What is the best golf development done in the 1960s? Couldn’t it be Grandfather? Right from the get-go, power lines were buried underground and houses were kept far away from the playing corridors of the main course; thus for over four decades now, golfers have been free to enjoy its glorious mountain setting without outside disturbances from man. In fact, Spyglass is the only course built in the 1960s ahead of Grandfather on Golf Digest’s current top 100.
In actuality, it doesn’t matter when Grandfather was built. The real story here is how one lady’s founding vision was fully realized by creating an atmosphere where families could gather to enjoy the great outdoors.
Re: the golf portion, Ellis Maples produced his masterpiece for Agnes Morton Cooke Woodruff (otherwise known as Aggie), thanks largely to the excellence of his routing which made great use of the natural streams and topography. The course is an easy walk – at no point are there billy-goat holes and yet the golfer is afforded a series of breathtaking views. This isn’t a story of a course with pretty bunkers that photograph well and make for an easy course profile but rather one about taking full advantage of mountain features including low humidity. Unlike the interior and coastal courses of the Carolinas that hang on through the summer heat, the climate and cool evenings at Grandfather are ideal for bent grass, allowing the course to be maintained in a manner that promotes fast playing conditions. At 4,000 ft above sea level, there are no bugs either, not an insignificant fact.
To me, Ellis Maples’s work here far and away exceeds what he accomplished at the Dogwood Course at CCNC, his second best known work. The property at Grandfather was better, his routing is better, the hazards are more diverse, the greens (of which the 3rd, 8th, 10th, 12th, and 15th are alarmingly easy to putt off) are in a different league, the list goes on. Grandfather is the defining monument to the three generations of Maples that have meant so such to golf (especially in the Carolina’s) for 101 (!) years.
Beyond golf (and don’t forget to play the fun par 59, 3225 yard Mountain Springs Golf Course), Grandfather is a special place. The Mile High Swinging Bridge, the trails, the canoeing, the Scottish Highland games, playing Hnefatafl
– it’s all here. Most importantly, and the all-time surest sign of something having been done right over a period of decades, I have never seen so many well behaved children in one place in my life – the actions
of my two hellions (due to poor mothering no doubt
) were not a highlight and I made them remove their GolfClubAtlas paraphernalia
as it was poor advertising.
Have a look at the photographs and see if Grandfather reminds you of any other course? It doesn’t to me – it stands alone, which is always a good sign.
Due to family, work and weather considerations, many of us play the majority of our golf May through October, which makes Grandfather a particularly attractive place to be a member. I have never seen Wade Hampton but it is impossible to imagine a better overall summer retreat to this Tar Heel than Grandfather.
Cheers,