Nicklaus’ Longview a welcome addition to Charlotte golf scene 

By SCOTT MARTIN

 Even though North and South Carolina were two of the hottest golf development locations in the United States for the latter decades of the twentieth century, few new courses have emerged in the past five years due to the double whammy of a tepid economy and chronic oversupply. Many clubs have completed extensive, even ambitious, renovation and restoration projects but for architects and course builders, new projects have been sparse.

Perhaps the relative paucity of big budget new courses increases the intensity of the spotlight on The Club at Longview, a new Jack Nicklaus signature course in Weddington, just south of Charlotte’s pullulating southern suburbs. Nicklaus officially opened Longview on October 20.

Longview is the creation of Mel Graham and Steve Puckett. Graham is a Charlotte real estate executive whose uncle is evangelist The Reverend Billy Graham. Mel Graham’s father assembled much of the land that’s now Longview, originally running it as a dairy farm. Puckett is a successful entrepreneur who founded a healthcare business.

With gentle undulations and a mix of open and wooded land, Puckett and Graham handed Nicklaus and his design team one of the finest golf course sites in the Charlotte region. Nicklaus returned the favor by delivering a finished product that will be an obvious candidate for best new course in North Carolina in 2004.

If Nicklaus has a reputation for super-hard torture tracks, there’s little evidence of it here at Longview, especially from the member tees that stretch to a modest 6042 yards. In a media day event, at least five golf writers managed to shoot in the mid-70s, proving beyond any reasonable doubt that a modern Nicklaus course is not difficult, at least from a forward set of tees.

Serious golfers looking for a sterner test can head for the champion tees at 6609 yards or the Nicklaus tees at 7065 yards. These tees are offset enough to produce different, more challenging angles from the tee and also require some carries over hazards. However, the emphasis at Longview is clearly on playability, particularly from those member tees: most of the landing areas are wide; the mostly large greens have some movement but not to the point where the undulations are likely to create routine putting catastrophes.

Making the best use of the land lends the course a subtle and enticing variety that also provides the better golfer with interesting and even curious options on many holes. The imagination can be exercised here, a characteristic that instantly places Longview in the upper tier of Charlotte-area courses.

Four strong par-5s are the backbone of Longview. The 544-yard fourth is a strategic hole that tempts the golfer to drive and lay-up close to clusters of deep fairway bunkers for the best approach to the green. The key shot on the 596-yard sixth is the pitch over water to a shallow, crescent-shaped green with a deep hollow. The 547-yard 12th features a green set at 45 degrees to the fairway and flanked by a large pond. The 526-yard 17th mixes the strategic with the heroic: a drive to the right side of the fairway shortens the hole but also flirts with a lake; 50 yards of wetlands at the perfect lay-up distance means that a choice must be made for the second shot; the difficult green is perched precariously above a large, deep bunker.

The most memorable short hole is the 164-yard sixth that plays to what’s essentially an island green. It’s just a wedge or short iron from the member tees but the shot is still likely to produce a few butterflies. The two par-4s that complete the front nine are shortish but fun, playing along a valley floor towards the 26,000-square feet clubhouse that’s currently under construction. Two muscular par-4s, the fifth and 18th, at 436 and 463 yards respectively, are treacherous but it’s the 14th, at just 386 yards, that’s just as memorable: a large bunker in the middle of the fairway provides several options from the tee, including a direct route to the green that shaves up to 70 yards of the hole’s length. Just as fun is the dogleg left 414-yard 16th where the bold player will drive left of the fairway bunker to shorten the second shot over a stream.

With a membership that will total only 350 and with many of the adjoining homes priced in the two comma range, Longview is an enclave. There won’t be any tee times. There won’t be many first tee traffic jams. Graham and Puckett have spent impressively to ensure that Longview caters to those seeking privacy and luxury.

Will Longview achieve its albeit unstated goal of challenging the best private courses in Charlotte? It’s too early to tell as the course and the community need several years to reach maturity. But the effort is here and those fortunate enough to play Longview even in these nascent years have a fine test that’s fun, picturesque, and uniquely strategic.