Mike Stranz Golf Trail

SC to VA

T&L Golf, Oct '06

The Maverick Trail
Hit the road and play these fun pairs of Mike Strantz courses From October 2006

by Bob Cullen

Mike Strantz was the Amedeo Modigliani of golf course architects. Like the famed painter and sculptor of early-twentieth-century Paris, Strantz created controversial, provocative works—in his case courses that by turns challenge, intimidate and excite serious players (see T+L GOLF, January/February 2005). And like Modigliani's, Strantz's genius was snuffed out too early. He died of cancer last year at the age of fifty, leaving just seven original designs and a couple of major renovations. Before he died, Strantz was trying to promote a golf trail linking his six daily-fee courses, which lie along a 360-mile route from Williamsburg, Virginia, to the Low Country of South Carolina. Playing them all in one trip might be biting off a bit much, but they are arrayed in pairs, any of which could be the basis for a buddy trip that demonstrates why Strantz proudly called his firm Maverick Golf Course Design.

North Carolina
MIKE STRANTZ COURSES

Tobacco Road Golf Club, Sanford
877-284-3762, www.tobaccoroadgolf.com; $69–$85 through November 16, then $59–$77. Thirty miles north of Pinehurst, this is the most rococo Strantz design. His trademark fishhook-shaped par fives tempt players to try perilous carries, sandhills hide fairways and a green is tucked behind a ridge. With so many blind shots, marshals are needed to help first-timers figure out where to aim.

Tot Hill Farm Golf Club, Asheboro
800-868-4455, www.tothillfarm.com; $40–$50.
Working with rocky, steeply sloped land forty-five minutes west of Tobacco Road, Strantz fashioned a gorgeous layout here of dramatic angles and planes. But as with several of his courses, Tot Hill Farm's owners have softened the design in the name of playability, eliminating some of the adventure in the process.

STAYING

Washington Duke Inn & Golf Club, Durham; 800-443-3853, www.washingtondukeinn.com; from $189. This lovely country inn sits across the street from the Duke University campus and is roughly an hour's drive from either Tobacco Road or Tot Hill Farm. It offers access to the Duke course, with one of college golf's best practice areas.

DINING

Magnolia Grill (Southern), Durham; 919-286-3609. This inviting bistro serves sophisticated cuisine with a Southern slant.

Bullock's Barbecue, Durham; 919-383-3211. It's hard to beat this emporium of eastern North Carolina–style barbecue: pulled pork slathered in a tangy vinegar-based sauce. There's just one catch: They don't serve alcohol.

OTHER ACTIVITIES

With the University of North Carolina, N.C. State, Duke and Wake Forest located hereabouts, there's usually an ACC basketball game going on. Near Tot Hill Farm, in Randelman, race fans will enjoy the Richard Petty Museum (336-495-1143).

South Carolina
MIKE STRANTZ COURSES

Caledonia Golf and Fish Club, Pawleys Island
800-483-6800, www.fishclub.com; $160 through November 12, then $115. Located at the southern end of Myrtle Beach, this is the first course Strantz created on his own after an apprenticeship with Tom Fazio and a stint as a commercial artist. It's the most traditional of his courses and employs the classic design principle that the most favorable line to the green is usually the most hazardous.

True Blue Plantation, Pawleys Island
888-483-6800, www.truebluegolf.com; $135 through November 12, then $105. Another standout on the Grand Strand, this course sits next door to Caledonia and is part of the same club. Built on the site of a former indigo and rice plantation, it's bigger and bolder than its older sibling, with enormous waste areas and demanding carries.

STAYING

Litchfield Plantation, Pawleys Island; 800-869-1410, www.litchfieldplantation.com; from $215. This Low Country hideaway offers thirty-two rooms in a variety of accommodating settings, including villas, cottages and a manor house—all situated at the end of an allée framed by live oaks and Spanish moss.

DINING

Frank's (Seafood), Pawleys Island; 843-237-1777. A popular and elegant spot, this restaurant deftly blends Low Country influences with international touches.

Nance's Creek Front Restaurant (Seafood), Murrell's Inlet; 843-651-2696. This is the best of a string of casual places up the road from Pawleys Island that serve great local seafood.

OTHER ACTIVITIES

The initials of Pawleys Island Tavern (843-237-8465) spell "pit," a fact that this classic beach-town shack proudly plays up. It's a friendly sort of watering hole behind the Island Shop on Highway 17, not far from Caledonia and True Blue.

Virginia
MIKE STRANTZ COURSES

Traditions at Royal New Kent, Providence Forge
804-966-7023, www.traditionalclubs.com; $89–$99 through October 31, then $64–$74. This is Strantz's homage to two renowned Irish links, Ballybunion and Royal County Down. The architect found it ironic that Irish course features revered as classical in situ, such as tee shots that must carry sandhills, were criticized as gimmicks when he re-created them here in rural Virginia.

Traditions at Stonehouse, Toano
757-566-1138, www.traditionalclubs.com; $69–$99 through October 31, then $54–$74. Strantz was in a minimalist mood when he built this course, twenty minutes from Royal New Kent. The land was full of dips and ravines, and he laid the holes over them lightly. The fourteenth green sits in a hollow carved by a wandering creek; for all but the longest drives, the approach is blind.

STAYING

The Williamsburg Inn, Williamsburg; 800-447-8679, www.colonialwilliamsburg.com; from $309. The best nearby lodging can be found at this historic hotel, twenty minutes from Stonehouse and a half-hour from Royal New Kent. Another option is to rent a condo at nearby Kingsmill Resort & Spa (800-832-5665, www.kingsmill.com).

DINING

Fox Hunter Grill (Italian), Lanexa; 804-966-8333. With a Sicilian for a chef, this country place along the Chickahominy River between Richmond and Williamsburg is as authentic as Italian food gets in the South. Blue Talon Bistro (French), Williamsburg; 757-476-2583. Upscale comfort food is the focus here, including grilled swordfish and braised duck.

OTHER ACTIVITIES

Although its name sounds more like that of a quiet tea shop, the Green Leafe Café (757-220-3405), across the street from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, is a beer lover's dream, with thirty kinds of brew on tap and 150 more in bottles.