Lake Toxaway, N.C. – Toxaway Country Club is getting a complete $6-million makeover, and golf course architect Kris Spence is heading up the project.
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“We are creating a completely new golf course,” Spence says. “The property at Lake Toxaway is located among some of the most breathtaking scenery you will find in America. We will utilize the natural topography as much as possible to create more strategy and a wider variety of shot options.”
The environmental concerns have to do with trout streams near the course. The project will be done in stages to try and prevent as much disturbance to the habitat as possible. Also, natural fescue buffers will be planted between the course and streams.
“We will work on three holes at a time, then grass them and then move on to the next three holes,” Spence says. “It will take us the same amount of time to do nine holes than it usually takes to do 18.”
Spence has devised a master plan that significantly alters the course’s routing. Nine holes will switch directions, while another four holes will have reconfigured greens and tees. The remaining five holes will retain their current routing but will be augmented with new bunkering and fairway contouring. The redesign also calls for new irrigation and cart path systems.
New turf will be installed throughout the course along with extensive drainage to handle the area’s heavy rainfall. All tees, fairways and greens will be bentgrass, while primary roughs will be a bluegrass mixture. Outlying rough areas will be sown with native fine fescue grasses to minimize maintenance requirements and lessen the environmental impact of the course. Spence also will reduce the amount of highly maintained rough areas.
The project is being constructed and managed by Spence Golf. Project manager and design associate Jim Ganley is handling the day-to-day operations.
Nine holes of the course were built in the early 1950s, and a second nine was added in the early 1960s. Because of its age, the course isn’t playing that well and hasn’t lived up to its reputation for some time, according to Spence.
“There have been numerous modifications made to the course, but it was piecemeal, and there is no continuity to it,” Spence says. “For example, there are long stretches in between holes. There was no long-range plan.”
Spence became involved in the project after the club’s owner and golf pro visited the course at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville to see the redesign Spence did on that course. They liked what they saw and called Spence to have him take a look at their course.
“The course at Lake Toxaway didn’t utilize the land forms very well,” Spence says. “The course is in a mountainous region, but it played flat. Now we’re getting vistas, angles and strategy because we are properly placing tees in relation to the landing areas. I’m just taking advantage of the natural land. We will move about 50,000 cubic yards of dirt.”
Spence says the owner and golf pro gave him the freedom to think outside the box.
“I played the golf course backward and ended up reversing nine holes and redevising five,” he says. “They didn’t think it would be that dramatic, but they loved the plan, and the membership is excited.”
The redesign is limited somewhat because the areas that surrounds the golf course are fully developed. So the club bought slivers of land, which cost less than $100,000, that were part of the lots surrounding the course.
“The results will surprise a lot of people familiar with the old Toxaway course,” Spence says.
The course, which played about 6,200 yards, will play about 6,700 yards when the redesign is complete. GCN
Craig Distl from Distl Public Relation contributed to this article.
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