Ironplay Par 3 Links: Summerfield's 18-hole gem

Summerfield's 18-hole gem
TUESDAY, AUGUST 12, 2008 ( updated 9:27 am)
By ROBERT BELL
Staff Writer

Kevin Lowrance (top left) and Adam Team (top right) help Brad Dalton (bottom left) and Alex Turner search for a ball.

Credit: Neslon Kepley / News & Record

GREENSBORO - With each acclaimed design, each course he rescues from time, Greensboro golf architect Kris Spence's stature grows among golf's connoisseurs.

The list of courses Spence has worked on reeks of exclusivity: Cape Fear Country Club. Charlotte Country Club. Grove Park Inn. And, of course, Sedgefield County Club, where a certain PGA Tour event is being played this week.

Indeed, to the fans on the other side of the ropes at Sedgefield this week the perception is that a weekend golfer has little chance of playing a Spence-designed golf course in Greensboro.

Actually, there are two ways: Stroke a $12,000 check to Sedgefield Country Club and wait for members to decide your fate - or throw the sticks in the trunk and head over to Iron Play, a par-3 gem carved out of the Summerfield countryside.

Even now, Steve Carter, Iron Play's owner, wonders how he was able to get Spence to design his par-3, or executive, course.

"Maybe he felt sorry for us," says Carter, only half-jokingly.

Five years ago, Carter bought a 32-acre horse farm on Lake Brandt Road after developers failed to get the land rezoned for a housing development.

Carter didn't choose Spence by his reputation. Spence's design work was just taking off. He had yet to make a name for himself in the industry. Instead, the two hooked up the old-fashioned way.

"I got his name out of the yellow pages," Carter said.

Initially, Spence tried to talk Carter out of his dream.

"I told him over the phone that running a golf course is hard work," Spence recalled. "You basically have 18 infants that never grow up and need your constant attention."

Carter wasn't deterred. Spence picked up on Carter's passion when they met in person.

"He really loves golf - that's the first thing that comes across when you talk to him," Spence said.

Spence not only agreed to help, he donated his design and arranged for the Carters to buy a used pump station and other irrigation supplies within their budget.

It also helped that Spence loved the land at first site. Iron Play is a confused jumble of 32 acres whose fairways and greens are shaped much the same as the land was a century ago. Very little earth was moved in the design of the course.

"In the morning, when the sun casts shadows low and you can see that ripple effect on the land, it looks a lot like The Old Course at St. Andrews, Spence said.

The architect took that inspiration to heart at No. 17, where he created a mini-version of The Road Hole, St. Andrews' diabolical 17th. Just like its big brother, No. 17 at Iron Play sports a pot bunker running along the front of the green.

Each hole requires a different angle, a different approach no matter the skill level.

"I didn't want it to be another chip-and-putt," Spence said. "It's a great course where if you leave the driver at home, you'll think you're playing any big course."

The 105-yard No. 4, which requires the golfer to carry a ravine to an elevated green resting atop a natural outcrop of rock, is the course's signature hole.

"It's a beautiful hole," Spence said. "It's as good as any par-3 in town."

Spence, who specializes in updating Donald Ross-designed courses that have lost their Ross features through the years, said he had more fun designing Iron Play than any of the other bigger courses he's touched.

"You're creating something original," he said. "There's no preconceived notion of what goes where. Everything's fresh."

The course continues to attract golfers who don't have the time, money or skill for 18 holes on a traditional course. Spence hopes more children and teenagers will take up the game at his course. And adults, too.

As Spence's reputation grows, Carter hopes more people will check out one of his original designs.

"I used to tell people who designed the course," Carter said, "and they'd look at me funny and say, 'Who's he?' "

These days, when Carter tells them the course's pedigree, he gets the same confused look. Only now a different question.

"They're shocked," Carter said. "They ask me how I managed to get Kris Spence?"
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