by Tim Gavrich

 

        Tot Hill Farm Golf Club in Asheboro, NC, was the brainchild of Mike Strantz, whose life and career as a renowned golf architect were cut short by cancer in 2005 at age 50.  Tot Hill exemplifies Strantz’s unique vision that turned his golf courses into artistic, as well as challenging, exercises.  With some of the most dramatic elevation changes and undulations anywhere, Tot Hill Farm will stick in the memories of those who play it as much as does Strantz’s even more talked-about Tobacco Road.

        Open to the public since 2000, Tot Hill Farm is affordable ($69 at peak times of the year) owing in part to its distance from the nearest city of consequence, Greensboro, which is about an hour away.  A round at Tot Hill Farm is a journey through dense forest, over streams, and around ponds before venturing into open fields over the last three holes.  Rocks ranging in size from modest stones to huge boulders abound at Tot Hill, causing shots hit off-line to carom in directions both fortunate and disastrous.

The approach at Tot Hill Farm's 10th hole.

 

        A round at Tot Hill Farm begins high atop a hill beside the clubhouse.  As the player peers down into the chasm-like first fairway, it is clear that this is no ordinary golf course.  The serpentine hole heaves and unfurls, the last 10 yards sloping down sharply to the front edge of the green.  A ball that lands short and on the down slope will likely careen to the back of the green, establishing the golf course’s theme of strange bounces for slightly misplayed shots.

        That is not to say that all the bounces or rolls at Tot Hill Farm are bad.  In fact, many holes contain gathering features that will forgive squirrelly shots.  The par 5 8^th hole, for example, features a green with

two distinct levels separated by a three-foot rise.  If the pin is at the front of the green, the player can use the slope behind it as a backstop to bring the ball back and close to the hole.  There is also a steep backboard slope at the back edge of the green that will gather a well-hit fairway wood second shot and set up a short eagle putt if the pin is in the back.  Good and bad bounces tend to even out at Tot Hill.

        A good front nine evolves into a dramatic back nine, with three of the golf course’s five par 3s as well as its two most photographed holes, the 10^th and the 12^th.  The former is a picturesque, downhill par 4 where a bold drive over a rock-wall-rimmed hill can yield a short pitch to the green.  However, with the green perched above the fairway and a steep fall-away over the back, the approach is fraught with danger.  The 12th is another dramatic downhill par 4 whose second shot plays over a rock-rimmed pond to a peninsula green.  Once again, a huge backstop long and right can be put to good use to maneuver the ball close to the hole without the hazard coming into play.  Seeing a ball trundle more than 30 feet down the hill, inching ever closer to the hole, is a huge thrill for anyone who can pull it off, adding to the “fun factor” of the course.

        The final six holes feature two par 3s of less than 145 yards from the back tees at the 13^th and 15th.  Such short one-shotters are reminiscent of other Strantz courses, providing a change of pace from longer, more difficult holes.   These holes should be taken seriously, however, since the stony hazards that surround the greens of the short holes at Tot Hill Farm may catapult a misplayed ball into oblivion.  Nonetheless, a well-struck short iron should leave a reasonable birdie chance.

        Oddly, the golf course at Tot Hill Farm ends rather mildly.  The final two holes, while challenging in their own right, occupy the least interesting terrain on the course.  They provide the chance for some late-round damage control, especially the 469-yard par 5 18^th, but they are short on the visual drama of the first 16 holes.  Some golfers may bemoan that their sigh of relief comes two holes early – at the 17^th rather than the 19^th – but Tot Hill Farm taken as a whole will hold any golfer’s interest through multiple rounds.

        There is a modest real estate component to Tot Hill Farm for those who are drawn to the golf course and the Asheboro area.  Homes are in view from many holes on the back nine but, fortunately, they are both pleasing to the eye and far from the field of play.

         If you are interested in learning more about the golfing lifestyle in the Asheboro area, please use the “contact us” button at the top of the page.

From the tee on the 3rd at Tot Hill Farm.

        Fortune magazine’s June 12 issue features “5 Best Places to Retire.”  Greenville, SC, is one of them.  The magazine cites the city’s 30-year downtown revitalization program, as well as the stability of its real estate market and change of seasons (although the changes are not dramatic, and you can play golf in Greenville virtually year round).  The Palm Coast of Florida, San Antonio, Ann Arbor, MI and Napa, CA also made Fortune’s list.

        Except for the deluxe Cliffs Communities, the Greenville area is not abundant with private, gated golf communities.  The closest Cliffs Communities to Greenville are The Cliffs Valley in Travelers Rest and Cliffs at Glassy in Landrum.  The Cliffs Valley course is the only design by former golf commentator Ben Wright, who put together a playable, if not dramatic, routing.  Glassy, by Tom Jackson, provides all the drama and 50-mile views any player can hope to encounter in the course of a round.  Farther afield are the Cliffs communities surrounding Lake Keowee, about 45 minutes from the city, with courses by the likes of Fazio and Nicklaus.  Keowee Vineyard (Fazio) is one of the best in the golf-rich state of South Carolina, in this reporter’s opinion.  Prices at The Cliffs begin in the high six figures, but $1 million plus is more the standard.

Members and the golf professionals who play it annually at the BMW Charity event on the Nationwide Tour rave about the Thornblade Club.

 

        You can spend less in the neighborhoods surrounding the Greenville Country Club but still feel like a million bucks when it comes to golf.  Greenville CC is the oldest club in town, one of those classic layouts of which its new and long-term members never seem to tire.  For a more modern but still classy experience, they can turn to their “newer” golf course, The Chanticleer, a 1970s Robert Trent Jones Sr. gem.  Home prices run the gamut, from under $500,000 for a nice older home to well over a million for big and fancy.

        We are unabashed fans of The Thornblade Club and its surrounding community, not least because the course is a classic Tom Fazio layout that is unfussy without being simple.  The course is good enough to host the pros for the final round of the Nationwide Tour’s annual BMW Charity event, and the neighborhood is good enough to be home to successful pro golfers Jay Haas and Dottie Pepper.  U.S. Open champ Lucas Glover learned to play at Thornblade; lucky for him his grandparents owned a home on the course.

        A bronze statue of Greenville native Shoeless Joe Jackson, who many believe got a raw deal in the famous 1919 Black Sox baseball scandal, stands sentinel in downtown Greenville.  In recent years, Jackson’s reputation has enjoyed a significant renaissance.  Ditto for his hometown.

        I work with an experienced real estate agent who knows well all the Greenville golf communities.  Contact me, and I will be happy to put you in touch with him or answer whatever questions you have about one of the hottest towns in the southeast.

On all their 18s, The Cliffs dresses everything to the nines.  Tom Jackson's layout at Glassy is high on drama and scenery.