FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (March 5, 2009) – Some of today’s brightest golf-professionals-in-training are learning their craft at Keith Hills Country Club and King’s Grant Golf and Country Club. Both Fayetteville-area courses are affiliated with nearby collegiate teams as well as Professional Golf Management (PGM) programs – Keith Hills with Campbell University, King’s Grant with Methodist University – and both are ideal proving grounds for studies in tournament operations, teaching techniques, golf shop operations, turfgrass management, and of course, playing the game itself.
It’s that last element that both budding PGA pros and members of the golfing public find so enticing. Set against a delightful backdrop of rolling pinelands, Keith Hills and King’s Grant each offers a challenging but fair test of golf for players of all ages and skill levels.
Now, with spring break upon us – and as a way of offering all golfers a taste of the area’s collegiate spirit – Keith Hills and King’s Grant have teamed with nearby Anderson Creek Club to offer the Spring Fever Package, featuring golf at all three golf courses, plus two night accommodations at the Baymont Inn & Suites, starting at $212 per person. More information on this exceptional deal can be found at GolfOnTheReady.com or by calling 800-577-3787.
Located in the town of Buies Creek, just 30 miles northeast of Fayetteville and 10 miles west of I-95, Keith Hills is conveniently accessible to golfers throughout the region and along the East Coast. The 36-hole complex is comprised of the 6,703-yard Creek Course and the 6,888-yard River Course, and features lush fairways, large bentgrass greens and geographical hazards that include the Cape Fear River and surrounding wetlands.
The original Keith Hills course – the Creek, designed by North Carolina native Ellis Maples in 1974 – has been rated 4 stars and a top-100 value by Golf Digest. The tree-lined layout has also been rated as high as No. 7 among best public courses in the state by North Carolina Magazine. Director of Golf Martha Shooter calls the Creek “a traditional design that offers every shot a golfer could encounter,” and the two nines illustrate her point – the front favors a draw shot, while the back primarily requests a fade for right-handers.
One exception to that rule is the par-5, 524-yard 18th hole, which bends right to left with water down the left side. A skillful draw off the tee allows the player to cut the corner of the dogleg and position the ball for a possible go at the green in two. The exciting finishing sequence also includes the short par-4 16th, which begins at an elevated tee, and the 161-yard 17th, both offering good birdie opportunities.
Maples’ son, Dan, designed the second 18, which opened in 2002. Offering a more open feel than its older sister, the River Course includes features four holes that border the Cape Fear River, including the picturesque 576-yard sixth, the No. 1 handicap hole. This scenic riverside stretch concludes with No. 8, a 395-yard par-4 that plays to a green complex beautifully framed by tall pines and hardwoods.
The same 32-acre, state-of-the-art practice facility used by Campbell PGM students is available to public golfers as well. With eight target greens, two practice bunkers, four putting greens and nearly three acres of tee space, the complex is ideal for honing one’s game. A well-stocked pro shop and men’s and women’s locker rooms with showers complete the picture.
Competitive golfers have found Keith Hills a worthy challenge. The club is home to the Keith Hills Amateur Championship, a stroke-play tournament held in May of each year. The tournament started in 1995 and has consistently attracted the top amateurs in the Carolinas and Virginia. This year Keith Hills will also host the Atlantic Sun Conference Championships in April and the North Carolina Four Ball Championship in October.
“With Campbell University’s presence here, we are considered a model pro shop and golf course to learn on, and it is also a great competitive venue,” Shooter said. “For public golfers, I like to think of us as the hidden treasure of the Southeast. The comment we hear most often is how well-conditioned the course is and what a great value it is.”
Just down the road in Fayetteville is King’s Grant, a dynamic 6,307-yard layout that boasts a series of elevation changes not typically found in the Sandhills region. Designed by Jim Holmes, a longtime assistant to Jack Nicklaus, and opened in 1990, King’s Grant offers a mix of uphill, downhill and dogleg holes – a routing that is always interesting and requires a strong emphasis on shot placement and accuracy.
“It’s a very unique course,” said PGA Head Professional Rob Pilewski. “It has quite a bit of elevation change. There’s really nothing like it in Fayetteville. It’s one of those courses that make you use every club in the bag. You have to put the ball in the fairway and the greens are smallish, so they’re not always easy to get to.”
Yet with five sets of tees, any golfer can find a test suitable for his or her ability. In fact, Pilewski said, King’s Grant is popular with both senior and junior players alike, and the course earned the Fayetteville Observer’s Readers’ Choice Award as the best golf course in Cumberland County. Juniors (ages 16 and under) will find one of the best green-fee bargains anywhere – $5 for nine holes and $10 for 18.
One of Kings Grant’s dominant visual features is a pair of cypress lakes, including a large one that figures prominently on the par-4 14th and par-5 18th holes. The tee shot on the 14th requires a 150-yard carry over the lake, which continues along the landing area on the right side. Placement is critical – the closer the golfer can position the drive to the water, the easier the approach to a small green. At the 508-yard 18th, a well-placed drive will leave the golfer the option of getting home in two – but with the risk of carrying the approach over the picturesque lake, studded with majestic cypress trees.
The course’s rolling terrain presents some exciting downhill tee shots, including a drop of 70 feet to the fairway on the 409-yard eighth hole and a loss of 40 feet on the 361-yard 10th. The 499-yard, par-5 15th goes the other way, rising to terraced landing areas on both the drive and second shot. Considerable thought must be given to short-game play throughout the round, as the bentgrass greens are full of subtle contours, and in some cases, multi-tiered.
In keeping with King’s Grant’s family-friendly philosophy, club staff will participate in a Play Golf America Day at the Methodist University Golf Course (also located in Fayetteville) on Saturday, March 28 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Play Golf America Days are free consumer festivals that offer clinics, tune-up lessons with PGA and LPGA professionals, beginner programs, skills contests, equipment demos and other special events.
Clearly, when golfers tee it up at King’s Grant and Keith Hills, they are doing so at facilities that welcome students of the game.
Contact:
Martin Armes, 919-608-7260, martinarmes@nc.rr.com
Brad King, 336-306-9219, king@bradkingcommunications.com
