The ninth and eighteenth in particular are significant uphill climbs. Not only are there not any flat holes (with the very notable exceptions of the 16th and 17th), most are significantly uphill or downhill. It is set into the side- and back, and front-of a hill. Secondly, the operative word in Tot Hill Farm is Hill. To set the stage: It had rained practically every day for the past week in the Carolinas, so we knew it was going to be wet, and it was.
Your faithful correspondent on the downhill par-4 first hole Maybe not the complete green or fairway, but we knew where we were supposed to aim a golf ball. We knew exactly where to go on each hole, and we knew where the greens and fairways were. Thankfully, my trepidation was misplaced. I was thinking blind tee shots and hidden hazards and unfair greens. I did know enough about Strantz’s work, especially at Tobacco Road, to know this round of golf would be different at a minimum. I think, “It must be very difficult, and too much for me, or it wouldn’t have the reputation it has.” That isn’t logical, but my mind often works in mysterious ways. I don’t know about anyone else, but when I’m playing a “signature” course, I usually get a little antsy. So we were all on equal golf shoe footing. We were paired with Mark and Scott, who didn't know the course any more than we did. (I have not played it so no opinion here.) But with Strantz’ reputation at a possible all-time high, and having one of his course designs within a figurative 5-iron from the house, my wife Alice and I booked a round on Memorial Day.Īs with most every course in North Carolina during this pandemic era, practically every tee time every day on every course is booked. Tobacco Road, in the Pinehurst vicinity, has been reviewed hundreds of times and is arguably Strantz’ most famous/infamous design. I'd play Caledonia again in a heartbeat (Larry, are you listening?) ( Editor’s note: Yes, Brad, I am.) And as a bonus, it has one of the coolest entry drives of any course this side of Augusta National. But wayward drives can still be found and played. As any well-designed course does, it rewards better-placed shots with more favorable angles and/or closer approaches to the green. There are bailouts and places that even an amateur who is battling driver issues, as I was at the time, can still play from. I became a Mike Strantz golf course architect fan when I played his Caledonia Golf and Fish Club course on Pawley's Island, SC with friend and fellow golf blogger Larry Gavrich (founder and editor of ). This isn't a "We're in the neighborhood, let's play it, too" course. In other words, you have to want to go there. Asheboro is about 90 minutes from the golf mecca of Pinehurst, and a good 30 minutes south of Greensboro. I live in north Charlotte, and Tot Hill Farm is in Asheboro, a little more than an hour's drive from us.
If any course meets the definition of "off the beaten cart path," it's Tot Hill Farm, one of Mike Strantz’s seven courses he was able to design before his too-early death of cancer at age 50. It’s definitely a unique - my wife mentioned "quirky" - golf course.
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