VSGA Member Clubs
Green’s Day
For example, ever since Nicklaus teamed
with Tom Doak on the design of Sebonack
Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y., 10 years
ago, his greens have become more undulating,
even wavy. For his part, Clark is pleased that,
while the putting surfaces have plenty of
“movement,” there are no steep terraces or
pronounced whalebacks.
Clark firmly believes the average player
deserves a relatively flat putt and a few decent
looks at par or birdie during the round.
Nicklaus Design came in with the clout of the
game’s greatest champion behind it.
“Eighty percent of the dirt was already
moved, and the clearing lines for the hole
The holes at Magnolia Green Golf Club have a
distinct feel and eye-catching aesthetics, including at
the par-4 18th hole.
corridors were completed, so we redeveloped
a new strategy for each golf hole and
massaged what was already here,” explains
Chris Cochran, a senior design associate for
Nicklaus. “For example, we worked on the
yardages quite a bit to create more variety in
length on several of the holes.
“The seventh hole was shortened to create
a ‘reachable-in-two’ par 5 for big hitters, and
we shortened the long par-4 ninth to create
an interesting drive-and-pitch hole.”
The end product to complete the first
nine was a developer-mandated change that
created room for the club’s extensive short
game practice area.
Among the holes that show the Clark
influence are the par-3 third, a reverse Redan
that invites players to aim their tee shots well
left of the target and let the slope feed the
MAGNOLIA GREEN GOLF CLUB (2)
L
ocated 30 minutes southwest
of Richmond in historic
Chesterfield County, Magnolia
Green is promoting itself as
central Virginia’s premier multigenerational, active lifestyle residential
community. Its road to prominence has been
anything but smooth, but golf-wise, the club’s
centerpiece is a unique collaborative design
that will likely be embraced by players.
First conceived as Westham Golf Club, the
3,000-acre development had its plug pulled
for six years by the financial meltdown. The
property is now owned by iStar Residential,
one of the nation’s largest investors in luxury
condominiums, multifamily and masterplanned developments.
The original routing for the golf course
was devised by architect Tom Clark, who has
dozens of mid-Atlantic design credits to his
name, dating back to the 1970s. Nine of the
18 h