Golf fans making the trip to North Carolina next week for the PGA Championship would be remiss if they didn’t plan a getaway day and play the bold and beautiful Tot Hill Farm Golf Club.
Mike Strantz, listed as one of the top 10 greatest golf architects of all time by Golfweek despite designing less than 10 golf courses before passing away in 2005, is the genius behind the layout on the edge of the Uwharrie National Forest near Asheboro, North Carolina.
Tot Hill Farm, celebrating its 25th anniversary this month, was just a daily fee course until South Carolina golf course owner Pat Barber purchased it in December 2022 and embarked on a massive restoration project to revive and rescue the Strantz vision from tree overgrowth, overall maintenance neglect and general apathy from the golfing public.
In just over two years, Tot Hill Farm is now listed as one of the top 50 courses in the nation the public can play by Golf.com, making it a one-of-a-kind destination stop for golf enthusiasts looking for a unique round.
“Most golf courses you play there are one or two holes that you kind of consider signature holes,” Barber says. “When I first rode the property at Tot Hill, I honestly couldn’t pick one because there’s so many holes that you could consider really unique or a signature hole. If you want to play a place that’s totally unique and different this is your place.
“Golfers who come here are usually so excited to play Tot Hill. It’s a unique property and it’s a beautiful property – and just a fun place to play.”
The cost is $170, which falls in line with other top-end golf experiences in golf-rich North Carolina and across the nation.
“Our goal was to restore the course and it became a project we were really enamored with, but we knew we had to charge a certain rate in order to make the course viable to where we could succeed,” said Greg Wood, Tot Hill Farm’s general manager and director of operations. “The exciting part about it is the golf course is now being discovered by people from all over the United States, and some folks from around the world have come and played it. So it’s been very exciting to see the reception we’ve received.”
Tot Hill Farm has over 250 feet of elevation change and a scorecard that features an unconventional array of five par 3s and five par5s, along with a slope rating of 144 from the back Maverick tees — placing it among the most difficult courses in the nation.
The best advice is to put pencil-in-pocket and forget about par — just enjoy the ride. Few courses offer as much variety and challenge, considering there are only 24 bunkers scattered across a modestly short 6,713-yard layout from the tips.
“Golfers can feel the thrill of hitting these beautiful tee shots off of high elevation points and approach shots up-and-down, and the creeks and streams show off the property’s natural beauty,” Wood says. “If I were playing Tot Hill Farm I would tell people to play it the same way Mike Strantz told you to play it — play it for what it is and take what’s there based on your skill level. If you do that you’re going have a great time. When you try to bite it off and get really aggressive, that’s when it can bite you back.”
Tot Hill Farm certainly has the eye appeal with some of the nation’s most unique holes that includes hitting over a stacked stone wall in the middle of the 10th fairway and tackling massive undulating greens that course Wood jokingly says are measured in acres, not square feet. There are also natural boulders and rocks dotting numerous holes — some larger than cars.
Situated on what was an old cattle farm, the recent renovation included turning an old 1840s farmhouse into the course’s clubhouse, featuring locally supplied North Carolina pitmaster BBQ sandwiches and an historic vibe Strantz would have appreciated.
Strantz, of Tobacco Road Golf Club fame, often considered Tot Hill Farm his best work, with a set of par 3s that must be seen to believe.
“It’s probably the only project where you can redo the greens, cart paths, bridges, cut down trees, renovate the clubhouse, and you’re still not done,” Barber says. “Because for Mike Strantz it was like a canvas and it’s a tree line-to-tree line design. He was such a detailed person, so if you really want to capture the essence of him you have to become a detailed person, too.”
Wood said the post-round reaction from first-time players is “universal love.”
“They don’t always love the score they had but they love playing the course itself,” Wood says. “And the one goal we want them to talk about is the beauty of the golf course, that regardless of the score that day that this is a special place and that they had a great time and want to come back.”
The drive from the Charlotte area is about an hour for those wishing to make the trek from the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club. It’s also about a 50-minute drive from Pinehurst.
“The No. 1 thing golfers who come over here to play from Charlotte are going experience are 18 memorable holes,” Wood says. “Each hole has its own individual characteristic feel surrounded by natural beauty. And the second thing they are going to ask is ‘Where am I?’ It will be something they’ve likely have never seen before in playing golf. It’s beyond a very unique experience.“And I think it’s very special that we’re starting to get noticed. I felt like it was always kind of the forgotten Strantz course. And I feel like it’s not forgotten anymore. I would like to think that Mike would be excited about the exposure that we’ve gotten Tot Hill Farm and that people are starting to enjoy it in the way he always envisioned it.”