Grandfather G&CC - Linville, NC (w/ bonus executive course photos)

[rjsimper]

Grandfather G&CC is an idyllic club - more than anything else it exudes a sense of family and community...which is rare for a Top 100 golf course. To get to the clubhouse, you drive past the lake and beach for the community, which while vacant in early October, I can imagine were both quite popular even a month earlier.

The facility was described to me as a fantastic club that just happens to have a really great golf course...and I'd have to agree.

Ran has already detailed the history and layout in his profile, so the below can be considered my contribution to supplement with a few thoughts thrown in.

As an added bonus, I got the chance to play the 18 hole executive course which climbs the mountainous terrain. It was a nice and unexpected treat and I tossed in a few photos. Apologies as always if I mess up hole numbers

First hole is a benign par 5....reachable for many.


The 3rd is an attractive, medium length par 4 that demands you play right of the tree, then punishes you if you go too far.




Fourth hole tees off over a big rock of some sort, then falls down to the right, daring you to challenge a back pin






The 5th is an all-carry par 3 that calls for a mid-long iron.


6 is the more challenging of the two par 5s on the front nine, with a great tee shot (beautiful view of the mountain in the background). Getting home in two requires you to draw it around the corner. Shorter tee shots must contend with the diagonal hazard in laying up

 



7 is interesting to me - it is perhaps the most uncomplicated, beautiful golf hole I've ever seen. Yet, despite its simplicity, it is not without subtle challenges...including a green that is ever-so-slightly pushed up and protected by surprisingly treacherous bunkers on the right.


The 8th is, I feel, the most visually impressive hole on the course. It can be played any number of ways, but with one of the more severe greens with a toothy false front, this is one time where getting pretty close to the green, even if leaving you a partial shot, may pay off. Full wedge shots may spin back down the fairway




9 - a long, redan-style par 3


10 takes you up the hill with another uncomplicated tee shot which masks a beast of a green


11 is yet another excellent tee shot. I think what I like most about Grandfather is the variety to the tee shots. Some look like you can't possibly miss the fairway. Some look like you MUST work the ball. There is no similarity to any of them. Simplicity, complexity, options, clearly-dictated plays - it has it all




12 - the first one-shotter on the back. One of my critiques of Grandfather would be that I felt the par 3s on the back were slightly uninspired. After the excellent pair on the front nine, that was a bit of a letdown.


Any letdown from the 12th is solved on the 13th tee...another of the postcard holes. The creek is reachable for long hitters with driver, but easily avoided (and the hole easily played) with a fairway wood off the tee.


The 14th is the second of the par 3s - again, I feel like they just don't stand up to the front nine's standard


16 is another of those impressive tee shots. The scenery is icing here, but play the ball out to the left and leave yourself an awkward lie and a mid iron to the green, or challenge the right and shorten your route considerably.  One of my favorite tee shots on the course


17 is a bit of a trick to the first time player. It looks like the strong line is to hug the left with a draw...but a creek cuts the hole in half about 250 yards from the green. Aggressive drives will find this creek. I got lucky and heeled my drive about 25 yards short/right of my intended line, and actually ended up in the perfect location, perched to go for the green in two. On another play, I would play well right of my intended line - essentially at the high point in the mountains in the distance on this photo, and maybe hit a 3 wood






18 is an appropriate finisher - finishing with the clubhouse, the lake, the wedding arbor, the condos, the bridge, and really just among the community. Its a hole that doesn't require a driver from the tee, and is a fitting way to end a round at a comfortable, inviting club.







Mountain Springs Course - Executive 18 holes.

The Mountain Springs course takes the hilly terrain...whereas the big course occupies the valley...and does a great job with making a fun, sporty mix of par 3s and par 4s. I think it's around 5-6 par 4s all in the 260-300 range, and the par 3s run from 90 to 170 yards. Apologies for some of the photos' lighting but it was getting late. What a fantastic little gem of a course.  Great way to spend 2 hours with the family.
















 

[Greg Tallman]

Ryan, FYI the pcture you identify as the second hole is actually the 3rd.

What a special place Grandfather is.

[rjsimper]

Fixed - thanks Greg!

[JLahrman]

Beautiful pics but I have a question...

Every hole looks tree-lined.  I'm a long-and-wrong player, and to me it looks like I would spend the whole day searching for my ball in thick woods.

However, I always keep in mind Pinehurst #2, which has tons of trees in pictures but they actually come into play very little.

How much of a hallway feel does the course have?

[rjsimper]

It is Pinehurstian in that way - no part of the course felt claustrophobic. In fact, the only part I can really recall feeling like "hmmm, don't hit a foul ball" is the first tee and the 15th tee (not pictured, because it's in shadows).

However, the first is a reachable par 5, and the 15th is something like 350 yards.

There is absolutely no "hallway" effect.

This coming from a guy who can poke it out there, but is happy to hit half the fairways in a round.

[JLahrman]

In that case, sign me up.  Looks like a lot of fun to play, and the atmosphere sounds great too.

[Bruce Wellmon]

Ryan, Your pics are great. And on the basis of my one round at Grandfather (on temporary recricipal), I was unaware there was an executive course.
         I thought #18 was somehow "out of character" with the rest of the course. Maybe it was the lake as opposed to the wonderful streams throughout the other holes. Maybe it was that I hit in the water on the right and lost to my buddy on 18. Something visually just does not add up, to me, regarding the hole. Just can't ever put my finger on it.
          None the less, it is a wonderful course. I would go back tomorrow.
         

[Jay Cox]

Ryan, great pictures of two really interesting looking courses.  The executive course looks like great fun.

One quibble, though:  the mowing pattern in the rough on a few of the holes of the main course looks unnatural and jarring, especially against the idyllic backdrop.  Is there a good reason to cut it this way?

 

[David Camponi]

GFCC is remarkable; if it was kept in the same F&F condition of Diamond Creek it would be in the top 40 courses in the USA; IMO it is that good.

Not a single bad hole; beautiful green complexes, beautful setting, rewards accuracy off the tee while allowing room to miss w/o losing a ball; (Actually that is my only kind of knock is that it does eat up balls somewhat for poor players, but that is well worth the price to pay for being able to enjoy this wonderful game in such a awesome spot).

The only thing going against it is that it will never be Common Ground nor was it designed by Tom Doak. 

[Bart Bradley]

Taking a cue from my good friend Ed Oden who so thoughtfully chimed in on his home course, I will try to provide some insight into Grandfather from a member's perspective.  While I am certain that I have biases toward my club, I can and do see areas that can be improved.

I fell in love with Grandfather, the course, and Grandfather, the club, at the same time.  I could immediately see that it would be a great retreat for my family.  Grandfather was started by Aggie McCrae and she always envisioned Grandfather to be a family club with a focus on spending time together with loved ones in this beautiful mountain environment.  She was a very gifted golfer and Grandfather's course was designed to be challenging but allow for all family members to have a fun time on the course.

In my opinion, the course's strength is a remarkable routing and many wonderful natural features, especially its mountain streams.   The course is a very enjoyable walk.  In fact, the course is a far superior experience on foot than in a cart.   The routing makes great use of the mountain streams in varied and fun ways and winds through a series of post-card like views.  Remarkably, despite its mountain setting only the approach on the 8th and the 10th hole play significantly uphill.  A couple of  very reasonable uphill transitions between 8 and 9 and between 10 and 11 allow for the remaining holes to play fairly flat or downhill.  There are no holes that one could call "mountain-goat" golf and no precarious mountain ledge tee boxes. Once you reach 13 tee, you basically walk downhill all the way home.   The greens are varied and extremely challenging with broad slopes and substantial contour.   They are among the best set of greens to putt that I have played.  Local knowledge is extremely helpful.   I like it that way, you may not.   Although the holes are tree lined, the playing corridors are very wide and only a very poor shot will create a lost ball in the trees.   Holes 5,6,7,9,10,13,15,16,17, and 18 are my favorites.

The course has some weakness, most of which can be improved upon.  The course has traditionally been very wet and soft.  The club has made a commitment to dry the course and firm it up.  A 1.8 Million dollar drainage and tree trimming/removal renovation began last winter and will be completed this winter.  Sanding of the fairways has just been reinstituted after many years of neglecting this important maintenance practice. 

The bunkers have been altered over the years.  They lack the proper scale and depth to compliment the huge and impressive scale of the natural features surrounding the course.  Future work on the course will certainly have to take a look at restoring/renovating our somewhat lifeless bunkers.  Hole #1 has a very unnatural retention pond at the bottom of a huge dip short and right of the green.   I think the club needs to look to an architect for suggestions to improve the first hole.  Holes 12 and 14 are connector par 3s and although they have very interesting greens, I agree that they are too similar and lack the panache of the par 3s on the front side.  Huge trees to the right of 14 were removed this past winter which certainly opens the possibility of making some changes that might provide more interest to the hole.  The very poorly placed bunker on 13,  just in front of the creek, has been a scourge on my existence.  Through efforts of myself and my friends, the board voted to remove the bunker this winter!

Grandfather would also benefit from some added texture.  When the rhodos are not in bloom, the course becomes a bit monochromatic, a sea of green.  I would love to see some select fescue planting to provide some color contrast and texture.

I am sure that you can tell that I love Grandfather.  I always will, and am committed to doing my part to protect and enhance it.  I hope that you will all get to see it someday.  I believe that Grandfather is excellent as is, but could be truly outstanding if we make good stewardship decisions.

 In deference to my good friend Ed, I am certain that if you come to see Grandfather and Diamond Creek you will see two of the best mountain golf courses in the world...we will let you decide which one is King   .

Bart

[Ed Oden]

Bart, thanks for your perspective.  You are in an unique position to describe not only where Grandfather is today, but also where you hope to be in the future.  For those who have not seen Grandfather this year, the improvements made last offseason are subtle in appearance, but dramatic in effect.  The tree removal that has been done is sometimes hard to notice because, unlike some courses, it's not the type of removal that opens up vistas through the property.  Nevertheless, it has expanded certain corridors by 20-30 feet on both sides.  While that may not sound like much, it makes a big difference in playability.  For some, it likely means one less lost ball per round.  Similarly, the drainage work done to date is a huge step in the right direction.  The course was noticeably drier this year than it has been at any other point in recent memory.  I know that you believe the work last year is just the tip of the iceberg and that the commitment to improvement will continue.  My sincerest wish is that your vision for Grandfather is fulfilled.

Best wishes,

Ed