Jefferson Landing Club in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina has opened Orion’s Ridge, a three-hole short course, and a Himalayas-style putting green, both designed by John LaFoy.

The main 18-hole course at Jefferson Landing opened in 1991 after being initially conceived by brothers Mark and Eddie Vannoy in 1988. The course was originally designed by professional golfer Larry Nelson, but has been renovated several times since, including a redesign by Kris Spence in 2017, when a four-hole par-three course was also built.

“Those par-three holes are located on land adjacent to the clubhouse playing over, around, and down into a relatively steep depression which has been softened by construction,” said LaFoy. “The holes fit in nicely and are a great place for short-game practice, however, the steep terrain made it difficult for some golfers to enjoy the venue. After visiting other resorts and seeing trends in the industry, Mark Vannoy thought that a Himalayas-style green would integrate nicely into their existing golf facility. Luckily the property had some available adjacent land on site that could be utilised for this vision.”

LaFoy was contacted by Jason Blackwell, project manager at Vannoy Construction, in winter 2024 about creating a Himalayas green and possibly a few extra par-three holes. “After an onsite visit and some topographical study, it was determined that an acre-sized green and three par-three holes could fit on the land,” said LaFoy. “The terrain was such that two of the holes would play downhill and the third would play slightly uphill.”

The new short course features three par-three holes that range from 50 to 100 yards (Photo: John LaFoy)

Mark Vannoy approved LaFoy’s plan, which called for three par-three holes ranging from 50 to 100 yards with three sets of tees, with construction beginning in spring 2024. Marc Gooden of Double Eagle Golf and shapers Darren and Ronnie Lingerfelt executed the work.

“Prior to construction beginning, Dan Stepnicka, director of golf at Jefferson Landing and course superintendent Rob Wilson were consulted regarding what we were after in terms of playability criteria and grass varieties and maintenance requirements,” said LaFoy. “Mark Vannoy was also quite hands on and involved in every step the design and construction process, while Jason Blackwell made sure that every resource that was needed was made available to insure the successful completion of this project.”

The project was special to LaFoy in several ways: “It turned a haul disposal area where construction and golf course waste was stored to get it out of the way, which although maybe not an eyesore, it certainly was not particularly neat to look at, into something that is now quite attractive aesthetically as well as functional,” said LaFoy. “Secondly, it now offers a great venue for golfers, many of whom are overnight guests of the resort, a chance to continue their golf after finishing a round on the main course. It can be played in conjunction with the existing four-hole par-three course or played as a stand-alone facility. Since the Himalayas green has lighting, it can be played well into the evening hours and there are plans to light the par-three holes.”

Two of the putting surfaces on the short course are multilevel, which puts “a premium on shot placement”, according to LaFoy. The greens and approaches are all 007 creeping bentgrass, and all other areas are predominantly bluegrass with some fine fescue on the more difficult to maintain slopes.

“The [practice] green was built on a significantly sloping piece of terrain, it contains three different levels with a significant transition slope between levels,” said architect John LaFoy (Photo: John LaFoy)

“The Himalaya green is the ‘crown jewel’ of this project,” said LaFoy. “The size of the green is almost an acre at 40,000 squarefeet, with about a 3,000-square-foot landscaped centre island, which was installed for several reasons, including making watering easier. It would have been difficult, or impossible to water this green with strictly perimeter sprinkler heads, so the island has six part-circle sprinkler heads. Also, I did not want to surface drain the entire green out to the edges, like a giant turtleback. Therefore, there are two catch basins in the island on the high side of the three-level green. 

“The island also breaks up the massive size of the green. Because the green was built on a significantly sloping piece of terrain, it contains three different levels with a significant transition slope between levels. This also facilitates being able to place nine flagsticks on each level for a 27-hole putting course.

“It was quite a challenge designing such a large green and it helped tremendously to break it down into basically three greens and then join them together. I suspect that in future years, these types of greens will become quite popular, as well they should.”