THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, November 8, 1994 TAG: 9411080480
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
To the untrained eye, the flat tract of land off Shore Drive is just an old farm; once proud and yielding, now barren.
To Tom Fazio, it is the canvas on which he and his associates will produce their next golfing masterpiece: 7,421 challenging yards answering to par-72 he hopes will be ready a year from now.
In most circles, Fazio is considered the finest golf-course architect in the world. He has the papers to prove it, courtesy of his peers, who voted him such in 1989 and 1990.
At least seven Fazio designs are among Golf magazine's listing of America's top 100 courses. A year or so from now, maybe he'll make it eight.
Fazio was present at Bayville Farms Golf Club on Monday for ground-breaking and ribbon-cutting ceremonies. Actually, he helped orchestrate both tasks at once, instructing club president Gary Strickfaden to drive a yellow earth-mover through a red ribbon Fazio himself held taut.
``It's a dream project,'' Fazio said.
It would have to be for him to become involved. Although his services are in demand throughout the world, Fazio accepts no more than a handful of projects each year.
``The great part about this project and this piece of land is the total commitment to quality golf - and nothing came above that,'' Fazio said. ``Not that working with development is bad; without that, we wouldn't be building as many new golf courses as we've been creating throughout the country.
``Now we're into what will become the real fun stages for us, to actually create that golf course.''
And he promises it will be unlike any work he has done. Not like Governor's Land in Williamsburg. Not like The Virginian in Bristol, Va. Not like any of the other 140 courses that carry his name.
``Our whole goal and challenge is to have unique, individual-style courses,'' Fazio said. ``I don't let any of the people who work for me ever talk about, `we have a hole that we've done here or there.' We never speak in the past. It's always individual, always custom-crafted, hand-carved to this particular site. And nothing should be like it.''
Fazio, a father of six, didn't travel to Virginia Beach on Monday until after he had seen the kids off to school. And among the many reasons he accepted the Bayville Farms offer was the opportunity it afforded for him to return to Hendersonville, N.C., in time for supper. Once the ground-breaking was finished, Fazio left for his private plane and the flight home.
``I can't believe I'm saying this, but a nine-month construction process is like having a baby,'' Fazio said. ``This baby's going to grow and mature from that infancy stage through the whole process and, all of a sudden, we're going to have a birth of a finished product.
``My wife will kill me. She'll say, `It's not that easy, Tom.' And it isn't. I've been at six births, and there's nothing more difficult from a man's standpoint.
``Creating a golf course is a whole lot easier than creating a child, but I see the potential as the same. That's what I rely on. The creativity a project affords. This one has plenty.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
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Bayville Farms G.C.
by CNB