Wilmington Municipal Golf Course, Wilmington, NC

[Jerry Kluger]

I played the course yesterday and was really impressed with what has been done.  John Fought did the restoration work at this Donald Ross design which was built in 1929.  It is a true municipal course which costs about $25 to play.  They were only able to fund enough to do most of the holes from about 50 yards in although they did do a few fairway bunkers.  They restored the greens back to their original size which was about double of where they had shrunk to and they rebuilt the bunkers to their original size and shape and grassed the surrounding areas.  They also expanded the closely mowed areas around the greens to allow shots to roll away from the greens and make the recovery shots more challenging.  I spoke with the head pro as he was going out to hand water the sod around the bunkers and he said they were going to expand the closely mowed areas even more.  (The course maintenance staff is a total of 6 employees so he has to help out to make it work.) The property is mostly flat but the green complexes make the course very interesting.  As a side note I commented to my playing partners about how large the tee boxes were and it was unusual that they placed the tee markers at the outside edges rather than confining you to one side or the other. I hope that once the city gets all the positive feedback and play increases that they will be able to afford to do some work to the fairways and roughs.

[Wade Whitehead]

I played Wilmington in July and loved it.  The restoration is faithful and the maintenance meld was terrific.

It's a walking golf course with a couple of pretty stout par fours (and, generally, reachable par fives).

I encourage anyone in the area to check it out.  I'll be back for sure.

WW

[Carl Rogers]

I bumped this because, I want to play it (live about 5 hours away) and from appearances, it seems like the kind of effort that requires recognition ... which I doubt it will get.

Another course not far from Wilmington, Pinecrest at Lumberton got some notice on the site a while back

If everyone says grow the game, then this these are the kind of courses to do it.

[A.G._Crockett]

I don't think the small maintenance crew at the Muni is necessarily a reflection of the financial health of the course itself; it gets a lot of play and I think has always been at least marginally profitable for the city.  (After all, there has been no debt service on the land itself for the better part of a century now!)  But I believe that the city runs the course as part of the greater recreation dept. budget, rather than as a separate and independent business entity.

[Tom Fagerli]

Played Wilmington yesterday. What fun. Very fun green complexes. Sadly it was wet in some spots so ground game options limited. I loved it. People everywhere but we moved along. Wonderful par threes. I look forward to returning.

[Tom_Doak]

I bumped this because, I want to play it (live about 5 hours away) and from appearances, it seems like the kind of effort that requires recognition ... which I doubt it will get.

It got some love in The Confidential Guide, thanks to Ran's visit.  I think we had it rated above all the private courses down there, including Eagle Point (which was Darius' vote).

[Jerry Kluger]

Tom - I have to look at the CD and see your rating.  It looked to me that they kept the contours as much as they could while some other Ross courses I have played have softened the greens so they could keep them at higher speeds which is what their membership wanted.

[Richard Hetzel]

Thanks for the update, I am looking forward to getting down there soon to play it....now I have an excuse.

[A.G._Crockett]

Played the Muni today for the first time since Fought's "redo".  What wonderful work!

Beautiful day, near perfect course conditions despite over an inch of rain on Tuesday and Wednesday.  There isn't a weak hole on the golf course, and the new greens are marvelous.  And I paid $23 (senior weekday walking rate).

My assumption is that this will be something of a template for other cities faced with redo decisions; Savannah and Bacon Park come immediately to mind.  And I would assume that this will be a course the John Fought can show potential clients to great advantage.  He just did a great job in every respect.

[James Brown]

So glad this course got some love from the Confidential Guide.  This course is my definition of the ideal in public golf.  Interesting layout and variety in shots,  inexpensive, well maintained, not too crowded, and very walkable.  Have played it 4 times and always impressed.