The New South at Forest Creek

Members of Forest Creek Golf Club in Pinehurst have long held the South Course in special reverence.

“You can plunk yourself in the middle of the seventh hole or 12th hole and you’d think you were at Winged Foot,” says John Dempsey.

“The South flows through the undulating pine forests and has an enjoyable melody to it,” says Gray Tuttle.

“The course has a graceful beauty that made it a classic from the beginning, if that’s possible. Each hole has a ‘wow factor’ which gives one a sense of reverence more than dread,” adds Bill Shaw.

Bob McCann has heard countless remarks like those over the eight-plus years since the day in late 2017 when he headed the partnership group that purchased Forest Creek, its two golf courses and its club facilities (he has since become the sole owner).

“There is something about the South Course that is so special,” McCann says. “People get romantic about it. They like the North Course. But they really love the South Course.”

Both courses are the work of noted golf architect Tom Fazio, the South opening in 1996 and the North following in 2005 as the lynchpins of a club and residential community just northeast of the Village of Pinehurst. Terry Brown, the original developer, hired Fazio to design both courses and gambled that one man could create two vastly different experiences on the same piece of property.

“I am such a fan of Forest Creek,” Keiser says. “Both courses are so well done. They were built as golf first, clubhouse and residential second. That shows you where the focus was, and it’s certainly worked out. They have two wonderful courses. Tom Fazio is brilliant. He made them look so different, and that’s hard to do.”

Now approaching its 30th anniversary, the South Course is closed for a major overhaul and is scheduled to reopen in October. Green complexes and bunkers are being rebuilt to modern maintenance and playability standards. The irrigation system will be brand new. Select trees are being culled to help with sunlight and air flow, particularly around the greens. And the original bent grass greens are being replaced with hybrid Bermuda.

For years, Forest Creek had prided itself on having Bermuda greens on the North and bent on the South, with one of the two courses being in perfect condition at any given point in the year — the Bermuda surfaces on the North being healthy during the dog days of August and the bent of the South playing firm and quick during the height of the spring and fall Sandhills golf seasons. But increasingly extreme summer heat made that arrangement too challenging on the South Course.

“We studied the green complexes very closely for many years,” McCann says. “We knew that with changes in climate, we had to go with Bermuda on the South. But there are no architectural changes. Some bunkers will be a little smaller and a little easier to get in and out of for our older members. But the original design has stood the test of time. I love that about what Tom created 30 years ago.”

Smith grew up in Ohio, and his father was in the coal mining industry. Smith learned to use a bulldozer at age 12 and started playing golf at age 20. When the coal business went bust across the Rust Belt in the early 1990s, Smith pivoted into building golf courses.

“Forest Creek was the first job I had as a project manager,” Smith says. “It just happened to be a Tom Fazio golf course. I was a nervous wreck the first time I met him. But he was a great guy and so talented. We’ve done a lot of work together over many years.

“The Forest Creek site is tremendous, and it’s always been one of my favorites. It’s got the lakes, the sand, the big pines. It’s pretty easy to build a great golf course on that piece of land, particularly when you’ve got someone like Tom directing you. People always ask me, ‘What’s your favorite course you’ve built?’ I always put Forest Creek in my top three. I think when this job is done and it re-opens, it will definitely still be there.”

The South Course overhaul will be the crowning achievement for McCann, the Pittsburgh native and retired Wall Street executive who has had an ownership interest in Forest Creek dating to 2011 when the members bought the club from the original developers.

“When the South Course reopens in October, it will be quite a milestone for Forest Creek,” McCann says. “We’ve been working toward this point for eight years. There was a time 10 years ago when the members were scared we were going to go under and wondered if the houses they built would be worth anything.

“We’ve had a solid business plan and a lot of great people working together to get Forest Creek back on firm footing.”