Columnists
Email
Print
Setting Up Shop: Sedgefield ready for Wyndham
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: July 28, 2008
GREENSBORO -- Moving a PGA Tour tournament from one course to another sounds easy, but it's taken a lot of planning and visualization from Wyndham Championship officials.
The Wyndham has moved from spacious Forest Oaks Country Club to a seemingly cramped Sedgefield Country Club. However, that transition has gone smoothly, according to Mark Brazil, who has been the tournament director since 2001.
"It's a completely different deal," Brazil said. "It's like moving a house."
One of the challenges that Brazil faced was finding enough space at Sedgefield for bleachers, corporate tents and everything else that needs to be on site to run a PGA Tour tournament. There needs to be TV towers in place and it all has to work while not infringing on the players trying to do their work on the course.
"Even as far back as 2006, we were looking at Sedgefield for a possible move and we just kind of walked around trying to visualize where things would go," Brazil said.
After Kris Spence did a remarkable remake of the Donald Ross design, that visualization continued by Brazil and Bobby Powell, the tournament's director of operations. What they both concluded was that, yes, there was enough space, not to mention the outstanding Tudor-style clubhouse that is a bonus.
One of the luxuries that Brazil and the Wyndham have is the cooperation from Grandover Resort, which is less than two miles from the course. This will be the main staging area for the pro-ams, where the amateurs can use the range before coming over to play.
Most of the players and PGA Tour officials will be staying at Grandover and this makes it convenient to come and go to the course.
"This wouldn't work as well without Grandover on board," Brazil said. "That resort lends itself an element to our tournament that's unique."
As for the best places to watch the tournament, which will be Aug. 14-17, Brazil said that's around the green at No. 15. It's one of the highest vantage points on the course and it offers views of the par-3 16th and the tee box on 17.
"I think that's the sweet spot," Brazil said. "I doubt there are other PGA Tour tournaments around that offer fans a chance to see three holes like that."
There's enough room around the 15th green for a large section of bleachers.
Brazil said that despite Forest Oaks Country Club having more room, the same amount of bleachers used at that course will be used at Sedgefield. And there are also some grassy banks around some greens where fans can sit and watch, and Brazil said that some spots even have shade.
Because the practice range at Sedgefield is rather small, the tournament added 15 yards of space for use by the pros.
Parking for most of the public will be available at the corner of Guilford College Road and High Point Road, just off of Business 40.
Brazil admits that when they started to view Sedgefield as a possible site parking was a concern, but he said it should all work out.
The last time that the PGA Tour stop was at Sedgefield was in 1976, and that part of High Point Road has grown tremendously since then. Still, Brazil is confident that the logistics and traffic flow won't be a problem.
Ticket sales have been going pretty well, Brazil said, despite the economy.
"We are about where we were last year at this time," Brazil said about ticket sales. "With the economy, we did pretty well in sponsor sales and are at about 90 percent of what we wanted. But overall we are still plugging along."
The field for the tournament should be one of the best fields in years with Vijay Singh, Davis Love III, David Toms, Rocco Mediate, and Brandt Snedeker, the defending champion, all expected to play.
Another possible player in the field could be John Daly, who has been offered a sponsor's exemption but hasn't accepted yet.
Spence course to open
While Kris Spence's work at Sedgefield Country Club, which he redesigned last year, will be on display later this month at the Wyndham Championship, he has also been working on other projects.
Lake Toxaway Country Club, which is located in the Blue Ridge Mountains between the Pisgah and Nantahala national forests, will open next month. Lake Toxaway is located about a half hour west of Brevard.
Spence, who is famous for redesigning Donald Ross courses, took a different approach for the Lake Toxaway project. He used his vast experience to create a $9 million championship course that is not a redesign, but rather a complete overhaul. He was given the chance to totally rework a course that was very nondescript.
"I couldn't ask for a better setting to create my first original 18 holes. Everywhere you look there's dramatic scenery, from mountains with rock outcroppings to stunning lake waters," said Spence, who has lived in Greensboro for the last 25 years. "There's even a waterfall halfway up the mountain behind the fifth green."
Spence spent a lot time walking the hills and valleys, studying land forms and multiple angles of play. He decided upon a plan that reversed direction on nine holes, while repositioning five others.
The par-71 layout measures 6,418 yards from the back tees. Lake Toxaway President David Dew said that Spence was careful to create a course that accommodates all golfers.
"When I look at the course, I see an excellent layout by all standards," says Dew. "It's challenging for low-handicap golfers and fun for the medium- to high-handicap golfers. And it's placed within a natural setting that may be unsurpassed on the East Coast."
Around the green
The 61st Forsyth Invitational will be held this week, with the first round Friday at Reynolds Park. The second round will be Saturday at Winston Lake, with the final round Sunday at Tanglewood Park's Championship course. Richard Giles is the defending champion. To kick off the Forsyth on Thursday night, a past-champions, nine-hole captain's choice tournament will be held at Winston Lake at 5 p.m. Several of the past champions are expected to attend….
Padraig Harrington, who has won the last two British Opens, says that one of his biggest motivations is fear. Harrington, 36, said he has made it a point his whole career to prove he's a winner. "Fear is, and will be always, the motivator with my golf," he said. "Every time I took my winter break, I was very anxious that my game would still be there when I came out. You can see from my results that I was always good from the start of the year because I'm anxious to come out and prove myself again."…
Rookie Webb Simpson, a former star at Wake Forest, had a great showing in his first career Nationwide Tour tournament earlier this month. Simpson, a Raleigh native, finished second at the Nationwide Tour stop in Springfield, Mo. He shot 66-68-67-65 to win a career-best $64,800. In five tournaments on the PGA Tour this season Simpson has made three cuts and won $38,460.
■ John Dell can be reached at 727-4081 or at jdell@wsjournal.com.
Email
Print
ADVERTISEMENT
N.C. Politics
Federal Politics
See community events or add your own! Click here!
Advertisement
