The precise authorship of Sewells Point’s original design remains unsettled in the public record consulted for this entry. Contemporary Navy and regional-golf sources present a clear, consistent story: the course “was established in 1927” and is a “Donald Ross designed” 18-hole layout. Those claims are repeated on Navy MWR program pages and in a Virginia State Golf Association magazine directory item that also notes a “complete renovation in 1986” by architect Tom Clark. However, these references do not cite any original drawings, contracts, or club minutes.
By contrast, multiple independent directories and a dedicated archivist group for architect William S. Flynn identify the course—as the Norfolk Country Club course that later became Sewells Point—as a Flynn design, with a date commonly given as 1924. Golf.com’s CourseFinder lists Sewells Point as “designed by William Flynn in 1924,” and the William Flynn Society’s catalog includes “Norfolk Country Club (NKA Sewells Point Golf Club)” among Flynn’s work. Again, those summaries do not, in the pages accessible here, reproduce contracts or plans; they do, however, align with Flynn’s substantial mid-Atlantic portfolio in the 1920s.
The property’s ownership and identity shifted decisively in 1942, when the U.S. Navy acquired the former country-club grounds at Sewell’s Point during wartime expansion in Norfolk. Later Navy and local club histories refer to the facility in this period as the Commissioned Officers Golf Club; the course operated thereafter as a Navy installation. The Norfolk Yacht & Country Club’s historical sketch corroborates the larger pattern of golf-ground disposals and acquisitions around Sewell’s Point in the interwar years and the early 1940s.
The next fully documented intervention is Tom Clark’s 1986 project, described in association listings as a “complete renovation,” which suggests new greens, bunkering, and grading typical of that era’s work on Tidewater courses. (Clark’s firm’s public materials confirm his long record of remodels; the VSGA listing ties his name and year specifically to Sewells Point.) More recently, course-maintenance updates report Champion hybrid bermuda on the greens, a re-grassing choice common in coastal Virginia over the past decade.
Two frequently repeated anecdotes attach to the course’s mid-century life: that Arnold Palmer made his professional debut at Sewells Point in November 1954, and that the course hosted early military/association events. The Navy/DRS news item repeats the Palmer claim, but Palmer’s own timelines mark his decision to turn professional on November 17, 1954, without specifying Sewells Point as a debut site.
Unique Design Characteristics
Because the identity of the original architect is disputed and because a 1986 complete renovation is documented, tying specific surviving features to Ross (or to any 1920s author) must be done cautiously. The present golf experience—tree-framed corridors, modest elevation change, and wind-exposed approach play near the water—reflects its Sewell’s Point peninsula setting more than any easily verified 1920s detailing. The Navy and VSGA descriptions emphasize “well-bunkered undulating greens,” but they do not identify hole-by-hole features carried forward from the original iteration. Without access to 1920s plans or early aerials, it is not possible to assert, for example, that a diagonal fairway bunker on a given hole or a particular front-to-back fall in a green is original.
What can be said about the course as it plays today is that it remains a compact par-71 of roughly 6,300 yards, with a conventional mix of par-3s, par-4s, and par-5s on a low-lying coastal site.
Historical Significance
Sewells Point’s primary historical interest inside a Ross-specific directory stems from its contested attribution. If a Ross plan or field-visit record were located, the course would represent one of the architect’s Tidewater commissions of the late 1920s. If the Flynn attribution is correct, then the course would contribute to understanding Flynn’s Virginia portfolio (which includes significant military-adjacent work at Annapolis) and the broader pattern of private-club courses becoming military facilities during World War II. Either way, Sewells Point sits at the intersection of early-20th-century American golf design and the mid-century evolution of military recreation facilities in coastal Virginia.
Published reputational assessments and rankings are scarce; the course does not feature in national Ross rankings. The local interest—both in Navy communications and state-association materials—centers on accessibility and programming rather than architecture. The Palmer anecdote, if verified, would add mid-century celebrity value, but until corroborated by contemporaneous press it should be treated as unproven lore.
Current Condition / Integrity
Today’s Sewells Point presents as a Navy-run public facility with Champion hybrid bermuda greens and bermuda tees/fairways. The 1986 Tom Clark renovation is the defining architectural layer; in the absence of primary Ross or Flynn drawings (and with no published modern restoration master plan), the proportion of intact 1920s features is unknown. The routing likely still follows the broad movement of the land available on the peninsula, but individual green sizes, surrounds, bunker forms, and tree lines are characteristic of late-20th-century work and subsequent agronomic upgrades rather than of 1920s construction norms.
Sources & Notes
NSA Hampton Roads (Navy MWR) – Sewells Point Golf Course page. States “established in 1927” and “Donald Ross Designed 18-hole PAR 71…,” with public access details. Useful for current operations and the institutional claim of Ross authorship. No primary documentation attached.
Virginia Golfer (VSGA) directory listing, Jan/Feb 2022, p. 69. Lists: “Architect: Donald Ross. Tom Clark (complete renovation in 1986). Year opened: 1927. Grass: bermuda (tees/fairways), Champion hybrid bermuda (greens).” Good for present agronomy and the 1986 credit; does not provide archival citations.
William S. Flynn Society – Course list. Includes “Norfolk Country Club (NKA Sewells Point Golf Club)” in the Flynn corpus. Provides the principal basis for the counter-attribution to Flynn; specific contract or plan images not reproduced on the public page cited here.
Norfolk Yacht & Country Club – History page. Describes early 20th-century golf grounds in the area and later disposals/sales; supports the larger narrative of golf land at Sewell’s Point being repurposed and, eventually, sold in the 1930s/’40s. Not specific to the author of the surviving course, but relevant to property history.
LPGCA (local golf association) page. States Navy purchased 147.1 acres in spring 1942 and used the name “Commissioned Officers Golf Club.” Local secondary source for ownership change.
Donald Ross Society “In the News” item (2023). Repeats Ross/1927 and carries the Arnold Palmer professional-debut on Nov. 21, 1954 claim; no primary newspaper citation provided. Treat as a lead, not as confirmation.
Arnold Palmer official site – Amateur record/timeline. Confirms the Nov. 17, 1954 decision to turn professional, but does not name Sewells Point; use to bracket the plausibility window for any debut exhibition in Norfolk later that month.