The water does not really come into play on the 163-yard 2nd hole at Paradise Point, but the wind certainly does when it is blowing in from the ocean, a few miles away.
If you think U.S. Marines are all workout and no play, a visit to Camp Lejeune on the North Carolina coast will disavow you of that notion. Two 18-hole layouts - one tough, the other a walk in the park - grace the enormous piece of property. Best of all, they are now open to the public which seems fitting, since we taxpayers help run the place.
I caught a few holes on the base's Scarlet Course Friday, a 5,900-yard flat layout designed by Fred Findlay, who designed the tougher and better regarded Farmington Country Club and the Keswick Club, both in the Charlottesville, VA, area. Yesterday, I walked the George Cobb Gold Course at Paradise Point, which
was long (7,000 for the collegians competing in a tournament there) and tricky, with sloping greens and lots of protection from surrounding bunkers. Add a wind that gusted off the nearby ocean at up to 25 MPH, and some normal 6 iron approach shots played as four or three irons. Scores yesterday on the Gold were an average five to six strokes higher than Friday's scores on the Scarlet.
The terrain is Carolina coast flat, but Cobb added some nice contours around the green that make for challenging chips up or down slopes to smallish greens. The Bermuda fairways and rough were cropped like a Marine haircut, making clean ball contact and a slightly stronger grip an imperative. Greens were firm, sometimes extremely so; in many places, a good bump and run game seemed to be an asset. Big but wild hitters will enjoy the Gold Course especially; the fairways are quite generous, but they all narrowed severely on the way to the green. This is a course that rewards good iron play.
Water is rarely in play, although a waterway runs along the 12th hole, a terrific and difficult par 3 of almost 200 yards from the tips. The river also framed the view of the 11th green from the fairway. A few of the par 5s played downwind today and, therefore, the kids who hit the ball 275 off the tee - there are plenty of them, even at the Division III level - had a go at a few of them. But in the gusting and swirling winds, I saw few putts for eagle on any of the four par 5s. Greens were in excellent shape but a little slow, taking away some of the drama of downhill putts. In the gusting winds, you could almost see some of those slow putts blown off course.
The Gold Course at Paradise Point is a fine layout and, if you are in the area of Camp Lejeune, worth a stop. You could very well be matched up with a Marine.
Paradise Point Gold Course, Camp Lejeune, NC, 910-451-5445. Regular tees: 6,591 yards, Rating 72.3, Slope 124. Click here for map.
The par 4 18th at Paradise Point Gold is long (477 yards from the tips) and into the wind when it blows. With traps right and water left, a long iron or wood to the green should be approached with care.
