Glade Springs (Cobb)

Austin Caperton Jnr created the Glade Springs resort in the early 1970s. A few years earlier, he had visited Hilton Head Island in South Carolina and played a couple of golf courses designed by George Cobb.

Cobb had worked alongside Bobby Jones during the 1960s when they refined many of the holes at Augusta National. Indeed, Cobb also designed its 9-hole, par three course. He also laid out a large number of resort courses in the two Carolina states during this time.

Caperton had been so impressed by Cobb’s work, he knew there was only one architect he could ask to construct the first 18-hole layout at his new West Virginian site. And so, the George Cobb-designed course at Glade Springs opened in 1973. What is now the back nine opened first with the second nine being completed a year after.

Over a million cubic yards of earth was moved during construction to shape many of the contours, with water incorporated into several of the holes. Most of the fairways are tight, bounded by mature trees, and they lead to very large, well-bunkered putting surfaces.

In fact, greens are so big, they cover a total area of 225,000 square feet (the greens on holes 6 and 8 are over 80 yards deep) which translates into an average of 12,500 square feet per green. It’s been said the course has the third biggest greens in the United States (after two courses in California) but even if that statistic is incorrect, Stonehaven certainly has the largest putting surfaces of any course east of the Mississippi.

Architect Tom Clark updated the course around the time he was adding the Stonehaven course to the property in 2003, re-outlining many of the fairways because the lines had changed substantially over time. He also installed more fairway bunkers to define landing areas and added around 300 yards in length by building new tees to stretch the course to over 7,100 yards.

The 419-yard, par four 16th hole is the signature hole on the course and danger lurks every yard of the way from tee to green. Tee shots require a forced carry across water to a landing area that lies between sizeable ponds. The approach must then be played across this second body of water to a narrow green elevated behind a deep-faced front bunker. Good luck with marking a four on your scorecard at this hole.