[Ed Oden]

One of the things I find most interesting about golf in NC is the volume of largely unheralded Ross courses scattered around throughout the state.  I doubt many of these tracks will ever crack anyone's top whatever list or be considered a championship test.  Nevertheless, they exude a real golden age feel which, when mixed with small town charm, often produces a great experience.  Now I love discussing the Shinnecock's of the world as much as anyone.   But there is also a place for discussing these types of clubs that are often deeply rooted in small communities and which offer solid if not spectacular architecture at a very affordable price.  So I thought I would show an example of a club that fits this mold, the Country Club of Salisbury.  Here is the front nine:

#1 370 yard par 4.  Downhill drive and an uphill approach with a creek running along the left side.  A nice opening hole, although the tall pines guarding the front right of the green definitely need to come down.  From the tee...

...and from behind.


#2 Par 4 392 yards.  Fairway widens on the right side over the 2nd bunker.  A relative ho-hummer.


#3 Par 5 535 yards.  Reachable in two.  Bends right and then left.  A really nice hole.  From the tee...

...the typical second shot...

...and from behind.


#4 Par 4 397 yards.  I really liked this hole.  Drive to the top of the plateau.

Then an uphill approach over a valley.  One of the best holes on the course.


#5 Par 4 388 yards.  Not one of my favorites.  The road on the right side and the trees really narrow play.


#6 179 yard Par 3.  Another solid hole, although trees encroach too much on both sides.  The view from the tee...

...and from an angle short right of the green.


#7 Par 4 421 yards.  A good two shot hole.  Tee shot requires a fade...

...the approach is to a partially blind green


#8 Par 4 358 yards.  A short hole with a creek running the length along the left side.  From the tee...

...and the approach.


#9 187 yard Par 3.  A very solid hole with a tricky green.  The same creek on #8 cuts in front of the tree and up the left side of the hole.  I liked this one a lot.  From the tee...

...and from behind.


The back nine to follow

[Jim_Kennedy]

Ed,
These types of courses by Ross are some of my favorites and I don't think anyone did it better than him.  That could be because of the sheer number, or it could be sheer genius, but either way, NC is really lucky to have so many of his low-flying creations. 

These types of courses by Ross, and others, are truly the backbone of golf in America.

Thanks for the pics / waiting for the backside.

[Ed Oden]

The back nine:

#10 Par 4 384 yards.  Another very good hole.  From the tee... 

...and the approach.


#11 Par 4 410 yards.  The bunkering seems a bit over the top on this one.  I wonder if these are Ross or if they have been added?


#12 Par 4 423 yards.  This hole is similar to #11, but I like the less bunkered look much better.


#13 Par 5 560 yards.  A very solid hole.  I liked the fairway bunkers a lot.  From the tee...

...and the second shot approach.


#14 Par 3 183 yards.  Not a bad hole, but clearly the weakest of the par 3s.  From the tee...

...and from behind.  What do you think of that hidden bunker?


#15 493 yards.  I honestly can't tell from the card whether this is an easy par 5 or a brutal par 4.  Regardless, it is one of the best holes on the course.  From the tee...

...and the uphill approach.


#16 Par 4 385 yards.  I loved this hole.  The drive should carry the hill (notice the flag beyond the fairway bunker on the right)...

...and the approach to a terrific green complex.


#17 Par 3 205.  Terrific par 3.  Would be even better if a few more trees were cut.  From the tee...

...and from the right side of the green.  Notice the left/right, front/back tilt of the green which plays very much like a reverse redan.


#18 Par 4 395 yards.  A very nice finisher.  I liked this one a lot.  A blind downhill drive...

...leaves an uphill approach...

...from behind


Let me know what you think.

Ed

[David Stamm]

Ed, I'm glad you posted these. When you shared them with me a few weeks ago I was amazed how good overall the course looked and yet never hearing a mention of it anywhere. These"under the radar" courses are the ones I really like examining. I agree, I love talking about the well known greats, but these are so fun to discover and dissect.

[Ed Oden]

Jim:

I love your description of this type of course as "the backbone of golf in America".  That is exactly what I wanted to convey.  This is real golf which is within the reach of virtually everyone who participates on this site.  And it has so much to offer both those that appreciate architecture and those that wouldn't know Donald Ross from Donald Duck.

David:

I hadn't planned on posting anything because I really don't consider Salisbury to be special.  But I kept looking at the pics and it finally dawned on me that that's exactly the point and what makes it special.  Its Norman Rockwell golf.

Ed

[Mark Bourgeois]

Man, somebody needs to do a book on NC Rosses. You could do a whole chapter on straight, uphill par 4s such as the 2nd.  The 1st definitely makes me want to play golf but I sure would like to get rid of bunkertree.

Shame about the cart paths...

Thanks for posting, Ed -- I will have to put this one on my to-do list for next year!

Mark

[Sean_A]

Ed

Thanks for posting.  This looks exactly the sort of course that anybody can comfortably play every week and that was one of the things which really distinguished Ross from most of his contemporaries. 

It seems odd that the creek on #1 would be on the highside, left of the fairway.  Did the club do some funny business with landscaping or rerouting the creek?

This is one great photo.  I was trying to explain to one of the NC boys about this sort of design where the flag is on display for a dogleg.  It naturally tugs the golfer this way which usually leads to disaster.  The lack of this sort of visual pull toward the flag was one of my criticisms about Duke when they had a few clear opportunities to do so.


Ciao

[Mike Sweeney]

Other than about 10-20 trees that look like they should go, I love the look of this place. Thanks

[John Shimp]

Salisbury is a nice Ross course and fun to play.  This is a great topic Ed.  Adding up the Ross courses in NC with the classic Ellis Maples courses that are similar probably comes to about 50 total courses.  Very few of them are poor quality (even the couple of 9 hole Ross muni's like the one in Asheboro are tough and interesting but very modest) and very few are long and "championship" tough in the modern, tour pro sense (maybe only #2, Charlotte, Grandfather (maples), CCNC dogwood, and a couple others).  And to Ed's point, the great medium sized Ross and Maples courses often don't even make the NC Business top 100 golf course rankings and rarely ever crack any Golf Digest lists.  These little Ross/Maples courses do host a lot of state am tournatments and the like and typically play very tough and are favored by the good players.

[Ed Oden]

Mark, I know you liked Mimosa Hills.  Salisbury, although very different in design and feel, is cut from similar cloth.  The cart paths are definitely an eye sore.  But I suspect they are a necessary evil since many of the holes are in the fairly low lying area around the creek which could get very soggy.

It seems odd that the creek on #1 would be on the highside, left of the fairway.  Did the club do some funny business with landscaping or rerouting the creek?

Sean, if you look through the trees on the left in the behind picture of #1...

...you can see the creek which runs along the left side of #8 and cuts in front of the #9 tee basically ends at the #1 fairway.  I don't know if the creek has always been buried under the #1 fairway or whether it was ever exposed.  It picks back up in the right side of the picture where the cart path pinches in closest to the fairway and runs into the trees.  And thanks for articulating what I couldn't on the design of #16 where the flag is visible from the tee.

John, great point about Maples.  Gaston CC is a club of similar ilk.

Ed

[Dunlop_White]

I like the look of the place too. But I see about 60 trees, especially the little plantings.

[Richard Boult]

Thanks Ed.. added your link to the GCA Photo Tour directory at:

http://delicious.com/golfclubatlas/North%2BCarolina

[Bart Bradley]

Ed:

Tell us more about #14...I really like the hidden back bunker.  What is in the swale short of the green?  I think it adds a lot to the "visual variety" of the course that this hole has no visible bunkers from the tee.

Bart

[Sean_A]

Mark, I know you liked Mimosa Hills.  Salisbury, although very different in design and feel, is cut from similar cloth.  The cart paths are definitely an eye sore.  But I suspect they are a necessary evil since many of the holes are in the fairly low lying area around the creek which could get very soggy.

It seems odd that the creek on #1 would be on the highside, left of the fairway.  Did the club do some funny business with landscaping or rerouting the creek?

Sean, if you look through the trees on the left in the behind picture of #1...

...you can see the creek which runs along the left side of #8 and cuts in front of the #9 tee basically ends at the #1 fairway.  I don't know if the creek has always been buried under the #1 fairway or whether it was ever exposed.  It picks back up in the right side of the picture where the cart path pinches in closest to the fairway and runs into the trees.  And thanks for articulating what I couldn't on the design of #16 where the flag is visible from the tee.

John, great point about Maples.  Gaston CC is a club of similar ilk.

Ed

Ed

I gotchaya.  The perspective I describe holes is always from the tee looking toward the green unless I specifically say otherwise.  This is why I was confused when you said the creek was left (the high part of the hole) on a photo looking from the tee to green - if that makes any sense!


It matters not.  Just keep the pics coming from these NC dandies.

Ciao

[Ed Oden]

Dunlop, agreed on the smaller plantings.  They make no sense.  The course as a whole is not choked by trees like some other places.  There are just a few spots that sorely need attention.  It really wouldn't take much to make a dramatic impact.

Bart, the swale is the same creek discussed in the other posts.  It basically bisects the course.  On #14 it cuts diagonally in front of the green.  So the tendency is to err right, which is what I did, ending up on the back right edge of the green.  I was surprised to find the bunker there when I went to mark my ball since, as you can see, there is absolutely no indication from the tee that one exists.  I don't recall ever seeing a hole that has only a single bunker and that bunker is totally hidden.  So it seemed a little odd to me.  One thing I did like about this hole is that from the tee the trees appear to be hard against the back of the green.  But as you can tell from the behind view, that is an illusion and there is room beyond.

Ed

[Greg Krueger]

Ed, thank you for putting that together. Reminds me a little of Raleigh C.C., one of my favorites.
I assume it is a private club, or is it possible for the public to get on?

[Ed Oden]

Greg, it is a private club.  I played through a reciprocal arrangement with my club.

Ed

[Lester George]

Ed,

Great pictures!  Thanks for posting this.  The place looks simple, well manicured and fun to play.  More of what we should be doing in golf.

Lester

[Scott Witter]

Ed:

Nice job with the photos...it IS nice to see more of the Ross work under the radar.

Just a couple of comments, everyone who knows me would agree that I enjoy tree management  for all the right reasons, but I wouldn't be too quick to remove that tall conifer tree on the 1st hole guarding the corner.  That is a sizable tree and it is very likely that it was there when Ross, or whom ever built the course.  From the view, it appears that there is room, with risk and skill employed, to play 'around' the tree or take an angle left with your tee shot for the best approach in.

The 4th is a Ross classic with the rise and fall and rise again up to the plateau green site.  I also really liked the strong finish of 15-18.  The uphill approach to 15 does make it challenging!  The 17th looks terrific and the green site sits in proportion so well...a very inviting tee shot.  The bold movement in the putting surface is clear and it does appear that many shots left will certainly to right side pins.  The blind tee shot finisher looks like a lot fun as well.  The approach shot is similar to the tee shot on 17 and with a lot of Ross greens, experience from the previous hole could pay dividends for the wise.

[Lawrence Largent]

Like Mimosa Hills this is another Ross gem just not on the same level as Mimosa.  The first in my opinion is one the best holes you really have to fit your tee shot on the left side to have a good shot to the green. I thought the 2nd was a nice hole also very deceiving on the second shot played very long uphill.  I'm not sure but I think the back nice was not done by Ross not sure if this is fact or not.  I did feel like the holes didn't blend in with the front as well.  The course though is very fun to play and the town in which the course is located was like going back in time. 

Thanks for some great photos again Mr. Oden

Lawrence

[Ed Oden]

Scott:

The course opened in 1929.  So the trees front right of the #1 green would need to be 80+ years old to have been there when Ross designed the course.  I doubt that is the case, but who knows.  I actually pushed my drive right and played my second over the trees.  So they don't entirely block an approach from that side.  I just think the hole would be much more appealing visually without the trees.

Interesting thoughts on the similarities between the tee shot on #17 and the approach on #18.  I definitely see your point.  However, 17 is much longer than than the approach to 18 and the 18th green slopes significantly from back to front.  So I think the similarities are more visual than stategic.

Lawrence:

I am pretty sure Ross designed all 18.  The club's website indicates so.  And they have Ross' original drawings and hole notes hanging in the clubhouse.  I suspect your feeling that the back side did not blend with the front is based on holes 11-14, which I thought was the weakest stretch on the course.  But to my eye that is more a result of the less interesting flatter portion of the property these holes are located on than any design differences.

I too would give Mimosa the nod over Salisbury.  But not by much.

Ed

[ChipOat]

First, the architecture on the ground looks really neat.

It does my heart good to see the negative comments about Stupid Trees (STs) from Ed, Mike and others on this thread.  I note that, with 1 exception, all the offending STs appear to be what I call Stealth Stupid Trees in that they encroach on shots from the fairway after having grown out from their innocuous sapling days.  Think Southern Hills and, until recent years, Winged Foot.

The exception is that big pine tree short, and to the right, of the 1st green.  Looks like it was put there on purprose - the most heinous sin in golf architecture.

Note that the tee shot on #7 calls for a fade because of THE ARCHITECTURE ON THE GROUND - NOT BECAUSE OF SOME DUMB TREE BRANCHES IN THE SKY.

I wonder if this club would be getting rid of those STs if it were less under the radar and considered more of a "great", "tournament class" course.

[Wade Whitehead]

Playing Salisbury this weekend.  Thanks, Ed, for posting this fine tour.

The bunker tree on #1 leads to a pretty classic GCA conversation: If _______ (insert architect's name here) wanted it there, it's great.  Otherwise, it should be removed.

I look forward to playing the golf course, even as it emerges from a pretty rough winter stretch.

WW

[Tom Fagerli]

Since these pics in 2008 the first green has been changed dramatically. I love this course having played it often in college. The 4th hole is where I hit the green in regulation putted off the front and chipped in for my par. Ho hum. If I am remembering correctly Ross designed the front only- but I will gladly be corrected. Last time I played this fine course the greens were as good as anywhere.

[Chris Buie]

http://tuftsarchives.com/vex/vex1/82842A90-F96E-4063-B9B0-324300951930.htm

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