Kinderton Changes Will Make Back Nine More Like Donald Ross-Designed Front

By AL MILLEY

CLARKSVILLE, Va. – Donald Ross designed the first nine holes at Kinderton Country Club and a move is presently under way to make the back nine conform more to the characteristics of the famed golf course architect.
The front nine opened in 1947 and the 9-hole course was then called Clarksville Country Club. After Ross died in 1948, the back nine was built in 1951 and designed by Dick Wilson, a highly touted architect in his own right.
The golf course was built on property surrounding the Kinderton Plantation and the name of the 18-hole layout was later changed from Clarksville to Kinderton Country Club.
Kinderton has long been known as one of the outstanding layouts in the Southside Virginia and Eastern seaboard areas. The course, however, fell on a few lean years when bad greens resulted in a drop in play. The course continued to struggle while greens were being changed from bermudagrass to bent and the completion of the changeover resulted in the course returning to its status as one of the best in the area.
The return to form of the course in 1990 coincided with the arrival of golf course superintendent Steve Webster. A former club manager and club professional, Webster supervised the completion of the task of changing greens to bent in 1996.
He admits there’s still a lot of work ahead.

"When Ross designed courses, he put a premium on placement of the tee shot, but mostly on location of the approach to the green. That was his top priority. He designed holes to be reached with mid to long irons and the ball had to be placed below the hole to have a legitimate chance for a birdie.
"Ross also placed bunkers strategically to catch wayward shots to the green, and they were deep. Ross wanted to eliminate a poor approach bouncing off a slope and funneling to the green," Webster explained.
Ross characteristics are apparent on the front nine, with par 4s measuring 430, 306, 370, 418, 408 and 412 from the back tees. Par 3s measure 153 and 246, the latter from an elevated tee. The only par 5 on the front nine is No. 7, at 518 yards and reachable in two by the long hitters.
The 408-yard par-4 sixth hole is considered the toughest hole on the course and one of the toughest in the state, with a 210-yard carry over water off the tee and a second shot to a blind elevated green.
The back nine begins with a demanding 545-yard par-5 leading up to a short dogleg par-4, a short par-3 and a short (500- yard) par-5. After a 440-yard par 4, the back nine closes with two short pars-4s, a short par-3 over water and a 320-yard 18th hole that can be reached by long hitters off the tee.
Webster says the difference in the two nines was more economically motivated. "What Wilson did on the back nine was with cost in mind. He would have had to take out more trees to add length, and the money was not available.
"I feel now we can make several holes on the back more Ross-like with the reduction of a few trees, along with moving one green and one tee box. The back nine has more forgiving holes with collecting mounds funneling to the hole. Ross would not do that, he wanted the ball to funnel away from the hole if it wasn’t placed properly.
"We would like to make the back more like the front, more Ross-like, and we think that’s feasible. You can’t make a bad hole better with just length, but you can make a good hole better with length. Ross wanted to force players to move the ball left or right and he never wanted to reward an indifferent approach to the green."
The change to bent greens was possible on the front nine without major renovations, the front nine being more open. The back nine was more wooded and posed problems for the new greens.
"We took out about 300 pines on the back nine. Bent greens require more air, and it was necessary to eliminate trees around the greens. Bent greens need eight hours of sunlight," he added.
Along with going to bent, the contour of the greens needed changing. The bermudagrass greens funneled to the middle and, with speeds at about six on the Stimpmeter, pins could be placed on slopes. The new bent greens, presently about 10 on the Stimp, forced the change.
"We had to build greens that would allow more than one or two pin placements with legitimate chances to make putts. You also have to realize we played about 10,000 rounds on the bermudagrass greens and we now are up to about 20,000 rounds. One or two possible pin placements would result in too much traffic around the hole and would show too much wear and tear on the greens."
Along with completing the installation of bent greens, Webster saw the need to narrow fairways. "We have a lot of sloping holes and slightly errant tee shots were finding the woods. We narrowed the fairways to help keep the ball in play," said Webster in noting the total fairway area was reduced from 50 acres to 28.
According to Bob Howerton, Kinderton Country Club historian, Carl Robbins, owner of a local textile plant, started the present course. The front nine was altered somewhat from the original Ross design when flooding for the building of Buggs Island Lake Reservoir flooded the main access road to the course.
The merger of Robbins Mills with Textron in 1954 made it possible for the membership to lease the property and comply with regulations to join the USGA and the VSGA. Burlington Industries purchased the property in 1956 and the membership grew from 65 to a peak of around 250. The membership completed negotiations and finally purchased the course in July of this year.
The Kinderton Invitational was started in 1955 and, despite losing some stature during the greens transformation, has rebounded and continues to attract a large field and some of the top amateurs in Virginia and North Carolina.
Bill Harvey of Greensboro is a three-time winner of the tournament and two-time winners include Ed Justa of Rocky Mount, N.C., Bill Baskerville of South Boston and local player Bubba Judy.
The course record is 69 from the back tees, shared by Harvey and Clarence Alexander of Raleigh. The course record is 64 and is shared by Clint Toms of Durham and Lloyd Liebler of Chesapeake, Va., the latter accomplishing the feat at age 15 on the way to winning the VSGA state juniors. The 36-hole tournament record is 135, set by Jimmy Flippen Jr. of Danville in 1993.
"Few have come in here and burned up this course," said Webster. "We feel we have one of the finest layouts in Southside Virginia, and we can make it better with a few changes on the back nine."

Copyright © 1994-2002. Piedmont Golf Today, Inc. All rights reserved.  Triad Golf Today™  and Triangle Golf Today™ are trademarks of Piedmont Golf Today, Inc