North Carolina State University Athletics
Arnie Approves of Signature Course
8/1/2009 12:00:00 AM | Pack Athletics
RALEIGH, N.C. - Arnold Palmer approves.
That's what he said Friday morning as he took a tour of the Lonnie Poole Golf Course, the newly opened 7,358-yard Arnold Palmer Design Company course that opened earlier this month on NC State's Centennial Campus. Palmer visited the sparkling course to thank major donors and conduct a short golf clinic for some 250 invited guests and dignitaries on the practice tee.
He realizes, of course, that the Audubon-approved course needs a little maturation, so that the trees that remain and the native grasses his staff installed can grow in a little.
And he immediately suggested that the extra-long third hole be changed from a par-4 to a par-5, making it a par-72 course.
He also thought the company that manages the course, Carolinas Golf Group, might want to invest in a couple of geese-chasing puppies for the 15th hole, to keep the carefully manicured green and fairway free of unwanted, um, fertilizer.
"Whatever you say, Mr. Palmer," said the course's namesake, Lonnie Poole, at the press conference following Palmer's tour.
Palmer's public appearance lasted a little over four hours, as he went from hole-to-hole, shaking hands and signing autographs for the donors who made major contributions to the golf course by purchasing naming rights to each hole. While the former Wake Forest All-American and proud Demon Deacon alum seemed a little uncomfortable wearing a bright red golf shirt, by the end of the day he was even willing to make the trademark wolf sign with his right hand.
Along the way, Palmer not only posed with representatives from three fraternities to donated money to name holes, he also greeted individuals like: Wolfpack football legend Roman Gabriel, whose name is on No. 18 thanks to three of his friends and former teammates who paid for the rights on the hole that also matches Gabriel's retired football jersey number.
Former Wolfpack Club executive secretary Charlie Bryant is honored by the Wolfpack Club on the par-3 17th hole, while former Everett Case-era basketball player and former Raleigh mayor Smedes York met with Palmer on the 14th hole. Many members of the Wolfpack Club staff also greeted Palmer on the 10th hole, which is named in honor of the NC State Student Aid Association, which provides scholarship money and helps finance capital projects for NC State student-athletes.
It was Palmer's first full tour of the course since December, 2007, which was just six months after the official ground breaking in which Palmer, Poole and PGA Tour Carl Pettersson took ceremonial first shots into what was then just a bunch of kudzu-covered trees.
Now, however, after two years of design work by two of Arnold Palmer Design Company's top architects, NC State graduates Erik Larsen and Brandon Johnson, and earth-moving by Shapemasters Inc., a golf construction company in Southport, N.C., the landscape is much different. It is now a championship course.
"I think it is wonderful," Palmer said. "I am very pleased. There are still a lot of little touches to do, but it is already very, very good and it is only going to get better from here.
"To me, one of the things that is particularly pleasing is that it is very natural. We didn't do a lot of earth-moving, which is very important in this day and age. It has a more natural look."
As Palmer toured the course, Larsen and Johnson followed along, sharing their thoughts about the challenges and outcome of each hole on the first course Palmer's company has ever designed on a university campus.
"He just wanted to know, 'How is it going to be?'," Larsen said. "It's a university course so we wanted to make it challenging for college players. He was very in tune for it to be a challenging golf course.
"We had to make it challenging for college players, who hit the ball so much farther than everybody else. We made it so that the hazards are 285 yards out for them. Regular players aren't going to reach them, but they are visually intimidating. It makes them look very hard, but in reality most of the holes are easier than they look."
The tour stopped for a long time at the extra-long third hole, which is listed at 552 yards from the competition tees, 526 from the black tees and 501 yards from the white tees.
While it is designed to be long, in the manner of the fifth hole at famed golf resort Pinehurst No. 2, Palmer suggests it be converted to a par-5 for public play, turning the course into a par-72. It will be taken into consideration for the future, according to LPGC general manager Chip Watson. But it will likely always play as a par-4 for competition.
New NC State chancellor James Woodward toured with the group as well, saying hello to many of the school's biggest financial supporters, and taking his first in-depth look at the school's newest research laboratory for both the turfgrass management program and the Professional Golf Management program.
"This is a tremendous asset for NC State University, maybe even more for the region and state," Chancellor Woodward said. "On behalf of the NC State community, I want to think Mr. Palmer and his staff for a great golf course, and Mr. Poole for stepping up and supporting his alma mater."
For his part, Poole seemed tickled to death. The founder and president of Raleigh-based Waste Industries Inc. and a 1956 graduate of NC State in civil engineering, Poole provided $3 million for the naming rights to the course.
"It doesn't get much better than riding around a brand-new golf course with Arnold Palmer," Poole said. "This is one of the proudest things I have ever done."
BY TIM PEELER
Â
That's what he said Friday morning as he took a tour of the Lonnie Poole Golf Course, the newly opened 7,358-yard Arnold Palmer Design Company course that opened earlier this month on NC State's Centennial Campus. Palmer visited the sparkling course to thank major donors and conduct a short golf clinic for some 250 invited guests and dignitaries on the practice tee.
He realizes, of course, that the Audubon-approved course needs a little maturation, so that the trees that remain and the native grasses his staff installed can grow in a little.
And he immediately suggested that the extra-long third hole be changed from a par-4 to a par-5, making it a par-72 course.
He also thought the company that manages the course, Carolinas Golf Group, might want to invest in a couple of geese-chasing puppies for the 15th hole, to keep the carefully manicured green and fairway free of unwanted, um, fertilizer.
"Whatever you say, Mr. Palmer," said the course's namesake, Lonnie Poole, at the press conference following Palmer's tour.
Palmer's public appearance lasted a little over four hours, as he went from hole-to-hole, shaking hands and signing autographs for the donors who made major contributions to the golf course by purchasing naming rights to each hole. While the former Wake Forest All-American and proud Demon Deacon alum seemed a little uncomfortable wearing a bright red golf shirt, by the end of the day he was even willing to make the trademark wolf sign with his right hand.
Along the way, Palmer not only posed with representatives from three fraternities to donated money to name holes, he also greeted individuals like: Wolfpack football legend Roman Gabriel, whose name is on No. 18 thanks to three of his friends and former teammates who paid for the rights on the hole that also matches Gabriel's retired football jersey number.
Former Wolfpack Club executive secretary Charlie Bryant is honored by the Wolfpack Club on the par-3 17th hole, while former Everett Case-era basketball player and former Raleigh mayor Smedes York met with Palmer on the 14th hole. Many members of the Wolfpack Club staff also greeted Palmer on the 10th hole, which is named in honor of the NC State Student Aid Association, which provides scholarship money and helps finance capital projects for NC State student-athletes.
It was Palmer's first full tour of the course since December, 2007, which was just six months after the official ground breaking in which Palmer, Poole and PGA Tour Carl Pettersson took ceremonial first shots into what was then just a bunch of kudzu-covered trees.
Now, however, after two years of design work by two of Arnold Palmer Design Company's top architects, NC State graduates Erik Larsen and Brandon Johnson, and earth-moving by Shapemasters Inc., a golf construction company in Southport, N.C., the landscape is much different. It is now a championship course.
"I think it is wonderful," Palmer said. "I am very pleased. There are still a lot of little touches to do, but it is already very, very good and it is only going to get better from here.
"To me, one of the things that is particularly pleasing is that it is very natural. We didn't do a lot of earth-moving, which is very important in this day and age. It has a more natural look."
As Palmer toured the course, Larsen and Johnson followed along, sharing their thoughts about the challenges and outcome of each hole on the first course Palmer's company has ever designed on a university campus.
"He just wanted to know, 'How is it going to be?'," Larsen said. "It's a university course so we wanted to make it challenging for college players. He was very in tune for it to be a challenging golf course.
"We had to make it challenging for college players, who hit the ball so much farther than everybody else. We made it so that the hazards are 285 yards out for them. Regular players aren't going to reach them, but they are visually intimidating. It makes them look very hard, but in reality most of the holes are easier than they look."
The tour stopped for a long time at the extra-long third hole, which is listed at 552 yards from the competition tees, 526 from the black tees and 501 yards from the white tees.
While it is designed to be long, in the manner of the fifth hole at famed golf resort Pinehurst No. 2, Palmer suggests it be converted to a par-5 for public play, turning the course into a par-72. It will be taken into consideration for the future, according to LPGC general manager Chip Watson. But it will likely always play as a par-4 for competition.
New NC State chancellor James Woodward toured with the group as well, saying hello to many of the school's biggest financial supporters, and taking his first in-depth look at the school's newest research laboratory for both the turfgrass management program and the Professional Golf Management program.
"This is a tremendous asset for NC State University, maybe even more for the region and state," Chancellor Woodward said. "On behalf of the NC State community, I want to think Mr. Palmer and his staff for a great golf course, and Mr. Poole for stepping up and supporting his alma mater."
For his part, Poole seemed tickled to death. The founder and president of Raleigh-based Waste Industries Inc. and a 1956 graduate of NC State in civil engineering, Poole provided $3 million for the naming rights to the course.
"It doesn't get much better than riding around a brand-new golf course with Arnold Palmer," Poole said. "This is one of the proudest things I have ever done."
BY TIM PEELER
Â
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