Developers of the Sedgefield community engaged Donald Ross to lay out golf on the property in the mid-1920s; the club’s course opened in 1926 and quickly became the city’s showcase, sharing early professional events with Starmount Forest. Contemporary and retrospective accounts also preserved the color naming of a two-course concept, with the “Blue” course being the 18 holes actually built and placed into service. Later sources indicate the companion “Red” course remained on the drawing board as the economy cooled, and no credible record has emerged of that second course being constructed.
Through the twentieth century, tournament setups and agronomy evolved but the Ross routing persisted. In 2007 the club undertook a $3 million restoration directed by Kris Spence, with two headline changes: a return to Ross’s original looks in bunkering and green edges and a switch from bentgrass to Champion Bermuda on greens (and Tifway 419 on fairways) to support summer championship conditions. Since 2008 the Wyndham Championship has returned annually to Sedgefield, using the restored course and a par-70 configuration.
Unique Design Characteristics
The course’s identity remains grounded in short-to-mid approaches to exacting, smallish greens, with natural creeks and diagonal bunkering shaping lines of play. The 1st introduces raised-target putting surfaces and a left-leaning green that accepts a mid-iron from near the outside bunker line. At the 2nd, Ross’s use of diagonal cross-bunkers demands a shaped tee ball to open an approach that fights a creek guarding the right of the green. The 4th features a bunkerless but strongly undulating target, a Ross decision that shifts the defense onto contour and angle rather than sand.
The one-shotters supply variety of both length and hazard presentation: the 7th plays long to a punchbowl-leaning green ringed on three sides by a deep creek, while the 12th is a long iron into a two-tier target cut into a hillside, punishing anything short with a full rollback. By contrast, the 16th is a short par 3 with a horseshoe-shaped green and pot bunkers—a compact accuracy test.
On the back nine, the 14th is a signature “skyline” green beyond centerline bunkers, while the 17th climbs through a saddled fairway over an old creek bed (filled during construction) to the course’s smallest green, a late-round precision ask. The 18th, a members’ par five converted to a long par four for the TOUR, finishes at a severely undulating hilltop green, consistent with the course’s preference for approach-shot excellence over brute length. These holes collectively illustrate which features of Ross’s work here read clearest today: diagonal bunkering, creek-inflected angle play, and elevated, crowned or scalloped greens keyed to precise distance control.
Historical Significance
Sedgefield’s “Blue” course matters within Ross’s portfolio for two reasons. First, it represents a 1926 Carolina commission tied to a planned 36-hole residential development—evidence of the period’s optimism and of Ross’s readiness to draw paired routings even when only one would be executed. Second, the course’s tournament use is unusually continuous for a Ross venue: the Greater Greensboro Open/Wyndham Championship used Sedgefield repeatedly from 1938–1976 (alternating some years with Starmount), and since 2008 it has been the event’s permanent home. Few Ross designs host an annual TOUR stop, which has kept Sedgefield in the public eye and inspired a restoration that leaned on archival materials to return bunkering forms and green sizes.
Current Condition / Integrity
Routing & scale. The present routing aligns with the 1926 Ross course. Member play is generally par 71 (~7,078 yards); the Wyndham sets a par 70 (~7,117 yards) by converting the home hole. The course retains a classic balance—four par 3s, two par 5s in TOUR setup—and relies less on length than on approach trajectories and precise landing zones.
Greens & surrounds. The 2007 Spence restoration re-established green perimeters (recapturing edge and corner hole locations), rebuilt bunkers in historic positions and styles, and converted surfaces to Champion Bermuda to perform under heat and heavy use. The result is a surface set consistent with the published hole-by-hole: crowned or sectional greens (e.g., 10, 14, 16) where depth control is decisive.
Hazards & creeks. Creeks on 6, 7, 8, 11, 12 remain strategically active rather than simply lateral penalties, with cross-bunkers and centerline bunkers (e.g., 14) preserved or restored to influence line and club selection.
Integrity assessment. Given the combination of continuous routing, a documented restoration aimed at original design intent, and long-running tournament use that has not required wholesale hole relocations, Sedgefield’s “Blue” course exhibits high architectural integrity for a 1920s Ross. The largest departures from 1926 are functional: turf conversions for climate and event needs and par adjustment at the finishing hole for TOUR play.
Sources & Notes
Sedgefield Country Club — “The Course.” Club’s official overview; opening year 1926; present-day member configuration and context.
Sedgefield Scorecard (McConnell Golf PDF). Yardages/pars for member play; “A 1926 Donald Ross Design.”
Wyndham Championship — “Sedgefield Country Club” (official site). Restoration summary (Kris Spence, 2007; $3M; par-70 ~7,117 yards) and hole-by-hole descriptions used for feature identification at holes 1–18.
Wikipedia — “Sedgefield Country Club.” Agronomy details (Champion Bermuda greens / Tifway 419 fairways) and tournament continuity; used here for turf confirmation alongside the Wyndham page. (Secondary; cross-check recommended with club agronomy releases.)
Wikipedia
Top100GolfCourses — “Sedgefield (Ross).” Project history note that a second Ross course was planned but not built, with the original course earlier known as Valley Brook. (Secondary synthesis; helpful for the two-course narrative.)
NC Department of Natural & Cultural Resources, Historic Preservation Office (2021 study PDF). Narrative reference to the “18-hole Donald Ross ‘blue course’ at Sedgefield” in 1926. (Cited for color nomenclature; consult document body for full context.)
Donald Ross / Sedgefield research thread (GolfClubAtlas). Collates period notices and mentions a 36-hole Ross plan and the labels “Sedgefield CC #2 (Blue)” and **“#1 (Red).” (Secondary forum; useful pointer to primary newspaper citations; not a substitute for plan inspection.)
PGA TOUR feature — “Five things to know: Sedgefield Country Club.” Places Sedgefield’s Ross design in 1926 and summarizes its modern tournament role. (Contextual.)