John Fought-renovated North Carolina private course reopens

Following a 10-month renovation carried out by award-wining golf course architect John Fought, Carmel Country Club’s North Course reopened to members.

John Schultz, general manager of Carmel Country Club, said the dramatically redesigned North Course which features Champion bermuda greens and 419 bermuda tees, fairways, and rough, now has a more traditional, classic feel to it in contrast to the South Course’s more modern style.

“The early impression from members is that they love how open and clean the course is now,” Schultz said. “All the holes are improved and John (Fought) and his team made some of the best holes even better. The new sight lines and vistas make the course more playable with a lot of rise and fall. It has the appearance of being a lot bigger.”

The North Course, a George Cobb design, debuted in 1950 as Carmel’s original 18-hole golf course. It was last redesigned by Tom Jackson in 1998. Following Fought’s renovation, the par 71 North Course now plays anywhere from 4,118 to 6,807 yards and features seven tee boxes.

“Our goal with the increased tee boxes was to reach all the different groups among our 1,400 members – whether juniors, women or seniors,” Schultz said.

“The new layout provides a tough but fair test,” said Dan Richardson, club president at Carmel CC. “The classic feel that John designed offers our membership a course that will be enjoyed for decades to come.”

“I’m extremely happy with how everything came out; it’s a really beautiful golf course that now has a very parkland feel to it,” Fought said. “We were able to increase the landing zones in the fairways by 30 percent, which now gives the course a much more open, bigger feel.”

As many as five of the North Course’s holes were re-routed to compensate for Fought building out the club’s practice facility, which now includes a large new short-game area with three new greens: the Fought Green, Jones Green, and Niblick Green. Its features include elevation change, three bunkers that can be utilized for all types of shots, and can even be used as a three-hole par-3 course for special events.