Centennial Valley: A grand new course

John Lammers

Lindsey's son, Lindy Lindsey, designed the course with long teeing areas that can change the overall length of the men's course by an average of almost 100 yards a hole. Driving areas on par-fours and par-fives are relatively open and 14 water hazards create much difficulty on the course. Fairways, especially around greens, have many surrounds and humps or moguls, creating variegated beauty as well as constantly varying shots.

The smooth bent grass greens are immense. "The large greens are golfer-friendly," said General Manager Reggie Rose. "Even if you have a 100-foot putt, you have a better chance than on most courses of getting on a green. Also, we can rest huge parts of the greens for five or six days at a time."

So that more housing lots could be developed, the course snakes like a long narrow train through the acreage, with few holes parallel to the holes that follow them. There is as much as a quarter of a mile between greens and the next tees, meaning this is not a walker-friendly course. One traverses about a quarter of the length of the course again between holes.

Summary of holes: From the back tees, this is a very long course, yet it is not absurdly long (as are some courses from their back tees). Even from the back tees, a good golfer who hits relatively short but solid and straight shots can deal meaningfully with the course. Certainly, though, this course favors a long driver and good long-iron player.

CVCC

Centennial Valley Country Club

Phone: 1-501-513-2522

Location: In Conway, west on Tyler street about a quarter of a mile past Hogan Road.

Status: Private. Initiation fee of $2,500; $120 per month in dues; currently near its 550-member maximum.

PGA Pro: Mike Smith.

Age: Opened on Nov. 1, 1998.

Greens: Dominant Bent (blend of SR 1020 and SR 1019). Fairways: Bermuda.

Condition: Excellent. Men's and women's par: 72 (36-36).

Length: 7103 yards from the back (blue) tees; front nine is 3526 yards; back nine is 3577 yards. The course is 6226 yards from the white tees, 5428 from the gold tees, and 4605 from the front tees.

The course: Owned and built by Hal Crafton of Conway and Jim Lindsey of Fayetteville as a potential championship layout and as the center of a housing development. Construction began in October, 1997. Though young, the course is currently plush and beautiful. Junior Storie is the certified superintendent of the course.

As pro Mike Smith says, "This course gives you a chance to use your driver"--in fact, on at least 12 of 14 driving holes. Immense greens, many 100 or more feet across, make this the land of verylong to incredibly-long putts. To score well, thus, you must also be a good lag putter. Many of the greens have many slopes and testing pin positions. Though relatively new, the greens are very smooth and accept shots well, but they are happily firm. Most greens are raised and angled from back to front so that the golfer has a beautiful and full view of them from the tee or fairway, and some of the slopes can create deadly putts.

Course knowledge is essential, since at least 11 holes (1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15, 16, and 18) have water hazards not visible from one or more hitting positions.

(EDITOR's NOTE: This is the fifth in a series of analyses on area golf courses.)

By JOHN LAMMERS

Log Cabin Correspondent

The Centennial Valley golf course is the massive brain and monetary child of 42-year-old Hal Crafton of Conway and 54-yearold former Razorback and Minnesota Vikings' football player Jim Lindsey of Fayetteville.

Its golf pro, Mike Smith, is a former Conway junior player--one of the best before Bryce Molder--who can shoot low scores and has experience on mini-tours and in conducting large tournaments.

Though a main purpose of the course is to help the owners sell housing lots, Crafton said that he and Lindsey also wanted to give Conway a championship course on which big tournaments might eventually be played and also help juniors progress in golf. The choice of Smith as pro was related to those goals.

The 34-year-old Smith came to CVCC this year from Idylwild Golf Club in Beaumont, Texas, where he had been the head professional since 1992. Smith went to Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas on a golf scholarship from 1982 to 1986, and during that time his team was ranked as high as fourth nationally and made the NCAA field three times.

Smith made the quarter-finals of the U. S. Amateur in 1986, narrowly missing an invitation to the Master's.

A long hitter, Smith turned pro in 1987, played in many minitour events around Texas, and soon decided not to try to make a living golfing.

"I just really didn't want to spend three to five years trying to play golf and make a living," said Smith. "I wanted to raise a family, and I knew I wasn't going to get rich playing golf. I think I've had a better life doing what I've done."

Centennial Valley also wanted someone who could teach golf and especially someone to run a good junior program and junior clinics.

"Golf is an individual sport and it's probably the hardest beginning sport that there is," said Smith. "But for kids starting out it's actually easier than for adults starting because kids' expectation level is much lower than it is for adults."

Analysis of course hole-by-hole:

No. l Straight par five, 499 yards. This is a good start to the course--a short but somewhat demanding par-five that can yield a good score to any level player who can control second and third shots. The hitting area for the drive is very forgiving, as much as 50 yards wide, and the practice area on the left also provides a bail-out for the drive, but there is OB (out of bounds) to the right. The drive should be aimed at the left middle of the fairway. The second shot demands accuracy. About 60 yards from the green on the right side of the fairway--invisible from the position of your drive--a lake begins and extends around to the right side of the green; to the left of the fairway within 100 yards of the green is OB (though it is marked by one of the most tasteful OB fences in Arkansas).

No. 2 Dogleg-1eft par four, 402 yards. Theoretically this is one of the two hardest holes on the course, mostly because of demands put on your driver. There is a first lake in front of the tee that ends 150 yards out; and there is a second, very large lake that begins on the left at the dogleg about 170 yards from the tee, is over 40 yards wide, and extends down the left side of the fairway almost to the green. You must drive over the first lake at least 150 yards, but then you must also consider the second lake (on the left) that actually extends out--unseen from the tee--into the left part of the fairway about 170 yards from the tee. Balls rolling at that point are turned back into the lake. There is also a hazard ditch and two trees on the right of the fairway at the dogleg. With the second lake on the left and the trees on the right, this is a very tough driving hole. A straight drive must go only 200 yards to give you a good shot at the green, but there is only 15 yards of air space between the trees on the right and the lake outjut on the left. However, the farther you hit the ball straight and airborne, the more likely you are to carry the lake on the left. But cutting the dogleg to the left is dangerous business, requiring about a 240-yard or longer carry over the lake on the left of the dogleg.

No. 3 Straight par four, 463 yards. A very long hole, but about the last 230 yards are somewhat downhill, making the hole play a little shorter than its measured distance. The fairway is very wide at hitting area for the drive, about 50 yards wide (at the 200-yard mark), so you can hit driver. There is OB about 20 yards to the left of the fairway and a hazard ditch to the right. A large sand trap guards the right front of green, and there is a creek over the green. (Large fans to move the air above the bent grass green create the first 747-jet sound-blowing effect on the course, all of which are interesting.)

No. 4 Dogleg right par four, 382 yards, with the final 150 yards uphill. This is a very beautiful, "old course" type hole, with its fairway cut in a huge right-turning swath out of a thick pine stand. The fairway lies in beautiful relief amid the pines as it turns to the right uphill about 215 yards from the tee, and there is a 50-yard-wide hitting area for the drive. It's 260 yards straight away to the far edge of the fairway at the dogleg and 270 yards into the trees beyond. A lake that covers the right side of the fairway for the first 125 yards should not come into play, but there is a small hazard ditch that runs down the right rough around the inside elbow of the dogleg and, most importantly, there is pond hidden behind the green, which will catch long shots.

No. 5 Par three, 192 yards. This is a lovely hole which plays shorter than its measured distance because it is downhill to a green that is only slightly raised. It's a very fair and testing hole over a lake in front and to the right of the green. There is a trap to the left and in front of the green. The lake comes up to the front of the green on the right, so you have to carry the ball to the green, about 175 yards, if you hit to the right side of the green.

No. 6 Straight par five, 577 yards. This is a good, solid three-shot par five. There are huge moguls or mounds in the right part of the fairway and many more of them in the left part of the fairway. This, with its sister hole, no. 16, is mogul land. You may temporarily lose a ball or a playing partner behind a mogul. There's a lake in the middle of the fairway about 150 yards out, and you have to fly your drive about 200 yards off the tee to carry the lake. The green, a real work of art, sits high on top of a hill with a large lake to the left and way down the hill in front of the green; if you hit short and left of the green, the ball will probably roll down the steep bank and into the lake. Since this will be a three-shot hole for all humans, one is probably best off just to hit two solid shots and then a wedge or nine-iron into the green. A very tough pin position would be left front, encouraging golfers to gamble and possibly go into the lake. Any front position will yield tough downhill putts for most players. This is a really worthy par five.

No. 7 Par three, 199 yards. The green is up on a hill higher than the tee, so the hole plays longer than its measured yardage. The green is huge. This hole will probably require more than a four-wood for most players, and the green is beautifully framed on the left by a huge oak tree; but the hole has no eccentric troubles in store.

No. 8 Straight par four, 419 yards. This is another particularly testing and fair hole. In many ways, this hole may be the most typical of the course. There is a lake down the right side out to about 150 yards, but there is a second lake, invisible from the tee, that runs all the way down the right side of the drivehitting area about 20 yards from the fairway. Pines trees and a hazard ditch guard the left side of the fairway.

No. 9 Dogleg right par four, 393 yards. There is a lake to the right in the inside of the elbow of the dogleg. One should hit down the left middle of the fairway, where there is plenty of room--about 50 yards. There are a trap and lake to the right of the green, and a hazard ditch runs down the left rough from tee to green. This can be a birdie hole, but don't flirt with the right side.

No. 10 Straight par four, 399 yards. There is a lake, which cannot be seen from the tee, to the right of the fairway starting about 220 yards from the tee and going all the way down the right side of the fairway to the green. There is also a ditch crossing the fairway at about the 270-yard mark. The driving area short of the ditch is huge, about S0 yards wide, and there are beautiful but punitive moguls down the left rough. This is a good hole simply to try to get your ball in the fairway.

No. ll Par three, 206 yards. This is a really lovely and demanding hole. A lake starts 140 yards out from the tee and comes up to 20 yards from the front of the green, and there's a trap to the left in front of the green. The huge green sits up high and beautifully. This hole plays shorter than No. 7, perhaps a 4-wood to a four-iron shot for good players. If you hit short you'll probably go into the lake because of the severe slope in front of the green; and the left-front sandtrap can be trouble because the ball, coming in at a low trajectory from a long iron, may tend to bury in it. Over or right are reasonably safe.

No. 12 Straight par four, 365 yards. This is a neat and lovely hole, by far the shortest par-four on the course. It offers a large driving area, with the left middle being most safe. Pine trees to the right and in front of the green and two huge traps guard in the front and to the left of the green guard the green, which is fairly shallow by CV standards and demands some distance control. A short hitter can birdie this hole with two really good shots.

No. 13 Par three, 214 yards. At this point the back nine becomes almost unrelentingly tough. This hole plays longer than No. 11 at CVCC and is comparable in length to No. 11 at Conway CC. A large trap guards the front right of the green. The really tough pin position is on the right side just in back of the trap. A pin left middle would be much easier, but apparently that position never gets used. Wonder why, ho, ho.

No. 14 Straight par four, 448 yards. Now things get tougher, a fine psychology-philosophy for the middle of a championship back nine. This hole is the second hardest on the back nine and owes its toughness to its length and narrowness; it's a good and demanding test of first and second shots and of the putter. This hole offers what might be the most demanding and artful driverhitting area on the course. A creek runs down the left side of the fairway and comes across the fairway halfway down, and woods run down the right side and scattered pines down the left.

No. 15 Straight par four, 424 yards. This is the number one handicap hole on the course and, coming just after No. 14, makes this two-hole stretch the "amen alley" in the course. There are a lot of moguls in the middle-left in the fairway, woods right, and a fairway that slopes right to left. Many lies after your drive will be somewhat uneven. The second shot here is very beautiful, going into the green which is nestled back in woods. An oak tree 20 yards in front of the green in the right rough guards the green against drives hit down the right side, so somewhat left off the tee is probably best.

No. 16 Dogleg left par five, 539 yards. (Note: if you don't turn left with the dogleg, you'll mistakeningly go to number six green.) There is OB on the left off the tee and a huge oak in the right part of fairway about 200 yards off the tee. There are a lot of moguls, especially to the right of the fairway. (These moguls are left of number six, where you can lose cars, etc.; this area looks like another land is worth visiting even if you don't play golf.)

No. 17 Straight par four, 424 yards. A similar hole to No. 15, which is parallel to it (on the left), but No. 17 doesn't play as long or brutally. Out from the tee 190 yards, a ditch crosses the fairway from No. 15. Pine trees right and left make this a fairly narrow fairway until about 265 yards off tee. The green is very deep and angles hard from back to front. A straight drive here is the key, since there is little trouble around the green. You really don't want a long downhill putt here.

No. 18 Dogleg right par five, 558 yards. This is a fine finishing hole, offering many interesting aesthetic effects, shots, and the good possibility of everything from birdie to double-bogey. There's a lake down the right side beginning about 230 yards off the tee, so you need to keep your drive left. A ditch runs across the fairway 175 yards from the tee and you must carry a ball 185 yards to clear it, and another ditch crosses it about 335 yards out, meaning that you will want to hit your drive between the two ditches.