The World Golf Village introduced its King and the Bear golf course on Nov. 15 with a grand opening exhibition by the course designers themselves, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus.
Palmer and Nicklaus played the course together, pausing to discuss each hole and its strategies, in typical course-opening style.
Prior to the round, the two golfing legends dedicated a "tribute garden" near the clubhouse to Bruce Borland, the golf course architect who was killed last year in the same plane crash disaster that also claimed the life of Payne Stewart and four others. Borland, who worked for Nicklaus, had been his company's lead architect on the project.
The King and the Bear course is now open to the public, but the clubhouse is scheduled to open Dec. 15.
The King and the Bear is a big course, one built on a lot of acreage with the idea of being able to host a major tournament as well as Hall of Fame visitors and World Golf Village residents.
The general characteristics are wide fairways, big bunkers and big greens with gentle slopes. Consideration for tournaments is obvious from spectator mounds built alongside many holes.
There are five sets of tees, ranging from 7,247 yards to 5,195. Water is in play on 16 holes. On most of the par-4s and par-5s, serious carries over water are necessary from the back three tees -- the black, gold and blue, which measure 7247, 6921, and 6584, respectively.
The par-3s are all tough from any distance, in that they have irregularly-shaped greens and fingers of water or deep bunkers jutting into the putting surface area.
In a professional tour-calber event, much of the attention would be on the par-5s, particularly the fifth and seven holes. Both are doglegs around water and are reachable with two high-risk, perfectly-placed long shots.
The back nine is less open than the front, with trees bordering many fairways as well as tighter bunkering and water.
The King and the Bear, like WGV's other course, the Slammer and the Squire, is owned and operated by Scratch Golf.
Green fees on the King and the Bear will be kept about $25 higher. Kevin Perrigo, formerly of the PGA Tour Stop and several area courses, is the head professional.
