THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 30, 1996 TAG: 9607030698
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C11 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: COROLLA, N.C. LENGTH: 56 lines
The Currituck Club might have taken seven years to reach fruition, but the just-completed championship course is ripe with excitement. It's also a much-needed addition to the northern end of the Outer Banks.
The par-72 course, which measures 6,885 yards from the back tees and opens officially on Monday, is the latest creation of Rees Jones, one of the game's leading architects, and winds through maritime forests and over sand dunes along Currituck Sound.
Jones placed great emphasis on keeping with the natural terrain rather than exacting a great deal of earth moving, a trademark of some of his previous course designs.
``Mother Nature provided such a great canvas,'' Jones said Friday during a grand opening celebration. ``We just had to find the golf holes.''
The land at his disposal has long been treasured real estate, dating back to the mid-1800s when The Currituck Shooting Club was originally built. The hunt club was a stomping ground for steel and railroad magnates who liked to entertain clients on duck hunting excursions.
The hunt club's cedar-shaked clubhouse is visible from the seventh tee, as are a dozen or so duck blinds on Currituck Sound.
The course, which took 14 months to build after over five years of planning, begins dramatically with a 541-yard par-5 downhill with a lake guarding the right side of the green.
The 578-yard par-5 13th highlights the back nine. From an elevated tee, the northern end of the Outer Banks rolls out before one's eyes.
The course's four par-3s differ only marginally in length from the 200-yard sixth hole to the 168-yard second from the back tees. But they are markedly different in personality.
The second crawls across a marsh. The sixth crosses a lake and calls for a draw shot to avoid a menacing bunker guarding the left half of the green. The 190-yard 11th climbs to an elevated green with no protection from the swirling winds and the 174-yard 15th plays downhill across a brackish-water inlet.
``This is built on the type of land golf evolved from,'' Jones said. ``This is true links land.''
Possibly the course's most appealing aspect is its location. An explosion of new beach houses in and around Corolla has brought a wealth of summertime vacationers. But for those wanting to squeeze in a little golf, a 30-minute drive down the coast to Sea Scape or a 45-minute drive to Currituck Club's sister course, Nags Head Golf Links, was a deterrent.
Now it won't be as easy to leave the golf clubs at home. ILLUSTRATION: Map
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Graphic
AT A GLANCE
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm] by CNB