TPC at Sugarloaf: Norman's Spiritual Journey
At the heart of any great golf club lies a course of incomparable charm and challenge, one that engages a golfer at every level of consciousness. Members are the life force of a club, but a golf course is the soul, the inspirational focal point around which the ideals of the game and natural balance are conjoined.
The result is an unmistakable atmosphere of social and sporting harmony.
If that all sounds like a bit much to ask of manicured turf, Australian golf great Greg Norman would like to show you the Tournament Players Club at Sugarloaf, in Duluth, Ga., north of Atlanta, his first U.S. design effort. Golf courses can be vexing and challenging, but they can also be uplifting.
"This place can move you; it is a very special place," said Norman, the two-time British Open champion and recent World Golf Hall of Fame inductee, who has channeled some of his immense competitive energy into golf course design. "Some golf courses can really touch a part of you and make you feel energized or inspired. That's how Augusta (National Golf Club) feels, and I get the same sensation at Sugarloaf. There's a similar beauty and awe about it."
It is no surprise that Norman would invoke the name of Augusta, one of his favorite golf courses, located two hours southeast of Sugarloaf.
Set among 1,200 gently rolling acres filled with towering century-old trees, including pines, maples and oaks, TPC at Sugarloaf, which since 1997 has played host to the PGA TOUR's BellSouth Classic, is a parkland golf course with inherent natural beauty that Norman went to great pains to preserve, and, what's more, accentuate. On land that once was Rollins Farm, where entrepreneur Wayne Rollins and his family bred award-winning cattle and Tennessee walking horses, he routed an exacting 7,259-yard, par-72 layout that opened to raves among course reviewers and fellow PGA TOUR players. Norman also designed an additional nine holes on the Sugarloaf premises.
While streams, lakes and hills are significant aspects of the golf course, the primary characteristic of the TPC at Sugarloaf is the corridors of fairways threading through the trees.
"The initial walk-through of the property told us we had something special," Norman, 46, who has designed 12 U.S. layouts among his worldwide stable of designs. "It's a magnificent property ... the undulations, streams, and the pines, the feel of the terrain reminded me very much of Augusta. The land flowed. And the corridors were just there, which was probably the most important element to what we wanted to accomplish."
The project was not originally part of the vaunted TPC network, but it's no surprise that PGA TOUR Properties came on board near the end of the completion of the course. Few adjustments were made, other than "tweaking" the finishing hole for spectator viewing and one or two other holes.
Most important to Norman was the preservation of the green sites, which include sizable putting surfaces, about 6,000 square feet, and runoff areas that penalize less than the best approach shots -- a feature that makes great championship courses like the acclaimed TPC at Sawgrass and Augusta National so difficult yet so revered. Bunkers were applied sparingly, numbering around 60.
"I'm a big believer that the farther the ball gets away from the flag, the harder the shot should be," said Norman, who made nearly 30 visits to the site during construction. "Precision is a big part of golf and less than precise shots should not be rewarded the same as good shots. You should have compounding problems to face."
Among the best holes at Sugarloaf are the 458-yard, par-4 seventh, which with its framing fairway bunkers is one of the most picturesque on the property, the long 248-yard par-3 eighth, the dogleg left 13th, a devious little par-4 of only 310 yards, and the 576-yard par-5 home hole with three lakes fronting the green.
The course itself offers other benefits. Like most TPC layouts, Sugarloaf is fully certified in the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for golf courses. Thanks to golf course superintendent Mike Crawford, it also was selected as a chapter award winner for the 2001 GCSAA Environmental Steward Awards, which recognizes superintendents for overall course management excellence, including areas of technology use, resource conservation, water quality management, integrated pest management, and wildlife and habitat management.
The TPC at Sugarloaf is a private country club, offering five membership classifications: social, swim/tennis, sports, full, and corporate. The overriding emphasis is on club amenities, family activities, and corporate entertainment. The TPC at Sugarloaf is a traditional private golf and country club with a variety of social and sports amenities and quality service.
Those amenities go well beyond the elegant 60,000-square-foot clubhouse set among a grove of trees overlooking the picturesque 18th green. The clubhouse, which is used to host a range of special functions, is architecturally imbued with a Southern Classical style popular in the 19th century and emanates a feel of the family estate. Additional amenities include a sports and recreation center that covers 7,500 square feet and where state-recognized aquatic and tennis programs thrive. With three swimming pools, including a junior Olympic pool, Sugarloaf boasts a swim program of 180 youngsters that has become a state power. Meanwhile, the award-winning tennis program enjoys participation from 300 members.
Special activities include a Fourth of July barbecue and a Halloween carnival, in addition to other entertainment offerings.
Efforts to make the TPC at Sugarloaf attractive to families have paid off with residential building that is ahead of projections. More than half of the 480 single-family home sites have been purchased.
"From a total club perspective, we offer a great package, very comprehensive," General Manager Doug Meredith said. "We are blessed with having a great golf course on a traditional style of design. It is the centerpiece that makes it all work."
It is the heart and hallmark of any great club.
