By Mike Blum
Few professions have been as negatively impacted by America’s economic downturn as have golf course architects.
The number of courses being constructed in the U.S. has dwindled to next to nothing in recent years, and there are on only so many existing facilities in need of renovation.
Some American golf course designers have managed to find work overseas, where there is still a demand for new courses. Some have had to shift their focus within the U.S. to a different aspect of the golf industry, moving from designing courses to managing and/or owning them.
Mike Young has designed some 20 courses in Georgia, as well as around the U.S. and internationally. He acquired The Fields, a daily fee golf course in LaGrange that he designed, in April of 2012, and says he has spent the time since then “just trying to get it in shape.”
The Fields was the first course Young designed, opening in the late 1980s. The club has undergone changes in ownership and name over the years, and as recently as 2009 served as host for the GSGA Public Links Championship.
But the club, then known as Overlook Links, fell on hard times, as did many courses around the state, with Young taking over the facility in hopes of reversing its recent decline.
Young’s initial efforts have been a success, with The Fields back in quality condition and Young expecting even more improvement in the near future. The course operates as a family business, with Young’s son Ashley in charge of the day to day operations of the course, while Mike has moved his design base from Athens to LaGrange.
Along with Denis Griffiths, another Georgia-based architect who has also transitioned into an owner/operator role at Old Union in northeast Georgia, Young was very busy in the golf course design business in the state during more prosperous times in the industry.
Among the courses Young has designed in Georgia are Heritage, Wolf Creek and Country Land in metro Atlanta, along with the well-received re-design of City Club Marietta. Around the state, his courses include Cateechee (Hartwell), Maple Ridge (Columbus), Lane Creek (Athens area), Henderson (Savannah) Oak Grove Island (now Heritage Oaks, Brunswick), River Pointe (Albany) and Southern Hills (Hawkinsville).
Two of Young’s best designs – Gold Creek in Dawsonville and Long Shadow in Madison are no longer in operation, although Young has hopes that his highly regarded Long Shadow layout will be revived.
Young also has courses in Mississippi and Louisiana, with his work out of the country including courses in Costa Rica and Brazil and one in India.
The Fields was Young’s first Georgia design, and his work of more than 20 years ago still stands up. Unlike most of the courses that have been built in the state since Young began his work in the late 1980s, The Fields is a non-development course, and is easily walk-able with its gently rolling terrain.
“We didn’t move much dirt,” he recalls, describing his layout as “low key. We went with the flow of the land.”
The Fields measures 6650 yards from the back tees and plays to a par of 71, although Young says that is subject to change in the near future. The blue tees are rated at a respectable 72.1/131, with the white tees 6169 (70.0/126) and the golds 5648 (67.5/117). The forward tees measure 4854.
The ninth hole was changed from a par 5 to a par 4 without reducing the yardage, and is listed at 497 from the tips, 457 from the whites and 417 from the golds, but typically plays shorter. Young is considering playing the hole as a par 5 from the white and gold tees, with the hole remaining a par 4 from the blues, just not at 497 yards.
Young also says he is considering reversing the nines, which would make the current ninth the finishing hole, with its green presenting a nice view from The Fields’ excellent, understated grill. The current 18th hole, which plays along side the ninth, is also in sight of the grill, but the visual is less dramatic.
“My goal is that people who come to the course to play golf enjoy themselves,” Young says. “We did not make it to be the toughest course in Georgia.”
Along with the possible switch of the nines, Young says he is considering some minor tweaks to the design, including the addition of a few bunkers here and there. One thing he doesn’t have to be concerned with are the greens, which were converted to Champions Bermuda a few years ago and are in excellent condition, with enough speed to give your putting touch a serious test.
The Fields is an enjoyable layout tee to green, presenting enough of a challenge to make you earn a score that will provide some ego gratification.
For the most part, The Fields is pretty generous off the tee, but it is not a course you can spray it all over the lot and stay in play, beginning with the opening hole, a rolling par 5. Out of bounds is not that far to the left, but there is still an abundance of room in the fairway before you arrive at a green with plenty of slope, something you expect to find at most of Young’s designs.
The opening hole is the longest of the three par 5s, with all three offering scoring opportunities if you can produce decent shots in succession. The 10th requires a decision off the tee, with a pond that crosses the fairway within range for longer hitters. The hole heads uphill beyond the pond, but there isn’t much to be concerned about after you clear the hazard.
The 17th also offers an expansive fairway, with a small rock formation short and right of the green one of the few impediments to scoring on the hole. As a group, you won’t find a much tamer collection of par 5s, with the ninth fitting into that category if it again becomes a par 5.
The par 3s are a diverse group, and with one exception are on the short side, but they are not as vulnerable as their modest length might suggest.
The downhill fourth is only 155 from the blues, but a pond hugs the right side of the hole, with a hill dotted with bushes looming to the left. The green opens up at the back, but front pin positions can be a little dicey. The 13th is even shorter, but one of the tougher putting surfaces on the course is capable of frustrating seemingly inviting birdie and par opportunities. The 16th is the third of the short par 3s, with the tee shot having to carry a wetlands/vegetation area and a front left bunker with not a lot of room behind it.
The lone par 3 of length is the eighth, which Young sees as a worthwhile 17th hole. The hole has some length (213 from the blues) and is the rare uphill par 3, with no sand but plenty of movement on the sizeable green.
With only three par 4s other than the ninth measuring longer than 404 yards from the tips, they are not an especially demanding group, but there aren’t many soft touches either.
Some thought and precision is required to handle the third hole, which is only 383 from the blue tees and plays shorter because of its slightly downhill nature. The fairway has ample width, but you can be blocked by trees on either side of the dogleg right even if you keep it in the short grass. The wide, shallow green has no bunkers around it, but thick brush is not that far removed from the putting surface, and is a particular concern if you have to work your approach around the encroaching trees.
The fifth is among the longest of the par 4s (438/392), but is open off the tee, and bunkers flank a large, rolling putting surface left and right. The next two holes are also par 4s with generous fairways, but are considerably shorter and present excellent scoring opportunities to those who hit it solid and straight off the tee.
Even with the tees moved up, the ninth provides a solid finish to the opening nine, with the approach shot having to carry a front bunker that protects a long but relatively narrow green.
The most dangerous par 4 at The Fields is the 11th, which has some length (431/388), but more importantly has a pond that extends across the entire fairway just in front of the green. With a slightly elevated tee, the hole does not quite play its length, but the second shot is pretty scary from just about any distance, with a wide, shallow putting surface making for a challenging target.
The mid-length 12th begins with a semi-blind tee shot, but the greater concern is a long green with tough front and back pin positions with a bowl effect in the middle.
The shortest of the par 4s is the 14th, which tops out at 300 yards. With water down the right and pinching into the fairway, the smart play is a lay-up down the left side, setting up a short, uphill approach to a green with all sorts of slope that can easily turn potential birdies into bogeys.
Although Young prefers the course finish on what is now the ninth hole, the 18th makes for an interesting finale, with some angled bunkers within the fairway presenting the option of going over or around them to set up a shorter approach to a green set at a slight angle from the fairway.
The Fields is just a few miles off I-185 exit 42 (the Callaway Gardens exit) and is an easy ride from Columbus and Newnan, with the Atlanta airport less than an hour away. With very affordable rates, the course is worth the drive for those in the metro Atlanta area thanks to the playability of Young’s design, the condition of the course and the quality grill with its pleasant views.
Young says he’s been pleased with “the excellent response” he’s received since assuming operations of the course, and the improvements he’s made should make it a more attractive option in an area where there aren’t a great deal of quality daily fee facilities.
For information on The Fields, call 706-845-7425 or visit www.thefieldsgolfclub.com.