THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 24, 1995 TAG: 9509250237
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOHN HARPER, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Long : 207 lines
THE OUTER BANKS, just a chip shot from Hampton Roads, is fast becoming a legitimate golf destination.
Though not in a class with the 90-plus golf-course mecca in Myrtle Beach, Dare County now boasts championship courses in Nags Head, Kitty Hawk and Southern Shores, as well as a nine-hole executive course on Hatteras Island.
The mainland of Currituck County - even closer to Hampton Roads golfers - has two 18-hole courses and a nine-hole executive course. And the Currituck Club on the northern Outer Banks will open in the summer of 1996. Also in the planning stages is an 18-hole course to be built adjacent to Goose Creek Golf and Country Club in Grandy.
The Outer Banks' golf-course growth has been quiet but spectacular. Until 1987, there were only two courses: Duck Woods Country Club and Sea Scape Golf Links. Nags Head Golf Links opened in 1987. Ocean Edge Golf Course on Hatteras Island opened in 1991. Goose Creek opened with nine holes in 1993; the back nine opened in 1994. The Holly Ridge Golf Course in Harbinger and The Pointe Golf Club in Powells Point began play this past summer.
Why the sudden growth?
Golf course developers, like other Outer Banks business owners, have seen the tourist season expand the last 10 years. And the shoulder-season visitors tend to look for recreation other than water sports. So golf is the ticket.
Die-hards and golf professionals say golf is a year-round sport, but realistically it can be played comfortably for 10 months of the year on the Outer Banks.
In fact, fall and spring weather on the Outer Banks closely resembles that of the British Isles, the birthplace of golf. The infamous Outer Banks wind gives each course a unique character.
Here is a tour of Outer Banks golf courses, guided by the pros themselves.
Sea Scape Golf Links in Kitty Hawk is the Outer Banks' oldest golf course. Former PGA champion Art Wall designed the course, built in 1965. In recent years, several holes have been lengthened and had their tee boxes repositioned. At least three holes will get the same treatment this winter.
Sea Scape is a 6,200-yard par 72 layout winding through Kitty Hawk Woods. Eight holes pass through the maritime forest. Many tee boxes along the rolling landscape offer breathtaking views of the Atlantic Ocean.
Links courses, by definition, are built on land reclaimed from the sea. And although the course is patterned after courses of the British Isles, adjustments have been made for the American style of play.
``On the Scottish courses, the trick is to hit short and let the ball roll on the green,'' says head professional Bryan Sullivan, who has played many of the legendary courses, including St. Andrews. ``American golfers are used to watching the pros on television shooting to land the ball on the green, so we took that into account.''
Sullivan was a collegiate All-American and he will be trying to gain his PGA playing card this fall. He also holds the course record of 64 at the nearby Nags Head Golf Links.
Sea Scape's signature hole is the 420-yard, par 4 11th. The green is elevated 35 feet above its narrow fairway. With a 10-mph wind in your face, this hole builds character.
The Duck Woods Country Club in Southern Shores is a semi-private course. Members have priority tee times, but non-members also can play.
The course, designed by Ellis Maples, opened in July 1969. It's an out-and-back course stretching north and south, with 14 holes paralleling water.
Golf pro Dean Hurst arrived in 1980. Hurst says his best advice on how to play the course is to hit straight.
``All of our holes are easily reachable in regulation,'' he says. ``But you have to be accurate and not have a fear of water.''
The course's most challenging hole, according to Hurst, is the par-4 16th. The hole is 440 yards but plays longer because of that Outer Banks wind.
An interesting feature of golf at Duck Woods is the array of animals seen on the course. Ducks, deer, rabbits and raccoons often scurry across the fairways.
The Nags Head Golf Links is a true Scottish links-style course created through the wind-swept environment on the Roanoke Sound. Jerry Turner and Bob Moore designed the course, which was recently named one of the 10 best links courses in the country by The Golfer magazine.
The architects designed the course with an emphasis on shot-making and not on length. The course, just over 6,000 yards, plays to a par of 71. But head pro Danny Agapion says it could be the longest 6,000 yards you'll ever play.
``There's always wind,'' Agapion says. ``But when it comes directly off the sound, your ball can change direction in mid-air.''
The Links' finishing hole is the greatest test on the golf course. Golf Digest called it ``one of the most beautiful holes on the East Coast.''
Measuring 583 yards, the hole requires a good drive. But then the real work begins.
``If you can't get over the bottleneck on your second shot,'' Agapion says, ``play the hole as a par 6.''
Agapion says the key to a good round is ``to think your way along, let the golf course come to you.''
The Links' maintenance team has changed the course over the last few years. Gone is the jungle-style rough. It's no longer necessary to employ Rambo as your caddy.
Hatteras Island has its own course: the Ocean Edge Golf Course, opened in August 1991. The nine-hole ``executive,'' or short, course measures 1,800 yards. David Parker is the course's general manager and architect. The former turf farmer keeps the greens and fairways in pristine condition.
The course's signature hole is the par 3 third. It plays from 200 to 230 yards, depending on the wind. And Parker says the prevailing wind is almost always in your face.
Ocean Edge is known as the ``hole-in-one course.'' Parker says 54 holes-in-one have been recorded.
The Pointe Golf Club in Powells Point, which opened in July, is the Outer Banks' newest course. Russell Breeden sculpted the course out of land near the Currituck Sound.
Head professional David Donovan describes the course as ``traditional, but with a links-style wind.'' The Pointe is short, playing at just over 6,000 yards. Water is a factor on seven holes. Forty-six bunkers decorate the course.
The fairways are wide and the rough is short.
``You can find your ball and play it,'' Donovan says.
The true beauty of the course is its greens. C.B. MacDonald said in his 1928 book, ``Scotland's Gift,'' ``Putting greens are to a golf course what a face is to a portrait - the character and quality - and must always be of fine turf to provide a perfectly true roll of the ball.''
The Pointe's greens are made of A-l bent grass, developed at Penn State. Pillow-soft and fast, the greens would make MacDonald proud.
The course's signature hole is the par-4 6th. The hole measures 457 yards and demands a 190- to 220-yard tee shot to clear a pond. Wind can sometimes be a factor and the green is well protected by sandtraps.
Goose Creek Golf and Country Club is a rolling 6,200-yard layout in Grandy on the Currituck mainland. Jerry Turner designed the course that opened with nine holes in 1993. The back nine opened in October 1994.
Sheriff Andy Taylor of Mayberry would like this course.
``It's an easygoing course,'' says general manager Steve Jernigan. ``We have just enough traps to make it interesting.''
Head pro Wendell Smith, who joined Goose Creek last year, says the course is a test for all levels of players.
``It's a conventional course,'' he says. ``You have to stay straight.''
The toughest hole on the course is the par-3 13th. The ball must carry 165 yards to reach the green. In the summer, with a southwest wind, a five-iron will get you there. But with a northeast winter wind in your face, that five iron may leave you 30 yards short.
Holly Ridge in Harbinger on the Currituck mainland opened on Memorial Day. It's a nine-hole executive layout, measuring 1,800 yards. The course features five par 3's, three par 4's and one par 5 and plays to a par of 32.
The course doesn't employ a professional, but Al Wickens who handles reservations says the ``course is fun to play.''
``We have quite a bit of woods and a few sand traps,'' he says. ``It's challenging without being a back-breaker.''
The Outer Banks' golf growth is not letting up. The Currituck Club in Corolla is scheduled to open in June 1996. World-renowned golf course architect Rees Jones designed the 18-hole links-style course on the Currituck Sound.
Jones, who has designed more than 100 golf courses since 1964, is known for his natural ``let the hole come to you'' approach.
Just two years away is Barrett's Creek Golf Course, being designed by Jerry Turner. The course will be part of a housing development being built by Steve Jernigan, who owns the adjacent Goose Creek Golf Course.
Is the Outer Banks serious about its golf? You bet. A 6-month-old company called Outer Banks Golf Getaways is offering vacation golf packages. The company offers accommodations, breakfast and golf at four courses: Nags Head Golf Links, Sea Scape Golf Links, The Pointe Golf Club and Goose Creek Golf and Country Club. Golf Getaways will even set your tee times.
``We think the Outer Banks should be thought of as a golf destination,'' says Golf Getaways director Kelly Shields. ``Besides, you can shave five or six hours of driving time to Myrtle Beach.''
On the Outer Banks, there's a different golf course for every day of the week. And with the sweeping wind, sand dunes and myriad plants and trees, this is golf in its purest sense - a thinking person's game played against nature. ILLUSTRATION: DREW WILSON/Staff color photo
Nags Head Golf Links opened in 1987 and started a small boom in golf
course construction on the Outer Banks.
Graphic
THE COURSES
Information on Outer Banks golf courses (prices vary with the
season):
Duck Woods Country Club
Southern Shores
Greens fees and cart, $52
Reserved tee times and proper golf attire required
919-261-2609
Sea Scape Golf Links
Kitty Hawk
Greens fees and cart, $50
Tee times and proper golf attire required
919-261-2158
Nags Head Golf Links
Nags Head
Greens fess[sic] and cart, $60
Tee times and proper golf attire required
919-441-8073
(800) 851-9404
Ocean Edge Golf
Frisco
Greens fees and cart, $25 for nine holes, $35 for 18 holes.
919-995-4100
Goose Creek Golf and Country Club
Grandy
Greens fees and cart, $38
919-453-4008, (800) 443-4008
The Pointe Golf Club
Powells Point
Greens fees and cart, $52
919-491-8388
Holly Ridge Golf
Harbinger
Greens fees, $18 walking, $25 with a cart
919-491-2893
Golf Getaways
919-255-1074, (800) 916-6244
by CNB