Modern-day Charlotte, the commercial hub of North Carolina’s
Piedmont region, is nicknamed the “Queen City”—an appropriate moniker, although
not exactly as originally intended. Much as its namesake, Queen Charlotte,
curtsied to England’s King George III 200 years ago, Charlotte has always been
subservient to Atlanta, its “King of the South” neighbor located a few hours
down Interstate 85.
Lately, though, Atlanta has battled post-Olympic malaise,
Charlotte’s profile (and skyline) continues to rise. Charlotte has emerged as a
desirable place to make and manage money. The city ranks as the second-largest
financial center in the country, trailing only New York City in bank dollars.
Nearly two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies have offices here.
In golf, the Wachovia Championship at the Quail Hollow Club has
emerged as one of the marquee stops on the PGA Tour, attracting fields and a
list of winners a major championship would be happy to attract.
Quail Hollow was born in 1959 at a meeting of members of venerable
but overcrowded Charlotte Country Club. The members of the newly formed club
picked George Cobb to build a course on 257 acres of a former dairy farm. Open
in 1961, the club attracted a PGA Tour event—the Kemper Open—in 1969.
The event stayed at Quail Hollow for 10 more years before leaving.
In the years between the Kemper and Wachovia, Tom Fazio remade the layout,
tightening fairways, altering tee boxes, flashing bunkers and bringing
undulation, false fronts and elevation to green complexes.
Several risk-reward par 5s—Nos. 7, 10 and 15 in particular—offer
the potential for low numbers as well as the risk of bogey or worse. And the par
3s provide no breather: No. 6, for example, can be stretched as long as 248
yards for the Wachovia Championship.
The return routing of the back nine is designed to heighten the
drama. No. 14 is the shortest par 4 on the course, but one that can’t be
overpowered. Negotiating it requires considerable finesse, given the assortment
of bunkers and a lake that combine to protect shorter, more aggressive lines of
play.
The final three holes comprise the greatest challenge. Because of
a pinched landing area, the par-4 16th is an extremely demanding driving hole;
the difficulty is compounded by its length, a meaty 485 yards. No. 17, arguably
Quail Hollow’s signature hole, is another long par 3 that measures 210 yards
over water to a picturesque island green. Water surrounds all but one side of
the putting surface and offers little bailout room for those wishing to play it
safe.
The finishing hole at Quail Hollow makes for great theater. This
long par 4 traverses 480 yards along a meandering stream, the left side of the
hole rising boldly toward the grand clubhouse in stadium-like fashion—an ideal
conclusion for a tournament venue.
