In North Carolina, golf’s greatest design lesson isn’t about distance or difficulty — it’s about authenticity.
Rolling piedmont hills, red clay soils, and centuries-old oaks provide a natural rhythm that many modern courses have unintentionally lost to overgrowth, flattening, or outdated infrastructure.
For Jeff Lawrence, ASGCA, founder of Lawrence Golf Design, restoring that rhythm has become central to his firm’s North Carolina work.
“We’re not redesigning golf courses here,” says Lawrence. “We’re helping them update for the future success of the club.”
Many of North Carolina’s private and semi-private courses were built between the 1950s and 1980s — practical, member-focused layouts designed for walking and everyday play.
Over time, tree growth, irrigation overreach, and incremental “quick fixes” dulled the strategic intent that once guided shotmaking.
At Cedarbrook Country Club in Elkin, Lawrence Golf Design’s Master Plan began with aerial mapping and ground-level photo comparison to identify where the original corridors had narrowed.
The hallmark of North Carolina golf is movement — rolling land that rewards bold contouring. But many older bunkers have lost their edge, literally and strategically.
Jeff Lawrence’s bunker renovation philosophy blends restraint with regional texture.
At Lake Hickory Country Club, the team reshaped bunker complexes to complement the existing terrain, not impose upon it.
Each bunker reinforces sightlines — guiding play and defining strategy — without breaking the landscape’s visual integrity.
Tree removal is one of the most misunderstood aspects of renovation. In North Carolina’s maturing golf corridors, the goal isn’t deforestation — it’s meaningful reduction.
Jeff Lawrence’s plans often begin by identifying which trees limit air movement, shade key turf areas, or block historic views.
Selective clearing at Pine Lake Country Club revealed natural landforms that had been hidden for decades, allowing the course to breathe both visually and agronomically.
North Carolina’s piedmont soils and climate lend themselves to bold yet maintainable greens.
Lawrence Golf Design’s renovation work focuses on re-scaling and contour balancing rather than wholesale replacement.
At Pine Lake, greens were recontoured to:
The result: putting surfaces that enhances the course’s rhythm while supporting today’s speeds and turf standards.
Red clay may be iconic, but it’s also unforgiving. Rainfall that can exceed 45 inches per year creates runoff channels that erode fairway edges and compromise bunker integrity.
Jeff Lawrence combats this with integrated drainage systems disguised within natural topography — collector swales, grassed channels, and hidden piping that move water predictably without altering the land’s profile.
The movement toward native landscapes isn’t about letting courses grow wild — it’s about curating texture and authenticity.
Across North Carolina projects, Lawrence Golf Design replaces over-irrigated rough with fine fescue or broomsedge blends, restoring a natural golden hue while reducing maintenance inputs.
Native buffers also stabilize slopes, reduce runoff, and reintroduce ecological value to golf corridors.
These subtle transitions — from fairway to rough to woodland — create visual calm and timelessness.
The restoration of natural character is not a stylistic trend — it’s a return to purpose.
By blending environmental awareness, subtle engineering, and local identity, Lawrence Golf Design helps North Carolina clubs rediscover their strategic soul while meeting today’s expectations for playability and sustainability.
“These landscapes don’t need reinvention,” Lawrence concludes. “They just need clarity — and respect for what’s already there.”
True renovation isn’t about new — it’s about revealing what’s been hidden.
When design aligns with native form and function, golf courses regain the timeless character that made them special in the first place.