After the pleasure of tackling the West Course at the Grandover Resort in Greensboro, North Carolina I thought to myself of an opening line to a feature story on the courses.

The Grandover Resort and Conference Centre, to give it’s proper name, is located just a short distance from Sedgefield Golf Club and home to the Wyndham Championship.  As it so happened the Media Car Park is located overlooking the resort.

Soon after boarding the shuttle bus to the Media Centre we drove past, as we had done all week, a number of holes on the East Course of the Grandover Resort and where many of those competing in the Wyndham Championship, including Rickie Fowler, were residing.

An American colleague then happen to mention to me:  “Now where in the world would you find two resort golf courses designed by the same designer?”

Naturally, my question in response was who designed the courses?

“David Graham” was the response.

There was my introduction to my feature article on the Grandover Resort.

It is Jonathan York, the Director of Golf who I first have to thank for the opportunity to play the West Course and what a pleasure it was.  It was around 7am on Saturday morning of the Wyndham Championship and to tee-up first was very much like the Mastercard TV commercial – priceless!

Graham is well-known as a double Major Champion having captured the 1979 PGA Championship and two years later becoming the first of only two Australian-born players to win the U.S. Open.

He had six other PGA Tour victories along a victory on the European Tour, eight wins on the Australasian Tour including the 1977 Australian Open along with 16 other victories around the globe ahead of then tasting success five times on the Champions Tour.

Sadly, in June 2004, and during the final round of the Bank of America Championship on the Champions Tour, Graham collapsed over a putt on the eighth green and having suffered congestive heart failure that put a stop of his playing career and the young age of just 58.

Ten years later, Graham was richly rewarded in being voted into the World Golf Hall of Fame with his nomination support by two of the greats of the game – Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer – and with the induction taking place at St. Andrews the week of the 2015 Open Championship.

But then it is fair to day that unlike Nicklaus and Palmer, Graham’s name is not that widely known in golf design.  However a quick check of his website reveals some seven courses, including the pair at Grandover Resort that have been designed by Graham.

He was charged with designing the East Course at Grandover in 1996 and a year later designed the West Course.

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