Tag: Bobby Weed

Check out architect Bobby Weed’s handiwork on the Lagoon Course at Ponte Vedra Inn & Club in Florida

Check out the photos of the freshly renovated Lagoon Course at Ponte Vedra Inn & Club in Florida.

Architect Bobby Weed has completed a nine-month renovation of the Lagoon Course at Ponte Vedra Inn & Club in northeast Florida in which the greens were rebuilt and resurfaced, among other improvements.

Partnering with MacCurrach Golf Construction and Joey Flinchbaugh, the director of agronomy at the club, Weed restored the greens of the Lagoon Course to their original sizes. The contouring of each green was enhanced to accommodate modern green speeds, and new irrigation was installed. The putting surfaces are now TifEagle Bermuda grass.

The Lagoon is one of two courses at Ponte Vedra Inn & Club, alongside the longer Ocean Course that was redesigned most recently by Weed in 2020. The front nine of the Lagoon was designed in 1961 by Robert Trent Jones Sr., and the back nine was added in 1978 by Joe Lee. In 2007, Weed redesigned the Lagoon and lengthened it to 6,025 yards with a par of 70.

MORE: Where to play golf in northeast Florida

The tees, fairways and rough of the Lagoon were re-grassed with TifTuf Bermuda; the bunkers were restored to their original flat-bottomed design with new drains, liners and sand; and the short-game and practice areas also were improved.

“Led by Herbert Peyton, chairman of Gate Petroleum, the Ponte Vedra Inn & Club has entrusted our firm for nearly 30 years to guide the evolution of the Ocean and Lagoon courses,” Weed said in a media release announcing the completion of the renovation. “The Lagoon’s shorter layout, with numerous half-par holes, offers a diverse, faster playing experience that perfectly complements the bolder Ocean Course.”

Check out a selection of photos of the course and resort below.

Photos: This $26M Blue Ridge mansion has a simulator overlooking the highest golf course east of the Mississippi

Welcome to Lazy Bear Lodge, a 10,000-square-foot mansion on a ridgetop pedestal.

Hey, we get it — sometimes you want to work on your golf swing while sitting atop the Blue Ridge Mountains and sometimes you’d like to stripe a fairway wood on a Bobby Weed redesign that whistles through Fraser firs and red spruces.

Welcome to Lazy Bear Lodge, a 10,000-square-foot mansion on a ridgetop North Carolina pedestal, one that comes with a Hobbit House that includes a full golf simulator as well as views of adjacent Linville Ridge Golf Club. It’s about 2½ hours to the nearest major city in Charlotte.

The gated home is currently for sale for the sum of just $26,750,000, meaning after the cool $6.4 million you’ll need at closing for costs and the down payment, your monthly mortgage will only set you back $169,169.

What’s included? Plenty. Aside from the views, there’s a 25-foot great room and a dynamic kitchen that allows you to watch the sunrise while scrambling eggs. Also, the Folly House is a perfect space to entertain, complete with a full kitchen, and a spacious and picturesque dining area.

According to the listing, the golf cart building “could be an additional guest house.” But why would you want to do that?

As for the course, it was ranked 14th on the Golfweek’s Best Private Courses in North Carolina in our 2022 ranking. Sitting at 4,949 feet above sea level, Linville Ridge is the highest elevated golf course east of the Mississippi River.

Here’s a look at the home, which was built in 2007:

Check the yardage book: TPC Summerlin for the PGA Tour’s 2023 Shriners Children’s Open

StrackaLine offers a hole-by-hole course guide for TPC Summerlin and the 2023 Shriners Children’s Open.

TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas, site of the PGA Tour’s 2023 Shriners Children’s Open, was designed by Bobby Weed and opened in 1991. Two-time major winner Fuzzy Zoeller provided input.

TPC Summerlin ranks No. 3 in Nevada on Golfweek’s Best ranking of top private layouts in each state. It will play to 7,255 yards with a par of 71 for the Shriners Children’s Open. Tom Kim returns to Las Vegas as the defending champion.

Thanks to yardage books provided by StrackaLine – the maker of detailed yardage books for thousands of courses around the world – we can see exactly the challenges the players face this week. Check out the maps of each hole below.

Check the yardage book: TPC River Highlands for the 2023 Travelers Championship on the PGA Tour

StrackaLine offers hole-by-hole maps for TPC River Highlands and the Travelers Championship.

TPC River Highlands – site of this week’s Travelers Championship on the PGA Tour – features a design by Bobby Weed that opened in 1989 in Cromwell, Connecticut.

The current layout was built on the site of a former course, Middletown Golf Club, that opened in 1928. It then became Edgewood Country Club in 1934. The site was reworked by famed architect Pete Dye in 1982 as TPC of Connecticut before Weed became involved. Weed most recently worked on the course in 2016, remodeling bunkers and updating the strategic demands.

Short by modern Tour standards, the private TPC River Highlands will play to 6,852 yards with a par of 70 this week.

Thanks to yardage books provided by StrackaLine – the maker of detailed yardage books for thousands of courses around the world – we can see exactly the challenges the pros face this week at TPC River Highlands.

Check the yardage book: TPC Summerlin for the PGA Tour’s Shriners Children’s Open

Bobby Weed, with input from Fuzzy Zoeller, designed the desert course in Las Vegas that hosts this week’s PGA Tour event.

TPC Summerlin, site of this week’s Shriners Children’s Open on the PGA Tour, was designed by Bobby Weed and opened in 1991 in Las Vegas. Two-time major winner Fuzzy Zoeller provided input.

TPC Summerlin ranks as the No. 3 private course in Nevada on Golfweek’s Best ranking of top layouts in each state. It will play to 7,255 yards with a par of 71 for the Shriners Children’s Open.

Thanks to yardage books provided by StrackaLine – the maker of detailed yardage books for thousands of courses around the world – we can see exactly the challenges the players face this week. Check out the maps of each hole below.

Check the yardage book: TPC River Highlands for the PGA Tour’s Travelers Championship

StrackaLine provides hole-by-hole maps of the site of this week’s PGA Tour event.

TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut – site of this week’s Travelers Championship on the PGA Tour – has been reworked many times since its founding in 1928, most recently by architect Bobby Weed.

Founded as Middletown Golf Club in 1928, it became Edgewood Country Club in 1934. The PGA Tour took over the property in the 1980s, and Pete Dye redesigned a layout that reopened in 1982 as TPC of Connecticut.

Bobby Weed then redesigned it as TPC River Highlands in 1989, and he worked on the course again in 2016 to remodel the bunkers and update the strategic demands.

Short by modern Tour standards, TPC River Highlands will play to 6,841 yards with a par of 70 this week.

Thanks to yardage books provided by StrackaLine – the maker of detailed yardage books for thousands of courses around the world – we can see exactly the challenges the players face this week. Check out the maps of each hole below.

Report: Smoky renovation of picturesque Donald Ross track in North Carolina has residents concerned

The original nine holes were designed by famed architect Donald Ross and opened in 1926.

An extensive redesign and renovation of a Donald Ross-designed course in western North Carolina is drawing the ire of local residents who say thick smoke has been the result of piles of debris being burned.

Bobby Weed Golf Design said in June that renovation of Waynesville Inn & Golf Club included plans to reduce the facility from 27 holes to a better 18.

The original nine holes at Waynesville, which is near Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway, were designed by famed architect Ross and opened in 1926. Another 18 were added later.

Residents in the area told WLOS-TV that a pair of burn pits have created a thick layer of smoke in the mountainous region less than an hour west of Asheville.

But a fire marshal insisted the company is handling everything correctly.

“Folks are calling and complaining about the smoke and the ash,” Waynesville Fire Marshal Darrell Calhoun told the TV station. “They have a burn permit. They have a burn pit with berms on each side with an excavator. They’re doing everything to a T.”

According to earlier reporting by Golfweek, the resort’s master plans include a study on possibly adding a short course and Himalayan-style putting green. Other master plan highlights include addressing infrastructure and capital improvement needs, a hole-by-hole analysis, a full course restoration, introducing agronomic best practices and efficient budgeting.

The facility is owned by Raines Company, a hotel ownership group with multiple locations in the southeastern United States.

Waynesville
Bobby Weed will renovate the course at Waynesville Inn & Golf Club in western North Carolina. (Courtesy of Waynesville Inn & Golf Club)

The work was expected to last 16 to 24 months as the 111-room inn and accompanying mountainous course joins Raines’ boutique hotel division, Woven by Raines.

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Check the yardage book: TPC River Highlands for the Travelers Championship

Take a detailed look at each hole for this year’s Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands, courtesy of Puttview.

TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut, site of this week’s Travelers Championship on the PGA Tour, has seen plenty of changes over the years.

The private club was born in 1928 as Middletown Golf Club, and it was renamed Edgewood Country Club in 1934. The PGA Tour took over the property in the 1980s, and Pete Dye redesigned a layout that reopened in 1984 renamed TPC of Connecticut.

Bobby Weed then took over, redesigning the course again for a 1989 reopening with another new name, TPC River Highlands. Weed again went to work in 2016, this time remodeling all the bunkers to update the strategic demands.

The site first hosted a PGA Tour event in 1952, a tournament won by Ted Kroll. Dustin Johnson won the 2020 event, holding off Kevin Streelman.

Thanks to yardage books provided by Puttview – the maker of detailed yardage books for more than 30,000 courses around the world – we can see exactly the challenges that players will face this week. Check out each hole below.

Bobby Weed design will be first new course in this Florida region since 2004

A new golf course midway between Jacksonville and St. Augustine, Florida, will be the area’s first new course opening in more than a decade and a half. 

A new golf course midway between Jacksonville and St. Augustine, Florida, will be the area’s first new course opening in more than a decade and a half.

The Stillwater Golf Club, which is being built within the Lennar’s news active adult community between Longleaf Pine Parkway and Greenbriar Road on County Road 210, has about 12 of the 18 holes shaped and irrigated, with sod walls put in. It will be grassed in April.

“We’re pretty far along and the surprise is that the soil is much better than I initially thought,” said course architect Bobby Weed. “It will be fantastic for draining and playability.”

The course, which will be managed by Hampton Golf, will be a par-71, tipping out at around 6,800 yards. The property was already clear-cut for the 549-home development but there are numerous wetlands throughout the course, native areas that Weed said will be left undisturbed and a variety of short and long holes, small to large greens and strategically-place bunkers.

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He also said it won’t be a cookie-cutter Florida golf course.

“It’s the first golf course built in St. Johns County [since Palencia in 2004] so don’t expect a golf course from the past,” said Weed, who has also designed the Slammer & Squire, the TPC Sawgrass Dye’s Valley and done renovations at Timuquana and the Ponte Vedra Inn and Club Ocean and Lagoon courses. “It’s not the same-style golf course. We’ll have things you don’t see on North Florida courses, such as sidewall bunkers, lay-down walls … they will be angled, with a much cleaner, elegant finish.”

Weed also said there will be no rough and no cart paths. Most of the time, carts will be driven through crushed shell areas.

The routing also will lend itself to creative choices by players. It is set up for three-, six-, nine-, 12- and 15-hole loops, with every third hole winding back near the clubhouse. Stillwater will join other area courses such as Blue Sky and The Yards in offering more options than 9- or 18-hole rounds.

There will be five sets of tees, with tifeagle bermuda grass on the greens and tiftough on the fairways.

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Remembering Weed Hill: The driving range where a young Dustin Johnson honed his game

Dustin Johnson learned the game as a boy at Weed Hill Driving Range in Irmo, South Carolina and now hones his skills at The Grove XXIII.

Golf course architect Bobby Weed still remembers the first time he heard about this teen sensation in his native South Carolina who could hit a golf ball a country mile.

“My buddies were telling me that they were playing in the Columbia (S.C.) Amateur and they were walking off the first green at a 350-yard par 4 and this high school kid hit his tee shot over the green,” Weed said in a phone interview Sunday.

That big bopper was none other than Masters champion Dustin Johnson, and that’s not their only connection. Johnson cut his teeth digging up the sod at the driving range that gave Weed his start in the golf business, Weed Hill. Johnson’s father, the head professional at Mid Carolina Club, would take him there as a young boy. Growing up in Colombia, just over an hour from Augusta National, the Masters was the biggest week of the year and Johnson recalled how every putting contest with brother A.J. was to win the Green Jacket. Here is a where a dream that would one day become fulfilled was born.

“They had lights on the range, and most nights I would shut the lights off when I was leaving,” Johnson said.

Weed has built courses around the world, but none is as near and dear to his heart as the driving range he built in his hometown of Irmo, South Carolina.

It was 40 years ago and Weed, a high-school junior, talked his father into letting him convert some bean fields the family owned into Weed Hill Driving Range, where a bucket of balls cost 75 cents and Grandma called the shots until he got home from school.

“I remember getting off the bus and running up the hill and I’d go in there and ask, ‘Grandma, how’s everything going?’ ‘Oh, Bobby,’ she’d say, ‘these people have been out there tearing up your grass,’ ” Weed recalled.

“She would hand wash every ball,” he added. “She’d treat them like they were eggs in a basket.”

In the seventh grade, Johnson made the Irmo High School varsity golf team and earned all-state honors. He matriculated at Coastal Carolina University, near Myrtle Beach, where he was a three-time Big South Conference Player of the Year. Weed Hill also served as a launching pad for the golf careers of PGA Tour winner Wesley Bryan and LPGA Tour pro Lauren Stephenson.

Weed watched Johnson set a Masters scoring record with a 72-hole aggregate of 20-under 268, and commented that it’s all come full circle for him and Johnson as the Masters champ noted that a putting lesson with Hall of Famer Greg Norman that took place at The Grove XXIII, the Michael Jordan-owned club in Hobe Sound, Florida, is another Bobby Weed design – only the practice facility is no former bean field but what he called arguably the best practice grounds on the planet.

“He learned the game with his father at Weed Hill and now he’s honing his skills at The Grove XXIII,” Weed said. “How about that?”

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