I played Cape Fear National on Friday. The high temperature for the round was 40 degrees so we played more with a purpose of finishing and getting in from the cold and not with a purpose of admiring the course. Has anyone else played it?
Cape Fear National is a Tim Cate design near Wilmington, NC and is a very pretty course to look at. It reminds me very much of Tiger's Eye and Leopard's Chase (both Tim Cate courses). I didn't play the tees that I would normally play but there are some tighter driving areas than on Tiger's Eye. I don't know if Mr. Cate has tougher up his mentality for strategy off of the tee. On Tiger's Eye, I hit Driver 14 times and can pretty much blast it but that is not the case here. Also, from what I was told, Cate was given anything that he wanted on this course. The surrounds of the entire course are well manicured and designed. The greens are very subtle (I wish that they has maybe 10% more slope) but they were challenging. Unfortunatley, the conditions were terribly soft and not real good golf conditions but the course itself was in good condition, it was just soft and it was quite cold.
Both nines end with par three (which at first I didn't like) but both 9 and 18 are strong par threes and from the back tees but would be very challenging pars. The green for the ninth hole is probably 50 yards wide and it has a lot of character. It was my favorite green on the course. I hit a poor tee shot and had a 50 footer for birdie with about 14 feet of break. The 18th played right around 200 yds and slightly uphill to a narrow but deep green.
I have seen that Tim Cate is getting some good pub here. I have played and enjoyed his courses for years as my Father is a member of 3 of them. Like many here, I am a fan of minimalists but I am a fan of Mr. Cates as well. He designs solid, fun golf courses that are very pretty with a lot of eye candy and during my round, I mentioned to my Dad that Mr. Cate is like a plastic surgeon, I think women with natural beauty (like my wife) are beautiful but there are a lot of beautiful women who have been "enhanced".