On a recent, perfect, fall afternoon, four Long Creek Golf Club regulars strolled onto their second temporary green of the day, and they were only on the 5th hole, and another makeshift green awaited them on No. 6. Noticing one of Long Creek’s new owners, Scott King sitting comfortably in a golf cart off to the side, they paused for a "chat," but surprisingly, their words were kind. "Wish I had your job," one joked as his buddies laughed. "I’m workin’ hard," came King’s reply in a Southern twang honed on the Mooresville, N.C., farm where he grew up. A couple more good-natured jabs were exchanged, then the foursome rode away-leaving King to reflect on the exciting changes taking place at the formerly sleepy Long Creek Golf Club.

"Somebody asked me why I didn’t just close the front nine while we were working on it," says King of his decision to play temporary greens this fall while work is completed on Nos. 3, 5, and 6. "I said, ‘No, sir. I want ’em to ride by and see five and see what we’re doin’."

What they’re "doin’" is giving Long Creek (located just out of Winston-Salem’s reach in Bethania), its first facelift since anyone can remember. "I’ve got guys who’ve been here since ’74 and they can’t remember any changes," King says. "I can’t tell you what’s been done over the years, though I do think they cleaned out the creek in ’89."

King and his three partners, Silvano Calzolari, Jeff Nance, and Willy Bunch (and all their wives) closed on Long Creek Sept. 8 after spending the summer working out the buyout from previous owners Gordon Cox and Steve Forrest.

For King it was a dream come true. He left the banking industry in 1990 to work as general manager at Homestead Golf Club, known now as Olde Homeplace, and from there took a similar position at Pudding Ridge G.C. Then five years ago, King, 48, became the general manager at Long Creek. "My dream right from the start was to someday own my own course," he says.

His attraction to Long Creek was almost immediate.

King quickly recognized the course’s potential. He saw an interesting layout (minus the dreadful par-4 5th) that was just minutes away from highway 52 and the new I-74 corridor. And he saw a market niche that he could fill. King knew he could provide a challenging, mid-level golf course at a reasonable price and he had three partners lined up who didn’t need an immediate return on their investment. "I’ve just been real lucky," King says of how things have transpired. "It’s not like we’re having to build a new course. We’ve just got to fix a few things, and be ready when they build these new homes." A proposed 1,100 home development is being built adjacent to the front nine.

According to King the price tag for the renovations should approach $200,000 when everything is finished. For longtime Long Creek regulars, it’s money well spent.

Since Long Creek opened in 1963, the course has remained basically the same and, unfortunately, for most of that time the 325 yard par-4 5th has been a disaster. "It’s been our albatross," says King honestly. "If you ask somebody if they play Long Creek, they’ll say, ‘Hell no. They’ve got that stupid hole up in the woods.’ It was our signature hole, but it was a bad signature."

In truth, there wasn’t much right about the hole. From the tee the golfer was faced with an uphill, dogleg-left fairway featuring a steep, left to right sloping hill in the landing area. To make matters worse, the forest-lined fairway would bake hard in the summer, shed its grass, and propel even well struck tee shots into a debris-filled drainage ditch lining the entire right side of the hole. And once on the green, poor air circulation usually meant a sparsely grassed putting surface.

But all that is being changed. Tommy Pegram and his team from Pegram Golf Concepts have filled in the ditch and created a bowl-like effect in the No. 5 fairway. They lowered the hill on the left and used that dirt to build up the right side. Now, to hit your tee shot into trouble, you’ll have to carry it there. Anything landing in the fairway will be encouraged to stay there. And a new ladies tee actually faces the fairway instead of the woods.

As for the green, they’ve nearly doubled the size and cleared out the surrounding scrub brush—something they’ve also done on the other two holes being renovated, Nos. 3 and 6.

The short par-3 3rd will be far less penal than the original. The near vertical drop off from the left side of the green to the woods has been softened and the deep left side bunker has been replaced with two green-level traps. Also making the hole more playable is a gentle mound added to the rear of the green to aid in depth perception from the tee. "That was very important," King says of the changes to make the holes more playable. "We wanted to improve the aesthetics and the pace of play. These changes accomplish that."

The changes on No. 6 won’t be quite as noticeable.

Like the others, the green has been enlarged and moved slightly, and mounds added to define the hole and slow wayward shots. If the weather cooperates, the new holes will be open for play Thanksgiving weekend.

Of the course’s remaining holes, only the par-4 4th is being altered. To encourage golfers to play the dogleg, a new tee was added and all tees moved back a notch. Previously 340 yards from the tips, the hole now measures 370 yards and, more importantly, forces the golfer to shape a shot around the corner of the trees instead of just blowing straight past them.

"I told Silvano recently that I’m so excited I could cry," says King, only half jokingly. "I can’t tell you what this means to me." And best bet is that when the Long Creek regulars play the new No. 5 for the first time, they’ll be moved to tears as well.