Following a virtuoso performance by Eric Clapton at the PNC Center and dinner at The Pit in Raleigh, North Carolina, it was on to Durham to experience another timeless classic, Hope Valley Country Club. One of the many highlights of the Clapton show was the Derek And the Dominoes beauty “Gotta Get Better In a Little While”, which is just the attitude required at Hope Valley Country Club as Donald Ross’ vintage trademarks of difficult greens with imposing false fronts and slippery slopes will otherwise frustrate the uninitiated visitor.
Out of the gate, Hope Valley Country Club gives the golfer plenty to contemplate with an elevated tee plunging to a fairway interrupted by a narrow creek at the 300 yard mark. From a solid tee shot, an uphill short iron is all that is required, but the work begins on the back to front, left to right sloping green guarded by a deep bunker to the right. A miss to the left almost certainly leads to bogey or worse and no putt is a gimme on the tricky putting surface. On the long par 3 second, a severe back to front slope is the central challenge and then the fun begins on the scenic par 4 third. The slight dogleg right is framed by a creek running up the left and a hillside boundary on the right. The breezy, cold conditions greatly lengthened this hole and a 3 or 4 iron was required to reach a seemingly flat green that was actually full of subtle humps and rolls. The long, uphill fourth is an all-out bear and the first of Ross’ wicket false fronts creates all sort of havoc to the timid approach. Compounding the challenge of the steep false front is the devious design of the back of the green sloping away from the bewildered player. The balance of the front nine presents similar obstacles and the slopes seem to get more dramatic and the penalties all the more severe. To wrap up the front nine, the short ninth is a great hole with one of the largest greens on the course. If the golfer can spare the focus, the approach to the ninth offers a fine view of the Aymar Embury designed clubhouse (see Pinehurst ROP article to learn more about Aymar Embury.)
As Clapton sings the blues with the line, “nobody knows you when you’re down and out”, Hope Valley Country Club can boast that few people are known to get up and down from the short side of the greens. A fine example of the short side blues is on number ten as a pin on the left side of the green dictates a miss on the right. Naturally, I missed on the left and a closely mown slope proved enarly impossible to judge, whether it be a bump, flop or putt. Another miss to the left of the twelfth with a left side pin lead to a one putt bogey. Sixteen and seventeen are terrific holes, the sixteenth being a sharp right to left dogleg with an adventurous green and the seventeenth a gentler right to lefter uphill to a nasty Ross special. Eighteen is a par 3, but it’s a lovely finisher framed by the Embury Clubhouse.
Clapton’s encore was “Sunshine of Your Love”, yet our groups were greeting by teeming sleet after signing our cards (no, we didn’t really sign our cards). Nevertheless, the freaky April weather did nothing to temper our warm feelings about Hope Valley. The hospitality of Head Golf Professional Bob Byrnes was first class and we all enjoyed a souvenir featuring the classic logo of Hope Valley Country Club. In retrospect, Hope Valley is a wonderful Donald Ross that demands a complete golf game. The best part of our Hope Valley and subsequent Pinehurst trip was that our eight-some lived the refrain of Eric’s classic and Raleigh show opener “Hello Old Friend, it’s Really Good to See You Once Again.”
Hope Valley Country Club – April 14, 2013
Eric Clapton – Raleigh – April 13, 2013 – Set List
- Hello Old Friend
- My Father’s Eyes
- Tell me the Truth
- Gotta Get Over
- Black Cat Bone
- Got to Get Better in a Little While
- Tempted
- Badge
- Driftin
- Lay Down Sally
- Tears in Heaven
- Layla
- Wonderful Tonight
- How Long
- Stones in My Passway
- Love In Vain
- Crossroads
- Little Queen of Spades
- Cocaine
Encores
- Sunshine of Your Love
- High Time We Went
George