengthened the course out to the 6,400-yard range. Don’t be fooled, this is one course that simply cannot be evaluated by the numbers on a scorecard.

What makes Winston Lake so beguiling is the property it rests on.  Maples carved the course out of deep woods and severely undulating hills.  The views from many of Winston Lake’s tee boxes are stunning, but for most golfers those same tree-lined views are equally frightening.  “The only level spot on the golf course is in the clubhouse,” Morris says.  And he’s not joking.

Despite only three of Winston Lake’s par-4s measuring longer than 400 yards, this is not a course that can be easily overpowered.  On several holes, steep up-slopes limit the amount of roll off the tee and though finding the fairway guarantees a short approach, it also promises a shot from an uneven lie with a quirky stance. Then there are the occasional blind shots to make pin hunting difficult even with a wedge in hand.  And add to all that the encroaching forest which makes the fairways appear much narrower than they actually are.

But Winston Lake’s defenses don’t stop there.

Of the course’s three par-5s, only one, No. 8, is a gimme.  Par is a good score on the other two, particularly the 544 yard 14th that doglegs left through a canyon of trees and proceeds along a wavy path to an unseen green. This is a three-shot hole for all but the stoutest hitters.

Then there are the par-3s.

Two of these, Nos. 2 and 12, measure longer than 200 yards and the 12th is all carry over a pond to an elevated green guarded by a bunker in front.  The remaining 3-pars offer little respite, requiring mid-irons to well-guarded surfaces.

The bentgrass greens are among the smallest around and though they are lightly bunkered, they are hardly defenseless. Aside from being small targets, they are deceptively sloped.  Perhaps due to their dramatically undulated surroundings, the Winston Lake greens appear relatively flat at first glance – but a closer look reveals classically back-to-front sloped surfaces that require properly placed approach shots.

For golfers who haven’t played Winston Lake in recent years, a few changes should make a return visit worth the effort. A new irrigation system installed last year will make for lush green grass from tee to green. Along with continued cleaning of the underbrush to make balls easier to find and play from the trees, Superintendent Rick Kimel and his staff are also renovating the course’s bunkers.  Several new tees (including some for women) are in place and last month witnessed the dedication of the course’s new 4,300 square foot clubhouse – and this summer promises a new fleet of golf carts.

“There’s no comparison,” says Morris of the new clubhouse when matched against the old.  “We’ve needed this for a long time.”

And Winston Lake’s fees are fit for just about everyone – even for local students, who receive weekday discounts.

But perhaps Winston Lake’s best asset is its summer junior golf program. Morris ran a similar program more than twenty years ago at Tanglewood Park and brought his concept to Winston Lake.  “I just learned,” says Morris, “that if you offer an affordable opportunity for the kids with average ability to learn the fundamentals and play on a regular basis, a lot of them will play and enjoy the game for a long time.”

And no doubt a lot of those kids, and others, will enjoy playing the improved Winston Lake golf course for a long time to come as well.